Hardware

OpenWifi is Open Source software, built on OpenWrt, and currently runs on Atheros (ar71xx) based chipsets.

With Openwifi we aim to provide tools for data collection and measurement over residential links. Such tools may impose a higher load on the router than regular firmwares, and may require more storage than the router has available by default.

We have tested and deployed our software on Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH and on Linksys WRT160NL routers which provide a USB port for external storage, and have enough processing power to run our test scripts.

The specifications of the above routers are:

Spec	Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH	Linksys WRT160NL
CPU	400MHz	400MHz
RAM	64MB	32MB
Flash Memory	32MB	8MB
Ethernet	1Gbps	10/100Mbps
WiFi	802.11n	802.11n

Software

The software packages and configurations in the OpenWiFi firmware have been customized to allow the following funtions:

remote monitor of router statistics data

remote firmware updating

New packages and jobs can be remotely installed easily, as the router provides a complete GNU/Linux environment. Jobs can also be sent securely to routers via ssh, using RSA authentication.

Dual Wireless LANs

Our reference implementation configures the router with two SSIDs running on two separate VLANs

A guest open WLAN that accepts all clients, but is rate limited to a configurable bandwidth. For security purpose, no access to the router is provided in this LAN.

A WPA-PSK secured WLAN with full access to the administration interface and ssh to the router.

OpenWiFi Wireless Router Setup Manual

OpenWiFi pilot users may download the router setup manual from here. [word] [pdf]

You may also contact Tao Jin for any questions about the router or the project in general. Thanks!