Releasing open source SSB drivers and parallel flash support for the WNR3500L would be far more beneficial. This is after all marketed as an "Open Source" router.

The WNDR3800 is identical to the WNDR3700v2 apart from 64 MB of additional RAM. Adding support for it is easy.

Tathagata Das said: So you want OpenWRT solution for WNR3500L or WNR3500Lv2. But did you try OpenWRT on WNDR3800.

I have both a WNR3500L and a WNDR3700v2.

The WNR3500L is marketed as open source, but it is not at all open source. There is no support for it on OpenWrt 'Backfire', as Netgear/Broadcom have not released open source drivers yet. A heavily patched version of OpenWrt 8.09 exists, but this is based on the 2.4 Kernel which is now EOL and not supported anymore.

Drivers need to be released to enable the WNR3500L to be build with the current Backfire release.

On the otherhand, I can download the OpenWrt source and compile an image for the WNDR3700v2 with no patches or hacks. This is because Atheros have good open source driver support. The WNDR3800 is essentially the same hardware as the WNDR3700v2, with the addition of an additional 64 MB of RAM. I expect support to be added to OpenWrt trunk soon.

OpenWrt is the only truely open firmware for routers. DD-WRT and Tomato are not really open source, and contain non-GPL components.

Thanks, but that patch will never get applied to trunk.

It uses proprietary code, as well as a load of ifdefs.

/*
 * Broadcom SiliconBackplane chipcommon serial flash interface
 *
 * Copyright 2007, Broadcom Corporation
 * All Rights Reserved.
 *
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS OFFERED "AS IS", AND BROADCOM GRANTS NO WARRANTIES OF ANY
 * KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, BY STATUTE, COMMUNICATION OR OTHERWISE. BROADCOM
 * SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
 * FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT CONCERNING THIS SOFTWARE.
 *
 */

Would Broadcom be willing to release it as GPL?

Tathagata,

I have not yet installed Openwrt, by this would be my wish list:
-opkg shipped with the firmware
-pointing to the relevant repository
-dest added in opkg.conf (/mnt or /opt or any dir that can be mount with -o bind)
-inotify enabled in the kernel (to install minidlna on usb)
-ntfs3g, ext4, hfs+, appletalk included or can be loaded from usb kmod package
And foolproof method to revert back to factory firmware + erease config.

Thanks.

Hi,

I'm currently using 2 WNDR 3800 with the OpenWRT image from this site. After 2 weeks of testing and usage I have found one issue: I have problems setting up WPS service on the routers.

But in general I'm very happy with the firmware although Luci "hangs" sometimes.

Just to let you know: My main objective is to setup a site to site VPN (IPsec) with these two WNDR machine. Still working on it...

Do you plan it contribute your knowledge to OpenWRT such that the WNDR 3800 is better supported there?

Kind Regards
Markus

Hi all and tathagata.

I have Netgear wnr3500l with DD-WRT v24-sp2. I want to change my firmware mean switch to openwrt. I compiled kamikazie and get .chk file. But what to do next. Means i already crash my one access point. Please guide how to all this thing.

Thanks in advance.

It looks like OpenWrt is officially supporting the WNDR3800 now according to their homepage. Would I be able to use the following file to upgrade from the Netgear factory web gui? Has anyone else tried this version yet?

http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/10.03.1/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-wndr3800-...

I'm kind of a layman when it comes to open source software. What is the difference between using the .bin and the .img version of the firmware?

Thanks for the info. Since Tomato and DD-WRT on the 3800 are still in their infancy, would you recommend Gargoyle on top of OpenWRT?

I ran it for a week or so without a problem but then I reverted back to the OEM firmware due to other reasons. Its weird that it would take 3 weeks to start doing that.

How long have you been running the stock fw? It would be interesting to see if it does the same after 3 weeks.

BC Support, Design and Development

My WNR3500L appears to be bricked and if I cannot recover it I am thinking of upgrading to the WNDR3800.

Has the stability problem described here been resolved yet?

Are there other routers (not necessarily Netgear) I should look at?

I did finally sort out the problem with my 3500L.

One oddity is that it has to be in Gateway and not Router mode with the fiber-Internet interface from my ISP. I had forgotten that and chased my tech-tail for many hours ...

The old Linksys filled the gap on and off but is dying so I may watch for a sale on the 3800 and swap-out the 3500L as the backup ... maybe ...

Thanks!