youyeetoo Banana Pi OpenWrt One - WiFi 6 Official OpenWrt Router Mainline Support,MediaTek MT7981B SoC 1GB DDR4 RAM, RJ45 Port

Cool product, didn't know it existed until recently. Love supporting Raspberry Pi and open source software. You can do a lot with this device and OpenWRT. I watched a few tutorials of setting up Banana Pi, and in some of them users were switching around pins, flashing Nand stuff, etc. Fortunately this comes with all that done and OpenWRT working out of the box. Most new routers enable a non-password protected WiFi signal to set things up. This didn't, but I guess that is expected. I had to use an Ethernet cable for setup. So make sure you can do that. Customizing/tweaking OpenWRT for complicated network setups is another story. It's definitely not plug and play, so don't expect that. For tech hobbyists and IT professionals, it's great. Tip: once you get a working setup, you can download your configs, and attempt to tweak more. If you get lost/break connectivity, just reload the configs that worked and keep tinkering. This really boosted the signal and speed and works well for what I wanted to accomplish in the network setup ideal for the environment I'm in. I'd say this works like a $200 - $250 Wifi router. This costs less but you will need to invest the time to get things running the way you want.

How To Connect: Connect the router to your modem and to your Linux PC. It ought to connect to the internetwork automatically. Set a long root password. Activate Wi-Fi and change the default SSID name (the name of your wi-fi network), which is factory set to "OpenWrt", to whatever name you want ('coz you don't want hackers in the neighbourhood to know you are using OpenWrt) and create long password for it. [If hooking up a switch to the single out-LAN ethernet port, then make sure the switch has an external power-brick, because the switch needs to have an internal CPU, which needs a power source, for the switch to work in knowing how to split the single signal into two or more separate signals [some pattern like that]; you gotta connect the switch and hook it to your devices [eg. digital landline phone]; but then you then got to unplug the switch's power, and then plug it back in for it to work.] IMPORTANT! Inside the router, the firmware factory-release version is a developer's SNAPSHOT version, along with an outdate kernel. It works well, but you MUST flash a Stable release. Snapshots are daily development builds for developers to test the router to see if it turns on (and whatever else they have done with it); these builds receive NO security updates after they are built, lack any support, and prevent you from easily installing extra packages later due to changing kernel versions. You shan't get any automatic updates (Snapshots represent a frozen point in time and do not get patched for newly discovered vulnerabilities). With the factory Snapshot build, you can only install packages (like kernel modules or extra utilities) from the exact same day the snapshot was built; and once a newer snapshot replaces it in the repository, standard installations will fail due to checksum mismatches. Snapshots are automated builds that are untested from the main development branch. You don't want it! You want the STABLE firmware and kernel version (kernel comes with the firmware update). How to Flash (update) a Stable Release: Since your OpenWrt One likely shipped with a snapshot, transitioning to a stable release is the best practice for a set-it-and-forget-it router. Steps: 1) Open Firefox browser and open the LuCI interface. 2) Download the Image: Go to the OpenWrt Firmware Selector on the OpenWrt official world-wide-web-site, search for OpenWrt One from drop-down menu (so you'll get the version made for OpenWrt One router, and download the sysupgrade image. In my case, it looked like this: "openwrt-25.12.5-mediatek-filogic-openwrt_one-squashfs-sysupgrade.itb" 3) In LuCI, goto System --> Backup / Flash Firmware. Scroll down to Flash new firmware image, and choose your downloaded ".itb" image file. 4) You'll get this pop-up message (my screen): Flash image? The flash image was uploaded. Below is the checksum and file size listed, compare them with the original file to ensure data integrity. Click 'Continue' below to start the flash procedure. Size: 10.75 MiB MD5: {they'll show a long string of numbers and letter here} SHA256: {they'll show a crazy-long code of numbers & letters here} 5) In OpenWrt website, navigate to the Official OpenWrt Downloads directory for your router's build (https://downloads.openwrt.org/). You'll get a messsage like this: Welcome to the OpenWrt download area. Follow the links below to find the appropriate directory. Stable Release The current stable OpenWrt 25.12 release is linked below. It is adviced to use the latest available release if possible. OpenWrt 25.12.5 Released: 2026-06-29 6) Click on the latest version. In my case, above, the version was "OpenWrt 25.12.5". The link sends you to a page saying, "Index of (root) / releases / 25.12.5 / targets / ". Scroll down to "mediatek" and click on it ('coz mediatek is what the OpenWrt One router uses). You'll now get the page "Index of (root) / releases / 25.12.5 / targets / mediatek / ". Click on "filogic". You'll now get the page "Index of (root)/releases/25.12.5/targets/mediatek/filogic/". Scroll down to: "openwrt_one-squashfs-sysupgrade.itb" Next to it in the second column you'll see the sha256sum value. It should match the sha256sum in 4) above. If not, then do not install firmware! 7) Uncheck the box that says, "Keep settings and retain the current configuration" to ensure a clean transition, because you don't want to keep the Snapshot firmware configuration. You'll then get a pop up like this: Flashing… The system is flashing now. DO NOT POWER OFF THE DEVICE! Wait a few minutes before you try to reconnect. It might be necessary to renew the address of your computer to reach the device again, depending on your settings. 7) Wait a good fifteen minute just to be sure. The Message shan't go away; it's continuously say, "Flashing..." and it'll have a spinning icon always going because the browser shall not update because the router has been rebooted (make sure there's a green light in front of the router). It has indeed been flash, despite the message never going away. So, just close the browser. Open the browser again and re-log into LuCI. You'll be prompted to with the option for something like to automatically check for updates when signing-in. Agree to it and save it. 8) You'll notice a notice at the top that says to create a root password again (because it's a new firmware and OS kernel has been installed); create root password and log out. You're all set with the latest and greatest Stable firmware and OS kernel that everyone uses! You'll also have to activate wi-fi again, and re-enter your SSID name and wi-fi password again. 9) Subscribe to the OpenWrt mailing list (make sure in gmail, when you open up a new message to write you select "Plain text mode" in "More options", because the OpenWrt mailing list filters out HTML messages (because spam is written in HTML), and you'll be blocked from joining the mailing list. Check your spam box for the confirmation-to-join email and make it not spam. 10) Learn--really learn!--every pattern you can about OpenWrt and the OpenWrt One router, through the OpenWrt forums and YouTube videos. This wonderful learning--real learning!--shall better yourself and enrich your life, clearly! There's so many cool patterns you can do with OpenWrt with the OpenWrt One router! Yes! A whole new world awaits you... !!! NOTE: Has only one (1) output LAN port for ethernet cable and so I could not connect my digital landline phone to it (it was either connect my desktop PC to the router or my digital phone but not both. So, I had to buy an ethernet switch/splitter. This one: "Gigabit Ethernet Splitter 1 to 2, 1000Mbps RJ45 Internet Splitter 2 Port with 3.3FT LAN Cable, Dual Network Adapter for Cat5e/6/7/8, Support 2 Devices Simultaneously". I had to also buy a brick power supply adaptor for the switch, which was this one: "AC to DC 5V 3A USB C/Type-C Power Supply Adapter, 5 Volt 3000mA Power Cord Adapter for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 1GB/2GB/4GB and More 5V 15W Office or Home Devices,UL Listed FCC". You must use a powered splitter/switch 'coz inside is a processor that needs power to tell how the signals are to be split (in my case, one signal from the internet going out to my desktop PC and the same internet signal going out to my digital landline phone). Sure, I could have used my desktop PC's built-in wi-fi capability to connect to the router, but I prefer ethernet cable hence the switch/splitter set up. To connect ethernet switch to OpenWrt One router LAN port: 1) make sure ethernet switch/splitter power is unpluged & connect ethernet cable OpenWrt One router LAN port then other end to IN ethernet switch/splitter; 2) connect ethernet cable from one of the switch's/splitter's OUT ports to desktop computer ethernet LAN; 3) connect ethernet cable from digital phone (or from analog-to-digital adaptor that's connect to a land-line phone) to switch's/splitter's second OUT port; and 3) plug the switch/splitter power outlet. Computer should now auto connect to internet and digital phone should work, too (sometimes for digital phone to work, unplug modem and adaptor, wait a minute, then plug back in; or, which worked for me, I unplugged the switch's/splitter's power and then plugged it back in and the phone worked).

One day, I was configuring my TP-Link router, got annoyed by it randomly trying to redirect me to its website, and that got me thinking about whether I should finally install OpenWRT. Sadly, that TP-Link router isn't supported by OpenWRT, so I decided I just had to buy a better router. I was surprised to discover that there is indeed an official OpenWRT router that uses open source hardware and software, and I knew I had to give it a try. Before I ramble on, I just want to say that it's a great router, and if you're a tech enthusiast, chances are you won't be disappointed. Here are the pros: - Comes with OpenWRT pre-installed - Uses open source hardware that's hackable - Nice build quality, looks cool, and stands out among all the other routers stuck in the early 2000s - Compact size; frees up table space - The ability to block ads and have better DNS control across my entire home network is a huge win Now for a few "gotchas": - I was stunned to find that the router does not come with an actual user guide. Yes, it comes with a tiny piece of paper titled "User Guide", but it's not an actual user guide. It just has a few FAQs and tells you to go to the Youyeetoo website. It doesn't even provide a link to an exact user guide. The type of person buying this particular router are smart enough to figure this all out themselves, but come on! This device should come with a little more information than that. Also, what's with the Chinglish? It's 2026. We have LLMs. Chinglish should be a thing of the past. - The router is not exactly "plug-n-play." OpenWRT is preinstalled, but Wi-Fi is disabled by default, so you will have to either access the OpenWRT interface over an Ethernet cable or the console over USB-C in order to turn on WiFi. Not the biggest deal in the world, and I kinda get why they have it work this way, but let's be real; this thing's only real purpose is for Wi-Fi. Just enable the damn Wi-Fi by default, guys. - As pointed out by another Amazon reviewer, the version of OpenWRT that comes with this router is a developer release, not a stable one. This means you have to flash it with the stable release in order to receive firmware updates. I have no idea why someone chose to ship it with a developer version. However, addressing this really isn't difficult at all. The only cons: - There is only one LAN port on this device. If you want more than one device connected with Ethernet, you will need to buy a separate switch. I only ever have one Ethernet device plugged in, so this didn't affect me at all. It's also 1G instead of 2.6G. Doesn't make a difference to me, but I imagine this could be important to someone else. - This router is not meant to have cutting edge performance. It might not be for you if you are an avid competitive gamer or you need to be constantly pulling gigabytes as fast as godly possible. That said, I've been happily using $60 routers for years, and the OpenWRT One router is just as good. I have no evidence that it's anything but more performant than my TP-Link router was. Once you've gone through the somewhat quirky setup process, it's an awesome router that's worth every penny. I hope this thing continues to be developed, and that they release more powerful models in the future.

The router works great, and unlike others, actually runs pure openwrt. You will have full function access and control every aspect of your router, and a very stable experience. If you have many wired machines, you will need a switch, but otherwise it is a great router.

Great product. It does what it supposed to do. Many online videos are available to learn how to use it. I was up and running with it in no time. It meets my needs.