Possible AC Router with Atheros chip in the future?

justin · 2016-04-30T10:56:23.000Z

Hello!

I really do enjoy GL-Inet products. I was just wondering if at some point in the future, that GL-Inet will release a dual band AC router, with an Atheros chip instead of the Mediatek used on the GL-MT750. I have several use applications for a router such as this, but unfortunately the Mediatek chips cannot work with I intend to do.

Are there any plans in the future to build a dual band AC router thats Atheros-based? I would definitely purchase this product!

alzhao · 2016-05-03T12:18:54.000Z

Yes. Do you want big router or small router?

For small router, same size as AR150, we have one dual-band Atheros solution. We have samples now but have difficult in the drivers for 802.11ac. Ath10k driver is not well supported by the chip because it is hw1.0.

If anyone have skills in developing the drivers, we are very happy to give free boards.

justin · 2016-05-04T01:31:54.000Z

Either small or large would be fine, as long as it was Dual band and supported 802.11ac. Very happy to hear there is something in the making! I do wish I could help with drivers in any way but unfortunately that is far beyond my skill level.

Can’t wait to purchase some of these!

psyborg · 2016-05-04T05:52:09.000Z

Great to know there will be small sized dual band routers! I could also help with the drivers if help is still needed.

alzhao · 2016-05-04T12:41:22.000Z

@psyborg, do you have the skills for debugging wifi drivers? This is too difficult. If you can help. That would be great.

We did made it work with Qualcomm SDK. But users want openwrt.

psyborg · 2016-05-05T00:32:22.000Z

here’s an example of wifi driver fixes i’ve found (you can confirm this with felix):

https://github.com/openwrt/mt76/commit/58a24ef247601454165b442911009a65b35154bb

https://github.com/openwrt/mt76/commit/b6de6a08e46e1a1087a1fcd41a2ee0590de7c4a0

do you need this kind of work?

alzhao · 2016-05-05T09:56:11.000Z

Yes. I think it is this kind of work.

The driver we are working is ath10k.

mmonaghan · 2016-05-06T03:23:18.000Z

@alzhao

For what it is worth, several of the guys I’m working with have had negative reviews of the Ath10k hardware. IBSS mode is useless and other modes are not always stable. They are convinced it is a hardware problem with the device and not a driver issue. They advise to make sure results are repeatable for any issues you’re running into and to ensure that errors are appropriate for the context the driver is acting in. Let’s hope it is really just a misunderstanding of the driver and not an actual hardware issue. I’ll ask them if they’re interested in seeing your hardware implementation if you like.

M

buch8 · 2016-05-10T03:12:30.000Z

We did made it work with Qualcomm SDK. But users want openwrt.

With the uncertainty caused by the LEDE fork maybe you should just ship with your own firmware if you have a complete working one that is.

You can always offer a OpenWRT or LEDE factory image in a few month when things have settled and you got it working of course.

alzhao · 2016-05-10T10:16:10.000Z

@buch8, you are correct. We still need to make the Nand flash work first, then publish a single band version.

Seems ath10k support is improving and I hope to have it working soon.