Why is OpenWRT version in gl-inet routers is a year old?

Eli · 2021-02-10T23:07:07.304Z

I am new to routers, OpenWRT and GL-inet. I just got Brume router. I installed the latest firmware 3.105 default release (posted Dec 2020 by glinet) and it’s got OpenWRT 19.07.0-rc1 (Jan 2020), which is more than a year old! The latest version of OpenWRT is 19.07.6 on Jan 2021.

I am new to this, but isn’t this a security problem? Even laptops are updated daily or weekly let alone routers. There are vulnerabilities that have been fixed in the last year in releases after Jan 2020.

Or perhaps this is the situation with all routers and companies using OpenWRT?

How can I install OpenWRT 19.07.6?

alzhao · 2021-02-11T01:54:26.773Z

The firmware is always based on older openwrt version. Nothing wrong with that.

Security patches will be applied if found.

Eli · 2021-02-11T04:15:45.280Z

Is there an option to install the latest version of OpenWRT?

alzhao · 2021-02-11T04:18:02.634Z

Yes you can always do.

Just download from openwrt webiste and install on the router.

Eli · 2021-02-11T04:38:53.227Z

Oh, I see. Thank you and sorry for my naive question then!

Does glinet firmware image (the one denoted by version numbers such as 3.105) include anything more than OpenWRT software image?

If yes, then installing OpenWRT directly from OpenWRT website could cause issues.

If not, why does gl-inet provide old version in its firmware?

alzhao · 2021-02-11T04:50:06.342Z

I do not know how to answer.

limbot · 2021-02-11T06:35:35.762Z

Eli:

Does glinet firmware image (the one denoted by version numbers such as 3.105) include anything more than OpenWRT software image?

Hi, the Gl.inet firmware is still OpenWRT but what is done is that a nice interface is put on top to make lots of common functions easy to do. Without the Gl.Inet “skin” then you have to be able to play with LUCI and command line instructions. There are also some gl.inet “tweaks” included as well.

If you want to see what luci looks like go to more settings->advanced and login with the same password you setup up initially. It’s nowhere near as nice as the gl.inet interface and is more complexed to configure (though not as complexed as command line )

Eli · 2021-02-11T07:09:29.979Z

Oh, this fully answers my question! Thank you!

GLInet puts a shinier web GUI interface on top!

As long as no interesting feature is lost, I just install the latest OpenWRT.

If I want to revert back , I hope glinet includes instructions on installing their firmware from LUCI or command line.

limbot · 2021-02-11T07:23:51.294Z

Eli:

GLInet puts a shinier web GUI interface on top!

There are some extra services and other tweaks that again support end user experience.

If you try native OpenWRT and want to go back to the latest Gl.Inet firmware, you can always recover via UBOOT.

pingpong · 2021-02-13T20:02:43.962Z

@eli Similar thread (longer thread) over here as well. FYI.

Does Gl-iNet firmware get timely security updates from OpenWRT? Technical Support for Routers

Please forgive me for what may be a newbie question. The firmware for my device is fully updated at currently 3.105, and the OpenWRT version on it is 18.06.1. Yet the current (old-stable) version of OpenWRT is 18.06.9, because there have been many security updates since 18.06.1. So does that mean that my device is not securely updated? Is 3.105 secure even though the OpenWRT version it is out of date? Or maybe those security updates up through 18.06.09 are somehow actually included in 3.105…