Question Wyse 5070 thin client as cheap Wifi 6e router??

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I found myself looking for a (relatively) inexpensive WIFI 6e router, mostly for the third band.

I have a couple of spare Wyse 5070 thin clients, and I found some rather inexpensive Wifi 6e network cards
that plug into the empty M.2 wifi slot on the motherboard.

Would there be any way to turn this into an inexpensive 6e router?

It has 8GB RAM, an M.2 SSD slot, and uses, as I recall, 20 watts or less.

 

[lantis3]

Don't waste your time, sell your Wyse units and get a real 6e router.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Ok, I had heard of people making their own routers using old PC's, so I thought that this might be a possibility.....

 

[lantis3]

People do use old PC as router, but probably 99.9% without wifi, since x86 Linux's wifi support for router is extremely poor. Wifi support in Linux usually only works in client mode.

OpenWRT has better wifi support, but majority of them are not x86.

 

[JackMDS]

And after few months they start to Waste money because a computer take more electricity than a Regular Router.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Regarding electricity, current router, Nighthawk, uses 42 Watts. According to a number of 'Kill A Watt' tests on the Wyse 5070, power draw ranges from 6 Watts up to 15 Watts. (Another source states Max 16 Watts on the 5070.) Wouldn't that represent power savings over time?

I wanted Wifi 6e, because of interference that causes our wifi to slow down a lot at times. I had seen some intel m.2 wifi cards for about $25, and I only had about $25 in the Wyse 5070, so I thought this might be an easy way to set up a Wifi 6e router for $50 or less.

Do the intel wifi cards have trouble being recognized in Linux? Are the cards unable to support enough devices simultaneously?

 

[lantis3]

Question - 802.11be the cheap way.... <$40

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805957376726.html - picked them up for $36/ea Got the cards and tackled the laptop install first since it's easier to mess with while not interrupting the server / router to install the M2. The cards show up in Windows as wcn7851 which isn't quite the same...

forums.anandtech.com

Intel wifi chip doesn't do AP according to Tech Junky

paging @Tech Junky for help.


Well, found this

https://www.reddit.com/r/openwrt/comments/14b8z6r

 

[lantis3]

If you really want a DIY solution that have a 6e card to work with OpenWRT, join its forum. It's probably not for faint of heart. You also need to buy the correct type of antenna and it's cords/connectors.

Anyone got MT7921K WiFi6E card running in x86 OpenWrt?

I'm using the same MT7921 in an M.2 card running in x86 ... The card only see one of the radios, not sure how to have simultaneously 2 or 3 radios (if 6GHz is working). Also the other problem is that the card only comes up in AP mode if I do "disable and then enable" after a boot. Someone got it...

forum.openwrt.org

Openwrt support of Mediatek MT7922u

I expect 23.05 branch to stay on kernel 5.15 for its lifetime. 5.15 is scheduled to get LTS support until October 2026. 5.16 is not a kernel with LTS support. Support for kernel 5.16 already ended in April 2022. The next LTS kernel following 5.15 is 6.1, that is already used in master branch...

forum.openwrt.org

MediaTek MT7916 Not Detected

Hello, I just tested and booted OpenWRT from an USB stick (directly on bare metal) and the result is the same. The Wifi card is detected I see the modules are loaded but I cannot see any wlan interface being shown. Also as I mentioned in my previous post on another VM running Archlinux kernel...

forum.openwrt.org

https://www.mediatek.com/products/broadband-wifi/mediatek-filogic-630

What to build X86 with Wi-Fi 6

I own the MT7916, installed in my topton variant x86_64 router, the performance with it is currently disappointing than those off the shelf dedicated AP devices. Simple test result : Client is Vivo v2120 getting ~ 123/66 Mbps (DL/UL) on 5 Ghz 160 Mhz Client is Vivo v2120 getting ~ 50.5/53.6...

forum.openwrt.org

No x86 CPU listed

[OpenWrt Wiki] Table of Hardware: Ideal for OpenWrt + Wifi6 (802.11ax) supported

openwrt.org

Reality is that you hardly can find success story running OpenWRT x86 with wifi adapter in AP mode

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Dang, I guess I need a better card.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Should I consider something other than OpenWRT?

 

[lantis3]

Another very popular x86 router software pfSense has even worse wifi support, only up to 802.11g ---> 54Mbits only

You will not benefit from 6e router if your client devices don't support 6Ghz channel. Windows 11 ( Win10 not supported) is required even for a 6e client adapter.

You should consider cheaper wifi 5 / 6 mesh system to replace Nighthawk if the signal is not good around the house.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Another very popular x86 router software pfSense has even worse wifi support, only up to 802.11g ---> 54Mbits only

You will not benefit from 6e router if your client devices don't support 6Ghz channel. Windows 11 ( Win10 not supported) is required even for a 6e client adapter.

You should consider cheaper wifi 5 / 6 mesh system to replace Nighthawk if the signal is not good around the house.

My problem is microwaves - on existing bands, our 3 PC's are about 12 feet from our 2 microwaves, and internet slows to a crawl whenever someone microwaves anything. I've talked to a number of other folks, and this does not seem to be rare. I have read that the new, third bandwidth that 6e adds is more resistant to such interference.

 

[lantis3]

Guess you have same SSID for 2.4Ghz and 5GHz channels and your PCs connect to the 2.4Ghz channel.

Microware is also 2.4Ghz, that's why you got interference.

Turn off Nighthawk's 2.4Ghz or use different SSID for 2.4Ghz and 5 Ghz channels and only connect to 5Ghz channel, of course all of your devices need to have 5Ghz support

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I was thinking that 5GHz might be a help, but one of my PC's is hooked up using that, and it still has the problem, so I thought I would go with 6e.

My kids are convinced that they are actually getting "microwaved" by leaks. I keep telling them that it is just RF interference. (hopefully!)

 

[lantis3]

Well, the best solution is cheap wired ethernet, except that it can be hard to route and be an eyesore.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Yes, I had thought about doing that with white cables that would sort of blend in, up at the edges of the ceiling, since we have our 3 computers in the same room as the router.

However, I have the wifi turn off from 10pm to 6am, to help keep the kids from doing things during the night, and to help keep us (parents) from staying up way too late on weekdays, watching streaming shows too late.