I have an unused Raspberry Pi 4 (2GB model) lying around and I would like to install OpenWRT on it and use it as a router. I get Internet from DSL so I can’t hook it up on the Raspberry Pi directly, I need to plug an Ethernet cable coming from my actual router to the Pi.

I am no expert on networking, so please forgive me if I say something that is wrong. I want the WAN coming in from the router from the Pi’s Ethernet port, and the LAN coming out as Wi-Fi. I may also stick an additional Ethernet adapter to it in the future. I have tried doing this many times and have failed. So, could anyone explain to me how could I do this?

Also, what are VLANs, what are their uses and if I wanted one, how could I setup it in OpenWRT?

Thanks in advance.

  • Snot FlickermanEnglish
    3•3 months ago

    OpenWRT should have VLAN support out of the gate. Probably has an admin page for it.

    Unless you want to go full wireless I would strongly suggest at least one USB ethernet dongle and a cheap managed switch (managed so you can take advangate of VLANs. Unmanaged switches are cheaper if you decide VLANs aren’t for you).

    • PadookEnglish
      2•3 months ago

      I agree about the USB Ethernet dongle. Unless you only require short distance wifi range (eg hotel room temp router) the radio in the pi isn’t going to be enough

      I built a pi4 router a few years ago, and it’s still running great, I recommend the project. But unfortunately I can’t find the HOWTO and it was before I started taking good notes. I assume your current router is a phone company supplied modem/router?

      My setup is cable modem–>pi router–>switch–> old netgear router in Access point only mode

      Being that your router/modem is upstream of router, I’m not sure if you could pass-through the WAN to the pi router, and pass back the LAN to the router/modem for the wifi… maybe someone on here can shed some light?