Hi guys as title suggests I have a pi 4b 4gb and basically I want to connect it to my isp provided router (wired connection via a lan cable) and run an openvpn config on it and then connect it to an access point that i already have (this one is wired too via a usb to RJ45 adapter and lan cable). I know that I need to flash openwrt image on an sdcard and install it on pi4 but I don’t know how to configure openwrt after that and honestly the guides on the forums and internet are a little confusing (I’m not that tech savy) also I read that not all usb to RJ45 adapters work with openwrt on pi4 but I don’t know which one to buy. can anyone show me a fool proof guide or tell me what I need to do? Edit: thank you all amazing people for your input I found a Google wifi mesh solution second hand (ac-1304 model) that is supported by OpenWRT latest firmware for a good price and I went with that. Gonna find a proper use case for my Raspberry Pi in the future for now gonna keep it as a tinkering device.

  • tavu@sopuli.xyz
    0·
    1 month ago

    You have the pi, give it a go.

    If it’s inadequate then i’d recommend a used fanless thin-client type PC, such as a Wyse 5070, just make sure it comes with PSU and a few GB of RAM and SSD. And check reports of how much power it uses at idle.

    • aprehendedmerlin@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      Thanks I will try running Wireguard on pi4. I never considered tin-clients before. What kind of OS these have? Can they run VPN clients?

      • tavu@sopuli.xyz
        0·
        1 month ago

        Usually they’re normal x86 PCs with nothing unusual about them so just your Linux/BSD distro of choice. You can look up the processor model to see what crypto acceleration it can do, or see if there’s any wireguard benchmarks available.

        Some have interesting processors like PowerPC, or other strange hardware, but avoid them unless interesting is what you’re after.

      • FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.orgEnglish
        0·
        1 month ago

        Can you just get your own Router and use that instead of the ISP one? Then you can flash whatever firmware you want on it and you can run the openvpn/wireguard client at the router level. You won’t need to combine the Pi with it.

          • FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.orgEnglish
            0·
            1 month ago

            I think most consumer routers let you flash firmware. I believe certain Asus ones do, but obviously just validate that before buying it. OpenWRT has a list of supported devices you can check.

            I just figured that if you’re doing network stuff then you’d likely want to use something other than the ISP router as those track your activity more (this is a privacy community after all) and lock many features you may need.

            • aprehendedmerlin@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
              0·
              1 month ago

              I checked OpenWRT table of hardware and there were some Asus and Mikrotik models that are available where I live but I don’t know which one to buy that sufficient hardware for running ovpn clients

    • thatsnothowyoudoit@lemmy.ca
      0·
      1 month ago

      Ran WireGuard on a Pi1 and it was fine for two users. Albeit WireGuard was the ONLY thing running aside from a Gitlab Runner.

      A 4b should be more than enough for many use cases except things that cause torrents of packets - but even then YMMV. It really depends on the workload.

      One bit of advice: if you can, use a storage device other than the micro-sd slot for the 4B. Again YMMV.

    • aprehendedmerlin@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      I already have a pi4B just wanted to find a use case for it. Is it really that bad? so how consumer routers with a fifth computing power run vpns?