any FULLY open source wireless routers out there?

[Tom Metro]

Bill Bogstad wrote:
> ...they don't have any binary drivers linked into their kernel.

I don't know about that, but...


> Best would be if the hardware vendor actively encouraged replacement
> firmware... All this in an integrated package that I don't have to
> assemble myself. Does a product/vendor exist in this space?

Yes, there are several smaller hardware vendors that ship their products 
with the well known replacement firmwares - DD-WRT or OpwnWRT - as the 
officially supported and supplied firmware. I recall some being 
advertised on the DD-WRT site...looks like they have a bunch of products 
on their store site:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/shop/catalog/


On the OpenWRT side there is:
http://www.ubnt.com/products/rs.php

which is a raw board that sells for about $60 and comes with OpenWRT. 
Looks like they have some turn-key packaged solutions too, such as:
http://www.ubnt.com/products/ap1000.php

but they're described as coming with "AirOS by Ubiquiti Networks. It 
also is supported by a Linux SDK to encourage open source development."

I couldn't find a price for the above product, but ran across a thread 
on the DD-WRT forums from last Fall:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=40013

saying shipment was delayed, and also mentioned that you normally had to 
pay a fee to use DD-WRT on Ubiquiti routers.


And then there are a pile of other vendors, such as 
http://www.pcengines.ch/alix.htm , that make router or router-like 
single board computers, both raw and packaged, that are shipped with a 
Linux distribution other than the above two. They shouldn't be too hard 
to find on http://linuxdevices.com/ and other sites that deal with 
embedded Linux.


While you might get vendor support from this approach, you'll 
undoubtedly pay higher up-front cost (often you'll have to pay extra for 
the wireless radio card), and have a smaller community of developers and 
users using the product.

  -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/