ipq806x: add support for TP-Link Talon AD7200
Bas Mevissen
abuse at basmevissen.nl
Mon Oct 12 07:24:04 EDT 2020
On 2020-10-12 12:46, Daniel Golle wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 11:59:17AM +0200, Bas Mevissen wrote:
>> On 2020-10-12 11:40, Bjørn Mork wrote:
>> > Bas Mevissen <abuse at basmevissen.nl> writes:
>> >
>> > > Nice work, but does it make sense to add a device that is already
>> > > EOL'ed by the manufacturer? I guess the installed base is also rather
>> > > small.
>> >
>> > Definitely!
>> >
>> > IMHO, it should me enough that there is one user with enough interest to
>> > actually do the work, submit it and - hopefully - maintain it for a
>> > while.
>> >
>>
>> The latter, maintenance, is my biggest question mark. Technically
>> keeping
>> the sources compile is the smallest task. You need someone to actually
>> use
>> recent builds all the time and preferably in multiple use cases to
>> catch
>> regressions. Otherwise, it might give a false impression that the
>> device is
>> supported and working.
>>
>> > In addition,
>> > - each supported device serves as a template and example for
>> > similar devices, simplifying support for other products.
>>
>> It is not really an unique product. It looks like it was (just)
>> created to
>> be a showcase at CES2016.
>
> To me it makes sense to support this device because it's easier to do
> than MikroTik or ubnt devices with 802.11ad which have their special
> quirks for EEPROM extraction and such (but yet those are very
> interesting targets imho!). Starting with a TP-Link device which more
> or less implements a plain reference design is a very good start for
> 802.11ad in Openwrt.
>
OK, good point. I'll buy a few when the price drops :-)
Obviously, my concern about maintenance remains when there is support
for a more popular equivalent device.
>
>>
>> > - OpenWrt support is good for the environment by increasing the usable
>> > lifetime of a device
>>
>> True in itself. I have a very old TP-Link TL1043ND V1.x running (for
>> which
>> support will be removed soon because it gets very difficult to keep
>> them
>> going with current software sizes).
>>
>> > - you can still buy this device new, despite the EoL announcement
>> >
>>
>> But should you? I would be very reluctant with buying EOL devices,
>> especially when being a "first" and with the price still up.
>>
>> I think that OpenWRT should be careful not to spend resources on
>> devices
>> that have no large install base nor any chance of getting it. In that
>> respect, I would prefer to prioritize on low RAM / low flash devices
>> instead
>> as they are everywhere and mostly running outdated insecure software.
>> With
>> things like ZRAM and an external flash drive, there life span could be
>> meaningfully extended.
>>
>> >
>> > Bjørn
>>
>> Bas.
>>
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