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Documentation

OpenWrt

OpenIPC provides an OpenWrt package set for running WFB-NG on router hardware. This allows an OpenWrt router to work as a lightweight WFB-NG ground station for OpenIPC FPV systems.

The project lives at OpenIPC/wfb-ng-openwrt.

When to Use It

Use the OpenWrt path when you want the receiver to be a router instead of a phone, SBC, or laptop. A router can be mounted higher or farther away from the pilot, for example on a roof or mast, and connected back to the viewing device over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, RNDIS, or another network path.

A dual-band OpenWrt router with USB is recommended. See the project’s tested devices page before choosing hardware.

Package Options

The OpenWrt package exposes several build options:

  • wfb-rx: installs the wfb_rx binary.
  • wfb-tx: installs the wfb_tx binary.
  • wfb-keygen: installs the wfb_keygen binary.
  • wfb-key: installs the default key used by OpenIPC and Android FPVue, linked to /etc/gs.key.
  • wfb-gs: installs the OpenWrt WFB ground-station scripts and configuration.

The wfb-gs option is the practical ground-station package. It sets the wireless adapter to monitor mode, receives data from the wireless interface, and forwards the stream to the device that decodes and displays video.

Features

The package is designed to be compatible with OpenIPC FPV and supports:

  • using the router’s integrated wireless card instead of an external USB Wi-Fi adapter;
  • 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands on dual-band routers;
  • forwarding video and MAVLink over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, RNDIS, or other network paths;
  • unicast mode with automatic destination switching between an Android phone over USB tethering and a PC on Ethernet or Wi-Fi;
  • multicast mode for sending to Android over RNDIS and an SBC over Ethernet at the same time.

Basic Configuration

OpenWrt settings are managed through UCI. After changing settings, commit the changes and reload the configuration.

Set Channel

Terminal window
uci set wfb-gs.config.channel='36'
uci commit
reload_config

Set Unicast Destination

This example sends the stream to 192.168.1.100 in unicast mode:

Terminal window
uci set wfb-gs.config.ip_pc='192.168.1.100'
uci set wfb-gs.config.mode='unicast'
uci commit
reload_config

Edit the Config File

You can also edit the config file directly:

/etc/config/wfb-gs

After saving the file, run:

Terminal window
reload_config

Defaults

Default values from the package documentation:

SettingDefault
Router IP192.168.1.1
Config file/etc/config/wfb-gs
Stream destination IP192.168.1.2
Channel161
Bandwidth20MHz

Hardware Notes

A dual-band router with a supported wireless chipset is preferred. The integrated Wi-Fi card can be used for WFB-NG reception, which keeps the setup compact and avoids an external USB Wi-Fi adapter in some builds.

If you need a more traditional receiver setup, compare this path with:

Planned Work

The upstream project lists these future ideas:

  • use multiple routers to receive;
  • receive from 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands simultaneously.

Source