My current setup is a TP-Link wireless extender. From that I have my own little network that connects my computer, wireless devices and a Raspberry Pi 4. The RPi4 runs the Home Assistant OS for my small network of lights and switches. The TP-Link extender does not have enough memory to support OpenWRT which means I am dependent on the proprietary android app to configure it.

I thought I could use the integrations in HA to add OpenWRT and Pi-Hole but it looks like those integrations are for communicating with instances and devices not within the HA operating system.

What I was hoping to accomplish was to run HA, OpenWRT and Pi-Hole on the same RPi4 device and re-use the TP-Link extender elsewhere in the house to serve ad-blocked internet that extends beyond my little network of devices.

Would running multiple services like this be too demanding for the RPi4? And if it is possible, where is a good place to start?

  • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    You could maybe virtualize HomeAssistant and Pi-Hole on the Raspberry Pi (using Proxmox, Docker, etc.) depending on exactly which model it is and how much CPU and RAM those services need for your use-case, but IMO as cheap as Pis are [supposed to be], kind of the point of them is to be able to buy several and use one per service.

    Anyway, you told us about your TP-Link wireless extender, but what’s your actual router? That’s the important thing to be running OpenWRT on. (Don’t get me wrong: putting OpenWRT on the range extender would be nice in a “all my devices are running trustworthy FOSS firmware as a matter of principle” kind of way, but it shouldn’t actually be doing anything non-trivial other than extending your wifi range, so it’s not as if there’d be a practical benefit in terms of functionality that would make sense.)

    • alwaysconfused@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      The actual router rented out by the service provider. I don’t think they would be happy with me messing with their property.

      I also lived somewhere else where I didn’t have access to the main router so I use the extender as my personal network for file transfers, a few lights with a couple switches and my terrarium thermostat. If anything happens to the main router, I can just turn my extender into an access point and still have my personal network.

      TP-Link requires an account to use my own extender which annoys me. Their app redirects my connection to my extender through their cloud service. It’s not my VPN because I can still connect through the browser. Seems shadey and I don’t like having the account already.