The Raspberry Pi is well known for the fun projects you can make with it but there are also quite a few practical projects to take advantage of, as well. Today we’ve got an impressive Raspberry Pi project to share created by a maker and developer known as Tristam. Using our favorite SBC, he’s managed to create a travel-sized router that runs OpenWRT, an open source application designed for making your own Linux-based router.
Tristam used a Raspberry Pi 3B+ for this project, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use a Raspberry Pi 4 B in its place. To test the configuration, Tristam connected his Raspberry Pi to a Ubiquiti AC long-range wireless access point using the Pi’s onboard Wi-Fi support. Although this worked for his demonstration, you could easily connect the Pi to the internet using other sources like an Ethernet connection.
The project is totally open source and easy to duplicate. All of the systems used to operate the router are open source and free to use. He also created a custom case for the project that can be 3D printed. True to the open source nature of most Pi projects, it too can be downloaded for free for anyone that wants to use it.
The 3D printed case supports the Raspberry Pi 3B+ as well as the USB wireless card. In this case, Tristam is using an AR9271 but you could use another similar card in its place. For his project, Tristam printed the housing with a Creality Ender 3 v2 Neo. If you want to download the case to print yourself, you can find the files over at Printables.
The router functions are handled using OpenWRT and result in a familiar interface that’s very easy to use. To access router controls, just open a browser window and navigate to 192.168.1.1. Accompanying the OpenWRT application is AdGuard. This is another open source tool used to block ads and trackers at the DNS level.
If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or just get a closer look at how it goes together, you’re in luck. Tristam was kind enough to share a detailed list of instructions for anyone who wants to recreate the project over at his official website.
