Enabling Wi-Fi on First boot

[Eric Luehrsen]

On 7/6/21 8:36 AM, Alberto Bursi wrote:
> 
> 
> On 06/07/21 09:12, Enrico Mioso wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 5 Jul 2021, Paul Spooren wrote:
>>
>>> Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2021 09:06:14
>>> From: Paul Spooren <mail at aparcar.org>
>>> To: Enrico Mioso <mrkiko.rs at gmail.com>, openwrt-devel at lists.openwrt.org
>>> Subject: Re: Enabling Wi-Fi on First boot
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7/5/21 8:45 PM, Enrico Mioso wrote:
>>>> Hello all!!
>>>>
>>>> I would like to know your opinion on a topic I know has already been 
>>>> discussed: enabling Wi-Fi on first boot.
>>>> I would very very much like to see this feature present in OpenWRt: 
>>>> because I find myself in a scenario where plugging an Ethernet cable 
>>>> after a fresh sysupgrade without keeping settings (due a a major 
>>>> upgrade or just to "start clean") could be impractical.
>>> I think you can add uci-default scripts to enable it or do you want a 
>>> config option during build time?
>>
>> Hello Paul!!
>>
>> Well, I tought about uci-defaults, but I tough it won't be so easy to 
>> implement due to the fact Wi-Fi is probed asynchronously, and on some 
>> devices i saw it takes a little bit (Netgear R7800).
>> I would have liked to have something already implemented in OpenWRt, 
>> so it could be looked at by more people and have much higher chances 
>> of working on all devices.
>>
>> Enrico
>>
> 
> The only thing that must be done by a uci-defaults script is to set the 
> wifi as enabled in the uci config.
> Afaik all devices ship with a default config for an open wifi network 
> called "OpenWrt" for all their radios, but have
> 
> option disabled '1'
> 
> in both the device and wifi-iface text blocks, which disables the wifi.
> 
> The uci-defaults script should just delete that line recursively along 
> the whole /etc/config/wifi config file and it can be done with sed.
> 
> Since uci-defaults scripts are run before everything else, the device 
> should just have all wifi enabled on first boot no matter what wifi 
> hardware it actually uses.
> 
> You can easily turn this in a package (that only installs a uci-defaults 
> script), just look at any other package that sets a uci-default script 
> like this
> https://github.com/openwrt/packages/blob/master/net/bcp38/Makefile
> and use it as a template for your own.
> 
> Since there are strong opinions are about keeping wifi off by default 
> (last time I checked even devices that have no other network interfaces 
> can't have a wifi enabled on first boot, forcing users to do a first 
> config through the debug UART console or integrate a custom wifi config 
> file in a custom image) I do not think many core developers will want to 
> merge this package in core repository, but you can try.
> 
> I think there should not be much problems if you send your package to 
> community packages repository.
> https://github.com/openwrt/packages
> 
> -Alberto

Most modern devices have default SSID and password in ROM somewhere that 
stock OpenWrt doesn't touch. It is written on the radio regulatory 
compliance sticker. That would seem convenient for the user OEM or 
OpenWrt. IF OpenWrt knows where to find it, and IF it is found on on 
first boot, then enable WiFi at first boot. This is especially important 
on WiFi only devices and as more "slim format" user devices (tablets, 
phones, ...) are exclusive in homes and have no ethernet. A system 
reflash or reset with stock OpenWrt is not an option for these users. 
For example, it should not be trouble to find it on TL 3600/4300/Archer 
and WRT 1900/3200.

- Eric