Running RTL SDR on A5-V11 3G/4G Router

Use super cheap A5-V11 3G/4G router (under $8) with OpenWrt as rtl_tcp or dump1090 server.

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Details

Very cheap solution for running rtl_tcp or dump1090 remotely over Ethernet or Wifi. On Aliexpress for on Ebay you can get A5-V11 router and you can upload custom OpenWrt image with RTL SDR and dump1090 support. Due very limited space in flash (only 4MB available) were removed unused packages.

There is only ssh access to the router, no web interface. You need to be familiar with linux.

If you have 3D printer you can print case for this project.

OpenWrt page for this router: https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/unbranded/a5-v11

Files

mini.bin octet-stream - 1.63 MB - 05/15/2016 at 16:38		Download
uboot256.img x-raw-disk-image - 103.03 kB - 05/15/2016 at 16:38		Download
openwrt-15.05-ramips-rt305x-a5-v11-squashfs-factory-RTLSDR.bin Openwrt image - factory. octet-stream - 3.50 MB - 04/14/2016 at 14:30		Download
openwrt-15.05-ramips-rt305x-a5-v11-squashfs-sysupgrade-RTLSDR.bin Openwrt image - sys upgrade. octet-stream - 3.50 MB - 04/14/2016 at 13:41		Download
rtl-sdr-case-router-bottom.stl Bottom part of case. Standard Tesselated Geometry - 247.97 kB - 04/14/2016 at 12:56		Download

View all 7 files

Components

1 × DVB-T dongle with rtl2832u chip From ebay or aliexpress for $7
1 × A5-V11 3G/4G Router From ebay or aliexpress for $8
1 × 3D printed case

Build Instructions

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1

Step 1

There are two versions of the router. Follow this page
https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/unbranded/a5-v11
to upload firmware.
Use my custom image from files section of this project.
2

Step 2

The default ip on ethernet is 192.168.1.1
Connect by telnet to this ip and set root password then will ne telnet disabled and you can use ssh.
3

Step 3

Configure network in /etc/config/network