OpenWrt Build for Raspberry Pi

OpenWrt provides official builds supporting the Raspberry Pi 3, Pi 4, and Pi 5, with the Pi 4 being the most popular choice due to its gigabit Ethernet and ample RAM. Older models like the Pi Zero and Pi 1 are technically capable but lack the CPU power for demanding routing tasks. The Pi 4's dedicated network controller makes it the practical minimum for reliable routing performance.

Yes, Pi-hole can be installed directly on an OpenWrt Raspberry Pi build, combining your router and DNS-based ad blocker into a single device. This eliminates the need for a separate machine running Pi-hole. Alternatively, OpenWrt's own adblock package provides similar DNS-level filtering without the Pi-hole web interface.

A Raspberry Pi has only one built-in Ethernet port, so you need a USB Ethernet adapter to create a separate WAN or LAN interface for routing. On the Pi 4, using a USB 3.0 gigabit adapter achieves near-line-rate throughput on the second port. Many users also configure the Pi as a Wi-Fi access point or VPN gateway rather than a full two-port router.

Yes, WireGuard is available as an installable package in OpenWrt and is one of the most common reasons users deploy OpenWrt on a Raspberry Pi. WireGuard is lighter and faster than OpenVPN, making it well-suited for the Pi's ARM hardware. It can be configured through LuCI, OpenWrt's web interface, or directly via command line.