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I want to build a home-made multi-room home sound system.

I'm looking for a single board computer device with a minimal hardware configuration. In my thoughts, my only requirements are:

  • Wi-Fi connection;
  • Audio output;
  • Push button to config wireless network through WPS;
  • An LED to show current network status;
  • Optionally, an RJ45 connection for development through SSH.

Actually no video output is required, nor additional USB ports.

What could be the cheapest solution for my needs?

Greenonline
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Jack
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    WPS is bad, m'kay? http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/33283/has-the-wps-brute-force-cracking-issue-been-fixed?lq=1 – Agent_L Dec 15 '15 at 11:20
  • would something like the chrome audio dongles work for you? – Journeyman Geek Dec 15 '15 at 12:39
  • @Agent_L mmhmh no.. WPS pin is bad, WPS push button is fine. Please read more on WPS.. – Jack Dec 15 '15 at 15:26
  • @JourneymanGeek thanks for hint, it is a nice toy, and even if not intended for a multiroom use, it can probably be adapted for this purpose. Anyway I'm curious to find solution below 39€. – Jack Dec 15 '15 at 15:51
  • @Jack WPS anything is pretty bad... it's being retired because it's superseded by the greater security offered by WPA2-PSK. Though it is at least better than WEP. – ArtOfCode Mar 06 '16 at 22:23
  • @ArtOfCode I think you're confused about what WPS is. It is not a protocol for securing connection, and cannot be compared to WPA or WEP. – Jack Mar 09 '16 at 11:05
  • @Jack no, it's a protocol for establishing connection, but it's an insecure one. My comparison to WPA was a reflection on the fact that WPA-protected password-based authentication is better than using WPS. – ArtOfCode Mar 09 '16 at 12:23
  • @ArtOfCode Can you give me reference for insecurity of push button WPS method? Also, given the context, and given the fact that clearly you can't have a PSK, what architecture you would suggest? – Jack Mar 09 '16 at 14:41
  • @ArtOfCode WPS can be a bad thing, but not always. It depends on how the routers firmware is setup, and how it handles multiple requests. A program called reaver made it easy to do by people who normally wouldn't stand a chance. It launches a brute force against the routers registrar to recover the WPA/WPA2 pass phrases. Normally taking 4-10 hours to complete, it makes apartment dwellers the prime targets. Some routers will eventually stop the requests outright, but most do not. This method made most WPA routers as easy to get into as WEP. Sorry for drudging up a 11 month old comment :) – BigElittles Jan 31 '17 at 20:37
  • Why is it people always call things cheapest instead of least expensive.....cheapness refers to quality of an item. – NZKshatriya Feb 02 '17 at 03:31
  • because most of the people using English worldwide is not an English native speaker ;) - Good to know @NZKshatriya, I will remember it – Jack Feb 02 '17 at 20:49

2 Answers2

4

I'm looking for something similar to this myself; currently I'm using a CHIP from NextThingCo; you'd have to write the software yourself for what you want, but it runs standard linux.

  • Wi-Fi connection
    • CHIP can connect to two wifi networks (or provide one). There's no ethernet, however.
  • Audio output
    • CHIP has a TRRS jack
  • Push button to config wireless network through WPS
    • CHIP can program two of the gpio pins for this
  • An LED to show current network status
    • There's a shell script for that at thom-nic/chip-network-status-led
  • Optionally, an RJ45 connection for development through SSH
    • run an ssh server
    • install a serial driver and connect it to your computer with a USB cable
    • usb keyboard/mouse and video output via TRRS/hdmi/vga

Items:

  • CHIP: $9 + ~$5-7 s/h
  • Power adapter: 2amp usb charger
  • Recommended: small power bank or lithium battery
  • Optional: case $2

This works fine for me with gmrender-resurrect, though I compiled it myself rather than installing from the repo. Currently I'm looking for something slightly more powerful that I can run BubbleUPnP server on as well, for transcoding (it doesn't seem able to start up).

Efreak
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3

Your best bet is one of the Rasbperry PI 2 or 3 is $35 The PI 3 does actually have built-in wifi, but no WPS button or activity leds. They both have a RJ45 for hard wiring with activity leds.

You need a 5V adapter,SD card, USB wifi adapter and shipping and handling will bring the cost up a bit more.

Give up on the WPS and wifi activity leds and save $10-$20. You can then get a USB dongle if you really need a WPS dongle and wifi activity leds.

cybernard
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