01 / Embedded Linux · IoT & Networking · Fleet management
Cloud-managed OpenWRT firmware across 8 SoC platforms
Duration · Multi-year engagement
Team · Firmware lead + supporting engineers
The client
An enterprise networking product company shipping a family of wireless gateways and 4G/5G routers, with a growing installed base of customer-deployed devices across multiple markets.
The challenge
The product line had grown to six commercial SKUs built on eight different SoC families — a firmware maintenance nightmare. Each product needed its own OpenWRT (or Android 11) build, 4G/5G modem integration, and network stack tuning. On top of that, the business needed a way to remotely manage thousands of devices in the field: push configuration, roll OTA updates, monitor health, and inspect traffic when things went wrong.
What we did
- Built and maintained OpenWRT firmware across all eight SoC platforms with shared BSP components where possible and product-specific overlays where needed
- Integrated Quectel RM, EC, and EM series 4G/5G modems using custom Linux drivers, tuning throughput and connection stability across regions
- Designed enterprise-grade network configurations — custom firewall rules, VPN tunneling, MQTT telemetry, and REST-based remote management
- Architected and led development of a centralized cloud controller for remote fleet management — configuration, firmware rollout, and health monitoring at scale
- Implemented OTA update flows, real-time device health monitoring, and packet-level inspection tooling for field diagnostics
Outcome
- 6 commercial products shipping in production
- 1000+ device fleet under centralized cloud management
- Unified firmware architecture reducing per-product maintenance overhead