Router Monitoring & Update System

The client had routers deployed across client sites with no visibility into signal quality, connected devices, active SIM cards, or firmware versions. The hardware ran OpenWrt - a resource-constrained embedded Linux environment with no conventional deployment pipeline — and there was no way to update software or flash firmware without sending a technician to each site. Replacing the fleet had to happen progressively, site by site, without disrupting active connectivity.

We started with R&D to understand OpenWrt's constraints, then designed a shell-based telemetry agent that operates entirely within those limits. We coordinated with the router manufacturer to pre-install the agent at the factory, so replacement hardware arrives at client sites already configured. The OTA update mechanism was designed to be backward-compatible across all previously deployed agent versions, with zero-downtime replacement logic. For firmware upgrades, we designed a separate Raspberry Pi daemon architecture - keeping the upgrade logic off the constrained router hardware entirely — where the Pi subscribes to Supabase Realtime events, downloads and verifies firmware from a VPS, authenticates to the router's LuCI interface, and executes the flash while reporting status to the dashboard throughout.

• 30+ routers live and reporting, with the remaining 150+ fleet being replaced progressively as part of an ongoing rollout
• Successful communication with manufacturer and other parties involved
• Data flowing live into the dashboard from every replaced router
• Script updates deployed fleet-wide automatically every 2 hours with no technician involvement