Welcome to the LEDE Project

The LEDE Project (“Linux Embedded Development Environment”) is a Linux operating system based on OpenWrt. It is a complete replacement for the vendor-supplied firmware of a wide range of wireless routers and non-network devices. See the Table of Hardware for supported devices. For more information about LEDE Project organization, see the About LEDE page.

Why use LEDE?

People install LEDE because they believe it works better than the stock firmware from their vendor. They find it is more stable, offers more features, is more secure and has better support.

  • Extensibility: LEDE provides many capabilities found only in high-end devices. Its 3000+ application packages are standardized, so you can easily replicate the same setup on any supported device, including two (or even five) year old routers. More about extensibility...
  • Security: LEDE’s standard installation is secure by default, with Wi-Fi disabled, no poor passwords or backdoors. LEDE’s software components are kept up-to-date, so vulnerabilities get closed shortly after they are discovered. More about security...
  • Performance and Stability: LEDE firmware is made of standardized modules used in all supported devices. This means each module will likely receive more testing and bug fixing than stock firmware which can be tweaked for each product line and never touched again. More about performance and stability...
  • Strong Community Support: LEDE team members are regular participants on the LEDE Forum, LEDE Developer and LEDE Admin mailing lists, and LEDE’s IRC channels. You can interact directly with developers, volunteers managing the software modules and with other long-time LEDE users, drastically increasing the chances you will solve the issue at hand. More about community...
  • Research: Many teams use LEDE as a platform for their research into network performance. This means that the improvements of their successful experiments will be available in LEDE first, well before it gets incorporated into mainline, vendor firmware. More about research...
  • Open Source/No additional cost: LEDE is provided without any monetary cost. It has been entirely created by a team of volunteers: developers and maintainers, individuals and companies. If you enjoy using LEDE, consider contributing some effort to help us improve it for others! All of the above is possible because LEDE is part of the Open Source community, and powered by Linux kernel. Get the source code...
  • And more... See more Reasons to Use LEDE...

Download LEDE

LEDE wants you!

Like any open source project, LEDE thrives on the efforts of its users and developers.

  • If you want to develop the software, please refer to our Developer Guide to learn how to get the source code, build it, and contribute your changes back to the project.
  • If you’re not a developer, you can still help. The documentation can always be improved (even if it’s to verify that the instructions match your experience), or you can help other community members with questions. Don’t hesitate to Register yourself in the wiki, or join our mailing list and IRC channels to get in touch.

Contents

Lede documentation is organised in a set of guides, a table of supported hardware, and package reference.