How to turn a ~5€ A5-V11 pocket router into an XMPP chat-bot that lets you remotely access and control your home network from a smartphone — no port forwarding or dynamic DNS required.
Why the A5-V11?
In the quest for the cheapest off-the-shelf Linux hardware, the A5-V11 pocket router stands out — it consumes just ~0.3W, making it ideal for always-on IoT applications.
| CPU | 360 MHz MIPS (Ralink RT5350) |
| RAM | 32 MB SDRAM |
| Flash | 4 MB |
| Ethernet | 100 Mbit |
| Wi-Fi | IEEE 802.11b/g/n |
| USB | 1 port for peripherals |
| LEDs | Red and blue status indicators |
The A5-V11 pocket router — a ~5€ Linux device consuming just 0.3W.
How it works
The custom a5v11-xmpp firmware strips down most router/Wi-Fi functionality to fit an XMPP chat client daemon (based on lib-gloox) that acts as a chat-bot. XMPP makes it easy to access your home network without tweaking your home router settings — no port forwarding or NAT configuration needed.
Keep this device connected to your home internet and "chat" with it from anywhere using the Xabber app on your smartphone.
Setup instructions
Step 1 — Create two XMPP/Jabber accounts (master and slave) on your favorite Jabber server as explained here. Add both accounts as friends so the XMPP server can pass messages between them.
Step 2 — Connect a CAT-5/6 cable between your PC and the A5-V11 router, then power it on.
Step 3 — Flash the stock firmware with the a5v11-xmpp image. Follow the step-by-step guide in this blog post (also see the OpenWrt wiki for general instructions).
Step 4 — Connect the A5-V11 router to your home router's network (internet).
Step 5 — Log in via SSH to host my-a5v11 (user: root, default password: brb0x).
Step 6 — Configure the XMPP login details:
echo "user: test-slave-account@xabber.de" >/etc/xmproxy/xmpp-login.txt echo "pw: chatbotpw" >>/etc/xmproxy/xmpp-login.txt reboot
Important: Replace the test account details with your own credentials. Also use passwd to change the default root password.
Step 7 — Install Xabber on your smartphone and log in with the master account.
Step 8 — You should see the A5-V11 router appear online in Xabber. Send help to get a list of available commands.
Use cases
1. Get your public IP — Send publicip and the chat-bot responds with your home router's public IP. No dynamic DNS needed.
2. I2C peripheral control — Connect an i2c-tiny-usb adapter to the USB port for controlling sensors, GPIO expanders, and other I2C devices:
shellcmd i2cdetect -r -y 0 # scan for I2C devices shellcmdresp # read the scan result shellcmd i2cset -f -y 1 0x3c 0x00 0xff b # set PCF8574 pins high
A5-V11 with i2c-tiny-usb adapter for peripheral control.
3. Sonoff relay control — Control Sonoff Wi-Fi relays running Tasmota firmware on your local network:
sonoff 192.168.1.10 on # switch ON sonoff 192.168.1.10 off # switch OFF sonoff 192.168.1.10 toggle # toggle sonoff 192.168.1.10 # read current state
4. Remote SSH commands — Trigger commands on other Linux machines via sshpass:
shellcmd sshpass -praspberry ssh -y pi@raspi-ip sudo reboot shellcmd sshpass -praspberry ssh -y pi@raspi-ip sudo poweroff shellcmd sshpass -praspberry ssh -y pi@raspi-ip omxplayer /tmp/video.mp4
5. Wake-on-LAN — Power on a PC that supports WoL:
shellcmd etherwake 00:00:DE:AD:BE:EF
SOURCE CODE
github.com/hackboxguy/lede-a5v11 — build instructions and sources
a5v11-xmpp.uimg — pre-built firmware image
4 comments:
Hello Albert, saw your video, it was fantastic. I am an undergraduate engineer, doing a project using open source electronics. My question to you is, with the help of this A5-V11-router will I be able to exchange messages between an arduino and smartphone?
Basically, what I am trying to achieve is creating a chat server between a smartphone and an arduino with wifi module.
Do you have any leads on this?
A great work indeed atleast to say. It Must get acknolwwedgemnt from us. Take a bow.
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