4 ms·

Well crap... I have two C7s. IMO there might not be (or at least have been) a better mainstream router for the price.

by manyxcxi 11y ago

AndyMcConachie 11y ago
It's not cheap, but it's badass. https://omnia.turris.cz/en/ https://omnia.turris.cz/en/
- akerro 11y ago
  This hardware and software spec looks really good, I'm getting one as well. Too bad my ISP can't offer anything more than 2mbps...
- ionised 11y ago
  This looks great, I want one.
- manyxcxi 11y ago
  The page says starting at 99 and I literally couldn't find a buy button fast enough. After landing on the Indiegogo page and seeing how much it would cost for a few of the features I'm interested in- yeah, I'll pass. It sounds like a heck of a router but it got spendy fast.
  - AndyMcConachie 11y ago
    There's also this. https://www.thinkpenguin.com/catalog/wireless-networking-gnulinux https://www.thinkpenguin.com/catalog/wireless-networking-gnu...
westbywest 11y ago
It's expected other manufacturers will begin locking down their firmware. Ubiquiti, for example, already does.
- tjohns 11y ago
  Out of curiosity, why would you want to reflash an Ubiquiti AP or router? They tend to be extremely feature rich, since they target enterprise and professional customers.
  - calgoo 11y ago
    Hi, as an example, we use the qmp.cat software for creating wireless mesh networks.
Decade 11y ago
I got an Archer C7 during the Winter Shopping Season, that was affected by this. In the current revision, I got around the lock by booting into recovery mode and uploading OpenWRT via TFTP. I expect that future models will close this hole, and then I definitely won’t be buying TP-LINK devices in the future. I think it’s a bit extreme to say the C7 is the best. It never was the best performer, and already 802.11ac Wave 2 devices with MU-MIMO are on the market, potentially outperforming the C7. Maybe it’s coincidentally the best value for the money, but that will not last. Every generation, I wearily observe the large number of router models. I thought the Buffalo WZR-600DHP was a pretty good value late in the 802.11n generation, but now it’s retailing for more than I paid for it. WiFi routers are a lemon market.
- qb45 11y ago
  > I expect that future models will close this hole, and then I definitely won’t be buying TP-LINK devices in the future. I suppose people will start rooting these devices. It's not like consumer routers have particularly impressive security track record.
  - userbinator 11y ago
    It's somewhat ironic that the scary security issues could actually be the path to freedom, sort of like jailbreaking and rooting any other device. Perhaps that's the way it should be, they come insecure by default and you're supposed to exploit that to enable installing your own, more secure, software...
- manyxcxi 11y ago
  It's definitely not the best in the whole market, but in the sub $100 consumer router area? I've not used anything better. I replaced a couple much more expensive routers with these and I've been very happy. I feel like it is such a praised model because it is such a value by being good, maybe not great in most important categories at such a low price. When these die or get obsolete I think I'll finally just move up to the entry level business products a la Ubiquiti or the like.

Well crap... I have two C7s. IMO there might not be (or at least have been) a better mainstream router for the price.

AndyMcConachie 11y ago

It's not cheap, but it's badass. https://omnia.turris.cz/en/ https://omnia.turris.cz/en/

akerro 11y ago
This hardware and software spec looks really good, I'm getting one as well. Too bad my ISP can't offer anything more than 2mbps...
ionised 11y ago
This looks great, I want one.
manyxcxi 11y ago
The page says starting at 99 and I literally couldn't find a buy button fast enough. After landing on the Indiegogo page and seeing how much it would cost for a few of the features I'm interested in- yeah, I'll pass. It sounds like a heck of a router but it got spendy fast.
- AndyMcConachie 11y ago
  There's also this. https://www.thinkpenguin.com/catalog/wireless-networking-gnulinux https://www.thinkpenguin.com/catalog/wireless-networking-gnu...

westbywest 11y ago

It's expected other manufacturers will begin locking down their firmware. Ubiquiti, for example, already does.

tjohns 11y ago
Out of curiosity, why would you want to reflash an Ubiquiti AP or router? They tend to be extremely feature rich, since they target enterprise and professional customers.
- calgoo 11y ago
  Hi, as an example, we use the qmp.cat software for creating wireless mesh networks.

Decade 11y ago

I got an Archer C7 during the Winter Shopping Season, that was affected by this. In the current revision, I got around the lock by booting into recovery mode and uploading OpenWRT via TFTP. I expect that future models will close this hole, and then I definitely won’t be buying TP-LINK devices in the future. I think it’s a bit extreme to say the C7 is the best. It never was the best performer, and already 802.11ac Wave 2 devices with MU-MIMO are on the market, potentially outperforming the C7. Maybe it’s coincidentally the best value for the money, but that will not last. Every generation, I wearily observe the large number of router models. I thought the Buffalo WZR-600DHP was a pretty good value late in the 802.11n generation, but now it’s retailing for more than I paid for it. WiFi routers are a lemon market.

qb45 11y ago
> I expect that future models will close this hole, and then I definitely won’t be buying TP-LINK devices in the future. I suppose people will start rooting these devices. It's not like consumer routers have particularly impressive security track record.
- userbinator 11y ago
  It's somewhat ironic that the scary security issues could actually be the path to freedom, sort of like jailbreaking and rooting any other device. Perhaps that's the way it should be, they come insecure by default and you're supposed to exploit that to enable installing your own, more secure, software...
manyxcxi 11y ago
It's definitely not the best in the whole market, but in the sub $100 consumer router area? I've not used anything better. I replaced a couple much more expensive routers with these and I've been very happy. I feel like it is such a praised model because it is such a value by being good, maybe not great in most important categories at such a low price. When these die or get obsolete I think I'll finally just move up to the entry level business products a la Ubiquiti or the like.