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Obligatory comment/question: What routers do you use to run OpenWRT? What's the price like?

freestockoption 10y ago
I have a DIR-505L ($15) I use for traveling. Has OpenVPN and SSIDs setup to bridge to the VPN (on layer 2). So when I connect to that special SSID it's as if I'm still onsite. It's also just a wallwart, so it's easy to travel with and doesn't look suspicious. I also have a DIR-835 ($20). Also use it as a VPN router (both client and server). It's a lot more powerful than the DIR-505L and does 5ghz. I used to use a WRT54GL, but then 802.11N came along and I also wanted 5ghz. So I got a Linksys E3000, but I later bricked it during a botched firmware upgrade. The uptime on that thing was like 400 days until I had a power outage. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding a OpenWRT router that will support gigabit routing for the WAN. So now I use the AT&T supplied router/modem. Unfortunately with AT&T, bridging just does double NATing (and the box has a connection limit of ~2000 for ipv4).
zhongfu 10y ago
I've got a GL.iNet 6416A ($23) for portable use -- it has two Ethernet ports along with 802.11n on 2.4GHz and a USB port. Pretty nifty for on-the-go use, but don't think about it if you need to hit speeds over 35Mbps. That replaces my old modded TP-Link TL-WR703N ($35), since it beat it in almost everything. Now, I use it as a wireless bridge for an Ethernet-only device. I've got two Xiaomi Mi WiFi Minis (150 CNY, or ~$24) as budget APs. They do 802.11ac, but the three Ethernet ports on it only does 100Mbps. There's also a TP-Link TL-WDR3600 (free, but $60 on Amazon) that I use in another location. Works fine, and can easily hit the WAN's speed at 100Mbps. 802.11n over 5GHz also easily hits 90Mbps, which is nice. It's been incredibly stable, and hasn't went down in almost two years. I've got a handful of other routers with OpenWRT on them, but I no longer use them for a variety of reasons. Another TL-WDR3600 I had was replaced by an EdgeRouter Lite, since it couldn't really saturate my current Internet connection (1000/500).

I have a DIR-505L ($15) I use for traveling. Has OpenVPN and SSIDs setup to bridge to the VPN (on layer 2). So when I connect to that special SSID it's as if I'm still onsite. It's also just a wallwart, so it's easy to travel with and doesn't look suspicious. I also have a DIR-835 ($20). Also use it as a VPN router (both client and server). It's a lot more powerful than the DIR-505L and does 5ghz. I used to use a WRT54GL, but then 802.11N came along and I also wanted 5ghz. So I got a Linksys E3000, but I later bricked it during a botched firmware upgrade. The uptime on that thing was like 400 days until I had a power outage. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding a OpenWRT router that will support gigabit routing for the WAN. So now I use the AT&T supplied router/modem. Unfortunately with AT&T, bridging just does double NATing (and the box has a connection limit of ~2000 for ipv4).

zhongfu 10y ago

I've got a GL.iNet 6416A ($23) for portable use -- it has two Ethernet ports along with 802.11n on 2.4GHz and a USB port. Pretty nifty for on-the-go use, but don't think about it if you need to hit speeds over 35Mbps. That replaces my old modded TP-Link TL-WR703N ($35), since it beat it in almost everything. Now, I use it as a wireless bridge for an Ethernet-only device. I've got two Xiaomi Mi WiFi Minis (150 CNY, or ~$24) as budget APs. They do 802.11ac, but the three Ethernet ports on it only does 100Mbps. There's also a TP-Link TL-WDR3600 (free, but $60 on Amazon) that I use in another location. Works fine, and can easily hit the WAN's speed at 100Mbps. 802.11n over 5GHz also easily hits 90Mbps, which is nice. It's been incredibly stable, and hasn't went down in almost two years. I've got a handful of other routers with OpenWRT on them, but I no longer use them for a variety of reasons. Another TL-WDR3600 I had was replaced by an EdgeRouter Lite, since it couldn't really saturate my current Internet connection (1000/500).