3 ms·

What I want to know (and what the article doesn't address) is: Why are so many other wi-fi routers such trash? I mean, I sort of know why: Because manufacturer

What I want to know (and what the article doesn't address) is: Why are so many other wi-fi routers such trash? I mean, I sort of know why: Because manufacturers keep making new hardware without the long-term support commitment that's necessary to get the firmware truly sorted out. But how did the market come to this? I would have thought that the average home router customer, at this point, groans in dread when its time to buy a router. To heck with crazy speeds my "broadband" cannot realize, never mind bleeding-edge protocols and questionable NAS USB ports. Don't we all want something that doesn't need a manual reset every couple of days? Why isn't uptime the #1 selling point by now?

awqrre 10y ago
I am pretty happy with the stock software on the RT-N66U and it is a very stable router (I've had it for a few years)... but of course I wish that all hardware was open and that it's software was open source and that I could install DD-WRT, OpenWrt, etc if I wanted to.
otabdeveloper 10y ago
Up until a just few years ago the Internet was fueled by extensive growth: router manufacturers (among others) made profits by selling to people who had never bought routers before. This has all but ended now, and people shopping for their second or third router will be making different decisions.
- mathgeek 10y ago
  > router manufacturers (among others) made profits by selling to people who had never bought routers before. They also make a huge chunk of their profits from resellers such as ISP's who will rent you a router with your access.
- fuzzfactor 10y ago
  You can sell a lot of garbage to consumers who have never bought that product type before. If the full-performance product is crowded out, it's sub-type can be lost forever. Once you enter the Garbaceous Period it can be the actual end of a higher quality era.

awqrre 10y ago

I am pretty happy with the stock software on the RT-N66U and it is a very stable router (I've had it for a few years)... but of course I wish that all hardware was open and that it's software was open source and that I could install DD-WRT, OpenWrt, etc if I wanted to.

otabdeveloper 10y ago

Up until a just few years ago the Internet was fueled by extensive growth: router manufacturers (among others) made profits by selling to people who had never bought routers before. This has all but ended now, and people shopping for their second or third router will be making different decisions.

mathgeek 10y ago
> router manufacturers (among others) made profits by selling to people who had never bought routers before. They also make a huge chunk of their profits from resellers such as ISP's who will rent you a router with your access.
fuzzfactor 10y ago
You can sell a lot of garbage to consumers who have never bought that product type before. If the full-performance product is crowded out, it's sub-type can be lost forever. Once you enter the Garbaceous Period it can be the actual end of a higher quality era.