5 ms·

I refuse to use anything that doesn't support OpenWRT these days. The stability of a modern kernel, drivers and usermode can't be beat. While ax support is stil

by r1ch 6y ago

I refuse to use anything that doesn't support OpenWRT these days. The stability of a modern kernel, drivers and usermode can't be beat. While ax support is still a ways away, many ac devices support OpenWRT. I have the $70 wAP AC access point from mikrotik giving me ~400mbps TCP throughput at 2x2, WPA3 and zero buffer bloat and a $50 hEX which does routing/firewall, wireguard, network adblock and encrypted DNS.

sam_lowry_ 6y ago
Does wAP AC support OpenWRT?
- r1ch 6y ago
  Yes, though there are two hardware revisions - the newer model (2020 onwards) has a completely different chipset and no support yet (see comments at https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/mikrotik/mikrotik_rbwapg-5hact2hnd_wap_ac https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/mikrotik/mikrotik_rbwapg-5hac...)
rubatuga 6y ago
The MT7621 boards support OpenWRT, but IMO, they are a buggy mess requiring constant reboots, or freezes after long-hours of torrenting. Just because it runs OpenWRT, doesn't mean its stable. I'm testing out a WRT-1200AC, which has an ARM processor rivalling that of SBCs. I'll post about the long-term stability of the WRT-1200AC on my blog in a few months. You can find the WRT-1200AC for about $50 USD on ebay.
- r1ch 6y ago
  I generally try to avoid anything with a Mediatek or Broadcom wireless chipset, Atheros seems to be the more stable of the bunch. My OpenWRT experience hasn't been entirely flawless - the switch on the hEX kept crashing until I found a forum post that said flow control was buggy, turned it off and it's been good since.
  - rubatuga 6y ago
    The WRT1200AC has a Marvell chipset, which I've never tried before
sliken 6y ago
I get it, but seems WAY easier to have an opensource friendly routing running a linux kernel (with OpenWRT or similar), then push the hard parts to an access point. That way you can get 4x4 MIMO, 802.11ac, 802.11ax/wifi-6, etc and when there's a new version you don't have to replace your router to get it. Doubly useful if any future needs might include needing a second AP.
- r1ch 6y ago
  I admit I was very tempted to go with a proprietary AP, the TP-Link EAP660 HD for example looks amazing. However all my client devices are 2x2 and only my PC supports 802.11ax at this time, so I don't mind waiting a bit longer for possible OpenWRT support. My fiber caps at 500mbps so I'm only really missing ~100mbps over Wi-Fi, if I had gigabit service I'd probably have gone with the TP-Link. I also strongly agree with delegating routing / wireless to different devices, having a PoE AP offers so much flexibility for positioning so you get better coverage.
  - sliken 6y ago
    Heh, years ago I got a ubiquiti NanoHD, it rebooted every few weeks for a few months. Then Ubiquiti shipped a new patch for it mentioning stability improvements and it's been rock solid since. I just moved into a larger house and after some research decided to skip the $99 Ubiquiti 2x2 wifi6/802.11ax and get the $179 4x4 Ubiquiti wifi6/802.11ax, just received it this week and haven't installed it yet. PoE is also REALLY useful for cameras, hoping my 8 port PoE switch does well with 2 APs, and 5 cameras.
    - r1ch 6y ago
      Unfortunately I can't bring myself to like Ubiquiti products. They have a history of GPL violations, most of their Wifi product range is Mediatek based and there's an increasing requirement for an always-on cloud connection. Their UIs and marketing is really slick though, I'll give them that.
      - 6y ago

by r1ch 6y ago

sam_lowry_ 6y ago

Does wAP AC support OpenWRT?

r1ch 6y ago
Yes, though there are two hardware revisions - the newer model (2020 onwards) has a completely different chipset and no support yet (see comments at https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/mikrotik/mikrotik_rbwapg-5hact2hnd_wap_ac https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/mikrotik/mikrotik_rbwapg-5hac...)

rubatuga 6y ago

The MT7621 boards support OpenWRT, but IMO, they are a buggy mess requiring constant reboots, or freezes after long-hours of torrenting. Just because it runs OpenWRT, doesn't mean its stable. I'm testing out a WRT-1200AC, which has an ARM processor rivalling that of SBCs. I'll post about the long-term stability of the WRT-1200AC on my blog in a few months. You can find the WRT-1200AC for about $50 USD on ebay.

r1ch 6y ago
I generally try to avoid anything with a Mediatek or Broadcom wireless chipset, Atheros seems to be the more stable of the bunch. My OpenWRT experience hasn't been entirely flawless - the switch on the hEX kept crashing until I found a forum post that said flow control was buggy, turned it off and it's been good since.
- rubatuga 6y ago
  The WRT1200AC has a Marvell chipset, which I've never tried before

sliken 6y ago

I get it, but seems WAY easier to have an opensource friendly routing running a linux kernel (with OpenWRT or similar), then push the hard parts to an access point. That way you can get 4x4 MIMO, 802.11ac, 802.11ax/wifi-6, etc and when there's a new version you don't have to replace your router to get it. Doubly useful if any future needs might include needing a second AP.

r1ch 6y ago
I admit I was very tempted to go with a proprietary AP, the TP-Link EAP660 HD for example looks amazing. However all my client devices are 2x2 and only my PC supports 802.11ax at this time, so I don't mind waiting a bit longer for possible OpenWRT support. My fiber caps at 500mbps so I'm only really missing ~100mbps over Wi-Fi, if I had gigabit service I'd probably have gone with the TP-Link. I also strongly agree with delegating routing / wireless to different devices, having a PoE AP offers so much flexibility for positioning so you get better coverage.
- sliken 6y ago
  Heh, years ago I got a ubiquiti NanoHD, it rebooted every few weeks for a few months. Then Ubiquiti shipped a new patch for it mentioning stability improvements and it's been rock solid since. I just moved into a larger house and after some research decided to skip the $99 Ubiquiti 2x2 wifi6/802.11ax and get the $179 4x4 Ubiquiti wifi6/802.11ax, just received it this week and haven't installed it yet. PoE is also REALLY useful for cameras, hoping my 8 port PoE switch does well with 2 APs, and 5 cameras.
  - r1ch 6y ago
    Unfortunately I can't bring myself to like Ubiquiti products. They have a history of GPL violations, most of their Wifi product range is Mediatek based and there's an increasing requirement for an always-on cloud connection. Their UIs and marketing is really slick though, I'll give them that.
    - 6y ago