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What router does HN recommend for consumers? I personally run Ubiquiti Unifi gear, but they're not exactly consumer friendly (more geared to power users).
by YPPH 5y ago
What router does HN recommend for consumers?
I personally run Ubiquiti Unifi gear, but they're not exactly consumer friendly (more geared to power users).
- lmilcin 5y agoI personally run Ubiquiti Unifi myself, but after some news here on HN I have serious doubts and am in search of a better alternative myself. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26638145 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26638145
- theshrike79 5y agoSo are we all, but there isn't one really. Unifi fills their prosumer niche perfectly, no matter how much of an ass and mismanager the current CEO is. All of the competition either requires intimate knowledge of networking internals, is twice as expensive or both.
- OneLeggedCat 5y agoWhatever I can keep an updated OpenWRT on.
- mjevans 5y agoBuy something well supported by OpenWRT; that typically correlates to at least OK hardware that is known to work well enough. Ideally you'd also install OpenWRT on it, or another choice of OSS rather than factory firmware.
- onecool 5y agoFunny enough, I recently purchased one of the latest TP-Link Archer 5400x (AX73) routers. Ended up not needing it, so I opened it up and connected via UART. Once you log in it appears to be running a version of OpenWRT, although they don't specify that on their website.
- stephen_g 5y agoYeah, I love the older Ubiquiti stuff (Edgerouter) and the Unifi access points, but all their new routers (like the UNMS ones) seem to require cloud hook-in which I really don't want. When the EdgeRouter-4 I have dies, I suspect I'm going to need to find a new hardware brand, this time preferably running OpenWRT. Potentially it could get to the point where I'll have to look for an ARM based server with low enough power usage and a few independent network interfaces and just run pfSense or VyOS or something...
- avh02 5y agoHaven't done it myself yet but did pick up an rpi cm4 based board to do this: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2021/two-tiny-dual-gigabit-raspberry-pi-cm4-routers https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2021/two-tiny-dual-gigabit...
- washadjeffmad 5y agoThey still sell the ER series, but Microtik sounds like what you want. However, it's likely that your ER-4 will far outlast the majority of devices you can find running OpenWRT. They're very well built units.
- stephen_g 5y agoYeah, I’ve used Microtik gear, and I never liked their software. I hear the performance has improved a lot though (that was a big selling point of the Ubiquiti gear when I got into it with their hardware acceleration). I expect I will eventually move to embedded server hardware (even maybe Xeon-D) on a machine running vSphere or something with a router VM and other VMs for stuff I want to run. Just have a few separate NICs and pair it with a separate managed switch (which I already have anyway).
- warent 5y agoI use Synology but admittedly have don't have a deep understanding of networking or security. It works for me and is very user friendly.
- indigo945 5y agoWhat Synology products do you use? I was not aware they offered routers.
- simondotau 5y agoThey do offer a router. It's basically just a Synology NAS with no drives and a few extra routery bits. https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/RT2600ac https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/RT2600ac
- msh 5y agoUbiquity AmpliFi. That’s their consumer line of routers with WiFi.
- zekrioca 5y agoMikrotik
- lmilcin 5y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18200119 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18200119 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17908028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17908028
- zekrioca 5y agoOh well, "Let s/he who has not sinned cast the first stone". One can very well install OpenWrt on any Mikrotik.
- jonathantf2 5y agoGrab an old office computer stick and Intel NIC and run OPNsense [0] on it. I've got an old Lenovo ThinkStation and it works brilliantly. [0] https://opnsense.org/ https://opnsense.org/
- lmilcin 5y agoThat is, assuming you have plenty of time. I don't. Is it too much to ask to have competently built hardware with competent software for a reasonable price enabled by mass production? I mean, just don't make stupid things like open access to it from a single point of failure where a single engineer can loose their AWS key and enable attackers to access million networks? Or build devices that overheat placed on an open shelf in home office in truly unreasonably hot Polish climate?
- globular-toast 5y agoIt depends on your experience. For me it didn't require much time at all. You might also consider it a valuable learning experience so worth making the time. I would highly recommend being on top of your own home network as you really never know when networking skills will come in handy.
- lmilcin 5y agoI have some ops experience but that was 20 years ago. Nowadays if I need to do something like that I have to do a bunch of research and spend a lot of time on it. Which I would prefer spending, for example, with my son teaching him programming. I can sympathize with people that don't have technical background -- these are practically defenseless.
- gibba999 5y agoMy question is security updates. I'm willing to invest time once to get something better working. I'm not willing to invest time on an on-going basis to keep my router secure. My normal router is a !@#$%, but the company does push out security updates. Most of the DIY projects I've seen require me to do it manually.
- jimlikeslimes 5y agoI've had good experience as a basic home user with Fritzboxes. I can't vouch for them in terms of security or unusual and fun uses that people here may have for their home network though.
- perfmode 5y agohas anyone had good experiences with the Turris Omnia?