4 ms·

Buy routers that can work with Openwrt, period. TP-Link actually has quite a few(not the newest models though, but the not-newest-model should work for 95% of

Buy routers that can work with Openwrt, period. TP-Link actually has quite a few(not the newest models though, but the not-newest-model should work for 95% of the customers) that runs openwrt well. All my routers are running non-vendor firmware(e.g. openwrt) for the last 15 years, never had any troubles.

jorvi 5y ago
Sadly OpenWRT doesn’t support band steering.
- jjulius 5y ago
  https://forum.openwrt.org/t/dawn-band-steering/71767 https://forum.openwrt.org/t/dawn-band-steering/71767
- mlyle 5y ago
  You can install DAWN and get band-steering and controlled migration between multiple APs.
- paavoova 5y ago
  If you set the SSID and password identical for both bands, the clients should prefer to negotiate the optimal band. I just checked and all clients save for some legacy devices on my OpenWRT router are on 5GHz. So I'm now wondering for which cases is band-steering helpful?
  - kiwijamo 5y ago
    Clients don't always do this automatically. My Arch Linux laptop would often select 2.4GHz in places where 5GHz offered a much better experience. Generally it will start on 5GHz when it is close to the router, fall back to 2.4GHz when it moves far away, and (sadly) it doesn't go back to 5GHZ when it moves back closer to the router. Apple devices were pretty good, automatically choosing and switching to the best bands at all times with behaviour much similar to that seen on mobile phones. For this reason I prefer the AP to manage the band steering as it means all devices are connected to the best band. Leaving it to the clients results in a hit and miss experience depending on how well the decide operates. I live with other people who own all sort of different devices so it's not possible for me to say "OK this network is only for Apple devices", I have to ensure thr WiFi works for all sorts of different devices.
aceazzameen 5y ago
Yeah, this is what I recommend to anyone who knows anything about computers. It also depends on each person's needs though, since OpenWRT sometimes excludes the latest tech. At home we connect to a TP-Link Archer C7 running OpenWRT. It's only WiFi5, but we have zero issues streaming many 5ghz devices off of it. It's even held up fine while we both work from home. I also run a second much older TP-Link router using stock firmware on a separate subnet. I don't think OpenWRT supports that one. But only my IoT devices and smart TV connects to it because I don't trust them on my network anyways. All that being said, I wish there was something better and easier for the tech illiterate. The state of routers/security/privacy sucks today.
- sgtnoodle 5y ago
  I had OpenWRT running on an Archer C7 for a while, but the wifi was "unreliable". It's like the 5Ghz would just randomly stop flowing packets. I never root caused it, but since I stopped using it my home wifi experience has been generally boring in a good way. I live near main street in a small touristy coastal town, and there's tons of access point beacons flying around. I only have a 10,000 sq. ft. lot and have three access points to cover it. I turned off "legacy" rates everywhere I could so hopefully all my beacons are 6Mbps+ with greenfield preambles. Different wifi chipsets cope differently with congestion. Specifically, when packet collisions do occur, some chipsets miss both frames, while other chipsets successfully decode the frame of higher signal strength as long as there's enough of a difference. In low congestion areas it doesn't matter since packets rarely collide, but in high congestion areas it can make a big difference for throughput as packet collisions occur frequently.
  - aceazzameen 5y ago
    Maybe my area is low then. There's 12 other 5Ghz APs in my area. I also wonder if it's luck of the draw with some of these cheaper routers? My C7 is also a newer variant, a v5 I think.
    - sgtnoodle 5y ago
      Could be! I think mine is a V2. My guess is an overheating component somewhere.
int_19h 5y ago
What do people think of Maxwell? https://www.crowdsupply.com/andy-haas/maxwell https://www.crowdsupply.com/andy-haas/maxwell

jorvi 5y ago

Sadly OpenWRT doesn’t support band steering.

jjulius 5y ago
https://forum.openwrt.org/t/dawn-band-steering/71767 https://forum.openwrt.org/t/dawn-band-steering/71767
mlyle 5y ago
You can install DAWN and get band-steering and controlled migration between multiple APs.
paavoova 5y ago
If you set the SSID and password identical for both bands, the clients should prefer to negotiate the optimal band. I just checked and all clients save for some legacy devices on my OpenWRT router are on 5GHz. So I'm now wondering for which cases is band-steering helpful?
- kiwijamo 5y ago
  Clients don't always do this automatically. My Arch Linux laptop would often select 2.4GHz in places where 5GHz offered a much better experience. Generally it will start on 5GHz when it is close to the router, fall back to 2.4GHz when it moves far away, and (sadly) it doesn't go back to 5GHZ when it moves back closer to the router. Apple devices were pretty good, automatically choosing and switching to the best bands at all times with behaviour much similar to that seen on mobile phones. For this reason I prefer the AP to manage the band steering as it means all devices are connected to the best band. Leaving it to the clients results in a hit and miss experience depending on how well the decide operates. I live with other people who own all sort of different devices so it's not possible for me to say "OK this network is only for Apple devices", I have to ensure thr WiFi works for all sorts of different devices.

aceazzameen 5y ago

Yeah, this is what I recommend to anyone who knows anything about computers. It also depends on each person's needs though, since OpenWRT sometimes excludes the latest tech. At home we connect to a TP-Link Archer C7 running OpenWRT. It's only WiFi5, but we have zero issues streaming many 5ghz devices off of it. It's even held up fine while we both work from home. I also run a second much older TP-Link router using stock firmware on a separate subnet. I don't think OpenWRT supports that one. But only my IoT devices and smart TV connects to it because I don't trust them on my network anyways. All that being said, I wish there was something better and easier for the tech illiterate. The state of routers/security/privacy sucks today.

sgtnoodle 5y ago
I had OpenWRT running on an Archer C7 for a while, but the wifi was "unreliable". It's like the 5Ghz would just randomly stop flowing packets. I never root caused it, but since I stopped using it my home wifi experience has been generally boring in a good way. I live near main street in a small touristy coastal town, and there's tons of access point beacons flying around. I only have a 10,000 sq. ft. lot and have three access points to cover it. I turned off "legacy" rates everywhere I could so hopefully all my beacons are 6Mbps+ with greenfield preambles. Different wifi chipsets cope differently with congestion. Specifically, when packet collisions do occur, some chipsets miss both frames, while other chipsets successfully decode the frame of higher signal strength as long as there's enough of a difference. In low congestion areas it doesn't matter since packets rarely collide, but in high congestion areas it can make a big difference for throughput as packet collisions occur frequently.
- aceazzameen 5y ago
  Maybe my area is low then. There's 12 other 5Ghz APs in my area. I also wonder if it's luck of the draw with some of these cheaper routers? My C7 is also a newer variant, a v5 I think.
  - sgtnoodle 5y ago
    Could be! I think mine is a V2. My guess is an overheating component somewhere.

int_19h 5y ago

What do people think of Maxwell? https://www.crowdsupply.com/andy-haas/maxwell https://www.crowdsupply.com/andy-haas/maxwell