7 ms·

So what's a reputable router brand nowadays?

33 points by slategruen 5y ago

I've been noticing a lot of bad rap for TP-Link and Huawei lately. What are good alternatives then?

opan 5y ago
I would hesitate to trust a whole brand. This is an area where almost everything is bad. Check for something with OpenWrt support and then get that exact supported model. I do the same with phones and LineageOS support. The Netgear R6220 has been pretty good to me (I have several), but I will not ever tell someone to just "get a Netgear router".
- liquidify 5y ago
  what is the most speedy openwrt supporting router in 2022?
  - Wurlitzer 5y ago
    Netgear R7800.
    - aaaaaaaaata 5y ago
      But, security..
      - ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
        The firmware of the stock router is irrelevant because you overwrite it before putting the device into production.
lyime 5y ago
Asus Routers have served me well over the last 10 years. Currently using a Asus AX88U with gigabit fiber. Great coverage throughout a two story house.
psyclobe 5y ago
I'm a big fan of ubiquiti; their UDM-Pro has been quite enjoyable to run as my home router. It's not quite as powerful as some other brands but it probably does the best job of blending ease of use with advanced features.
- badinsie 5y ago
  i'll second ubiquiti. great bang for your buck. i use an edgerouter pro
  - kup0 5y ago
    I'll third them, though I have mixed feelings about the company itself (their decisions have sometimes been a bit unaligned with what I would prefer). Currently using an ER-X with two Unifi APs. Best thing about this level of hardware is uptime. Unlike many consumer/retail routers I've used previously, this thing has months/years of uptime at a time. When something fails on my network, I can almost always assume the router is not involved in the problem. I could see myself going for a OpenSense/PFSense custom build at some point for more power and even more options, but EdgeRouter hardware right now has enough configuration settings for me, but there is one configuration the ER-X doesn't have exactly enough power for- which is QoS. Trying to QoS my 300mbps results in about a 1/3 speed reduction because it's pegging the CPU pretty hard. (QoS causes hardware-offloading to be turned off).
  - tadbit 5y ago
    Stay away from the EdgeMax (EdgeRouter and EdgeSwitch) products. Ubiquiti stopped releasing updates for the EdgeRouter line in June 2021 and for the EdgeSwitch line in September, 2021. They appear to have dropped all development efforts for these products.
lotsofpulp 5y ago
I like Aruba Instant On. 2nd option is Netgear Orbi from Costco, and third is Linksys Velop.
passajked 5y ago
I’ve been really happy with my Netgate 6100 running pfsense.
somat 5y ago
I am a big fan of pcengines, bring your own os. https://pcengines.ch/apu2.htm https://pcengines.ch/apu2.htm
- perfopt 5y ago
  How good is their wifi range?
  - hedora 5y ago
    You'll want separate access points anyway. WiFi evolves faster than Ethernet.
    - ectospheno 5y ago
      I use an APU4 running OpenBSD for my router. WiFi is tp-link Omada setup. They have pretty much exactly copied the old UniFi interface so there was no learning curve.
    - perfopt 5y ago
      I already have a OpenBSD firewall with no Wifi and connect my Wifi Router to that. Since the APU models advertise WiFi I was wondering how good their range is
      - tadbit 5y ago
        The APUs don't provide WiFi. You have to get an mPCI-E card to add WiFi support. You'll want to look up the various supported NICs (wle200nx / wle600vx / wle900vx), how well they're supported in your desired operating system, and find appropriate antennas for them.
traceroute66 5y ago
Depends what you call a "router". If it doesn't need WiFi built-in then the answer is simple. Buy a quality box from a decent indie e.g. Deciso[1]. Either run what it comes with (generally OPNsense), or install your own BSD-based OS and configure to your personal preferences. If you're looking for an all-in-one with Wifi included, then maybe something from Microtik ? But I don't know really, I keep my Wifi seperate (HP Aruba make FANTASTIC WiFi boxes, not as cheap as the usual junk, but fantastically configurable to an extraordinary level of granularity and robust, you really DO get what you pay for). I would not touch Ubiquiti with a barge pole. IMHO their day in the spotlight has passed. They have been in a spiral of decline for a while. See also the way they handled that whole security thing in recent history. Plus also Ubiquiti is "web-ui or bust", if you are a techie that likes control you might find that too limiting. [1]https://www.deciso.com/product-catalog/ https://www.deciso.com/product-catalog/
- heisenzombie 5y ago
  Wow you weren’t kidding about pricing from Aruba - they sell wireless access points that are more expensive than the latest iMac!
  - traceroute66 5y ago
    > Wow you weren’t kidding about pricing from Aruba - they sell wireless access points that are more expensive than the latest iMac! Yeah, most of them were accessible price-wise before the whole COVID-induced semiconductor shortage came along. Now most vendors have hiked their prices and unfortunately HP went up too, 30-40% for some models. But for home use, the lower (but not bottom !) end models should be fine. Just be sure to check the EOL sheets first because HP refreshed their line last year (I think) to reduce some of the duplication in the ranges so don't buy the EOL models.
    - jsmith99 5y ago
      Aruba's Instant On range is a direct competitor to Unifi. It also doesn't require a controller.
matheweis 5y ago
I’ve had a good run with asus routers for the last 10 years or so. I used to flash them with tomato before the fcc ruined that, now I flash them with merlin, very high quality. They pretty well just work. Currently running the AC86U
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
marttt 5y ago
Great question; rephrasing it for personal needs: in terms of durability, what is the 2022 equivalent of Linksys WRT54GL [1]? Something that supports open source firmware and will serve me for 5-10 years? Or, since I have modest needs (ethernet is around 100Mbps; wifi should handle 2 simultaneous Zoom sessions well enough) and I like time-tested solutions: what's a somewhat older but sturdy router that is still worth buying today? 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series
- hedora 5y ago
  PC engines APU2: https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2.htm https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2.htm
- krfsm 5y ago
  Turris Omnia ( https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/ https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/ ) kind of fits your bill, but it's more 2020 than 2022. The main downside is that it doesn't support WiFi6, so you're stuck with 3x3 MIMO 802.11ac. It runs a modified OpenWrt, TurrisOS, which is open source. They're a bit on the pricey side, so "worth buying" from that perspective will be up to you. Edit: Turns out there might be a 2022 version which would fit your bill (except the time tested part), but it's not launched yet. https://forum.turris.cz/t/turris-omnia-2022/15995/144 https://forum.turris.cz/t/turris-omnia-2022/15995/144 https://twitter.com/turris_cz/status/1448535213626200066 https://twitter.com/turris_cz/status/1448535213626200066
farseer 5y ago
Microtik is good value for money. All the features of an expensive CISCO at fraction the cost.
- runsonrum 5y ago
  Mikrotik https://mikrotik.com/ https://mikrotik.com/
- ponyous 5y ago
  Been hearing about MikroTik for years from couple of a friends who do a lot of network related projects. Only good stuff, so when I will need a good home router in the future I will most likely go with MikroTik.
  - detaro 5y ago
    Big warning though that those are not made to be userfriendly to set up. They are a network nerds dream when it comes to features per dollar, but not easy to configure and updates can be wonky.
slategruen 5y ago
Thank you for all the recommendations HN. I will look into them and research further. Just to clarify, I'm actually looking for a hybrid of access point and switch to replace my trashy Huawei router my ISP has provided. Apologies for not being so clear on what I meant by "router." Edit: typo
- kappuchino 5y ago
  In that case, I'll suggest you consider a FRITZ!box from avm (https://en.avm.de/ https://en.avm.de/). It might be a "local" thing, but ask any person with IT knowledge in Germany for a router suggestion, you will hear 9 out of 10 this brand. The routers are robust, well designed (or not, some think they are ugly as hell) and secure in comparison to any competitor. Disadvantages are they are not easily hackable for oneself and some things that wrt allows because its open it does not. Then again, the development of the OS it runs on continues and recently they added (experimental) support for Wireguard. (I wonder btw why they are not mentioned here - lack of international support? But I've seen them at least at friends all over europe)
SirChainsaw 5y ago
I'm a big fan of DrayTek. Not only do they offer all the products I could need (Switches, AP's, Routers....) but their products are well positioned for the enthusiast...super configurable without the "enterprise" price tag. Similar to MicroTik.
poushkar 5y ago
What's the purpose of a "good" router? I am using a TP-Link provided my Internet provider and it just works?... Maybe I am missing something.
- hedora 5y ago
  People are usually looking for a combination of 100% uptime, the ability to configure DNS on your LAN (ssh dhcphostname, and/or pi hole), light virtualization (x86 routers with power consumption similar to a raspberry pi are available), security, etc. Also, with your TP-Link, your ISP has administrative access to log into your home LAN, and poke around. They might give themselves the right to do so in their TOS, or they might have hired a malicious employee, or suffer a security compromise.
nikau 5y ago
I've had no issues with tplink routers, their hardware is good. Secret is to check the openwrt database for compatibility before purchase, power up the router, confirm its not dead on arrival, then flash the openwrt firmware. Best bit is the router config is just flat files - you can transfer them from old to new router and have it up and running in no time even if they are different models/brands.
esbeeb 5y ago
I have a Seeed mini-router with a Raspberry Pi 4 compute module, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash. *This is a more rare router which comes with OpenWRT pre-installed*, for those who don't like the idea of reflashing a router from stock firmware, to alternative firmware (and super-frustrating minor hardware revisions *not stated on the product packaging* can trip you up, potentially-bricking the router). Be warned that the wifi onboard the CM4 is weak (like the usable range is only 9ish feet, or 3ish metres), but the CM4 does have a tiny connector to attach a better antenna (not included). There are also 2 USB3 ports, so some sort of better Linux-compatible wifi dongle could be attached there. OpenWRT makes it easy to graphically add such a new network device into a quickly-usable network interface. The linux kernel version at present is 5.4, if you were wondering how recent the driver support would be. And remember, that's aarch64 drivers, not amd64.
huqedato 5y ago
CISCO
landmass 5y ago
If open-source routers don't interest you, you might try reviewing this site: https://routersecurity.org/ https://routersecurity.org/ The short answer is the line of routers from Peplink, including their low-end business router, the Pepwave Surf SOHO. The site's owner argues that big box routers put overmuch emphasis on speed at the cost to security; they build a fast router, he feels, but then neglect firmware security updates. I've owned the Surf SOHO since 2017 and have just upgraded to the Peplink Balance 20+ for a little more future-proofing. I can attest that their engineers are still updating the firmware.
KolenCh 5y ago
Asus routers that Asus-Merlin support are great, from personal experience.
yuppie_scum 5y ago
My Asus has been great for 5-6 years now
WaxedChewbacca 5y ago
rektide 5y ago
I wish Netgear would stop being so Broadcom centric. Broadcom is such a shit ass dead useless company, basically actively hostile to open source. Anyone can take tbis crown any day, but the r7800, the Nighthawk X4S (2017), is still basically "the" openwrt router, & there's just flat nothing, not a single thing since 2017 that really competes & is viable. There's almost nothing that's 802.11ac compatible, much less wifi6, just a couple good but low end MediaTek units, & the world awaits some change & progress in tbis deadlocked sad unmoving sob story of broad unavailability.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
u2077 5y ago
Someone in a previous thread recommended https://www.linksys.com/nz/wireless-routers/wrt-wireless-routers/linksys-wrt1200ac-ac1200-dual-band-wifi-router/p/p-wrt1200ac/ https://www.linksys.com/nz/wireless-routers/wrt-wireless-rou...

33 points by slategruen 5y ago

I've been noticing a lot of bad rap for TP-Link and Huawei lately. What are good alternatives then?

opan 5y ago

I would hesitate to trust a whole brand. This is an area where almost everything is bad. Check for something with OpenWrt support and then get that exact supported model. I do the same with phones and LineageOS support. The Netgear R6220 has been pretty good to me (I have several), but I will not ever tell someone to just "get a Netgear router".

liquidify 5y ago
what is the most speedy openwrt supporting router in 2022?
- Wurlitzer 5y ago
  Netgear R7800.
  - aaaaaaaaata 5y ago
    But, security..
    - ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
      The firmware of the stock router is irrelevant because you overwrite it before putting the device into production.

lyime 5y ago

Asus Routers have served me well over the last 10 years. Currently using a Asus AX88U with gigabit fiber. Great coverage throughout a two story house.

psyclobe 5y ago

I'm a big fan of ubiquiti; their UDM-Pro has been quite enjoyable to run as my home router. It's not quite as powerful as some other brands but it probably does the best job of blending ease of use with advanced features.

badinsie 5y ago
i'll second ubiquiti. great bang for your buck. i use an edgerouter pro
- kup0 5y ago
  I'll third them, though I have mixed feelings about the company itself (their decisions have sometimes been a bit unaligned with what I would prefer). Currently using an ER-X with two Unifi APs. Best thing about this level of hardware is uptime. Unlike many consumer/retail routers I've used previously, this thing has months/years of uptime at a time. When something fails on my network, I can almost always assume the router is not involved in the problem. I could see myself going for a OpenSense/PFSense custom build at some point for more power and even more options, but EdgeRouter hardware right now has enough configuration settings for me, but there is one configuration the ER-X doesn't have exactly enough power for- which is QoS. Trying to QoS my 300mbps results in about a 1/3 speed reduction because it's pegging the CPU pretty hard. (QoS causes hardware-offloading to be turned off).
- tadbit 5y ago
  Stay away from the EdgeMax (EdgeRouter and EdgeSwitch) products. Ubiquiti stopped releasing updates for the EdgeRouter line in June 2021 and for the EdgeSwitch line in September, 2021. They appear to have dropped all development efforts for these products.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

I like Aruba Instant On. 2nd option is Netgear Orbi from Costco, and third is Linksys Velop.

passajked 5y ago

I’ve been really happy with my Netgate 6100 running pfsense.

somat 5y ago

I am a big fan of pcengines, bring your own os. https://pcengines.ch/apu2.htm https://pcengines.ch/apu2.htm

perfopt 5y ago
How good is their wifi range?
- hedora 5y ago
  You'll want separate access points anyway. WiFi evolves faster than Ethernet.
  - ectospheno 5y ago
    I use an APU4 running OpenBSD for my router. WiFi is tp-link Omada setup. They have pretty much exactly copied the old UniFi interface so there was no learning curve.
  - perfopt 5y ago
    I already have a OpenBSD firewall with no Wifi and connect my Wifi Router to that. Since the APU models advertise WiFi I was wondering how good their range is
    - tadbit 5y ago
      The APUs don't provide WiFi. You have to get an mPCI-E card to add WiFi support. You'll want to look up the various supported NICs (wle200nx / wle600vx / wle900vx), how well they're supported in your desired operating system, and find appropriate antennas for them.

traceroute66 5y ago

Depends what you call a "router". If it doesn't need WiFi built-in then the answer is simple. Buy a quality box from a decent indie e.g. Deciso[1]. Either run what it comes with (generally OPNsense), or install your own BSD-based OS and configure to your personal preferences. If you're looking for an all-in-one with Wifi included, then maybe something from Microtik ? But I don't know really, I keep my Wifi seperate (HP Aruba make FANTASTIC WiFi boxes, not as cheap as the usual junk, but fantastically configurable to an extraordinary level of granularity and robust, you really DO get what you pay for). I would not touch Ubiquiti with a barge pole. IMHO their day in the spotlight has passed. They have been in a spiral of decline for a while. See also the way they handled that whole security thing in recent history. Plus also Ubiquiti is "web-ui or bust", if you are a techie that likes control you might find that too limiting. [1]https://www.deciso.com/product-catalog/ https://www.deciso.com/product-catalog/

heisenzombie 5y ago
Wow you weren’t kidding about pricing from Aruba - they sell wireless access points that are more expensive than the latest iMac!
- traceroute66 5y ago
  > Wow you weren’t kidding about pricing from Aruba - they sell wireless access points that are more expensive than the latest iMac! Yeah, most of them were accessible price-wise before the whole COVID-induced semiconductor shortage came along. Now most vendors have hiked their prices and unfortunately HP went up too, 30-40% for some models. But for home use, the lower (but not bottom !) end models should be fine. Just be sure to check the EOL sheets first because HP refreshed their line last year (I think) to reduce some of the duplication in the ranges so don't buy the EOL models.
  - jsmith99 5y ago
    Aruba's Instant On range is a direct competitor to Unifi. It also doesn't require a controller.

matheweis 5y ago

I’ve had a good run with asus routers for the last 10 years or so. I used to flash them with tomato before the fcc ruined that, now I flash them with merlin, very high quality. They pretty well just work. Currently running the AC86U

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

marttt 5y ago

Great question; rephrasing it for personal needs: in terms of durability, what is the 2022 equivalent of Linksys WRT54GL [1]? Something that supports open source firmware and will serve me for 5-10 years? Or, since I have modest needs (ethernet is around 100Mbps; wifi should handle 2 simultaneous Zoom sessions well enough) and I like time-tested solutions: what's a somewhat older but sturdy router that is still worth buying today? 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series

hedora 5y ago
PC engines APU2: https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2.htm https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2.htm
krfsm 5y ago
Turris Omnia ( https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/ https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/ ) kind of fits your bill, but it's more 2020 than 2022. The main downside is that it doesn't support WiFi6, so you're stuck with 3x3 MIMO 802.11ac. It runs a modified OpenWrt, TurrisOS, which is open source. They're a bit on the pricey side, so "worth buying" from that perspective will be up to you. Edit: Turns out there might be a 2022 version which would fit your bill (except the time tested part), but it's not launched yet. https://forum.turris.cz/t/turris-omnia-2022/15995/144 https://forum.turris.cz/t/turris-omnia-2022/15995/144 https://twitter.com/turris_cz/status/1448535213626200066 https://twitter.com/turris_cz/status/1448535213626200066

farseer 5y ago

Microtik is good value for money. All the features of an expensive CISCO at fraction the cost.

runsonrum 5y ago
Mikrotik https://mikrotik.com/ https://mikrotik.com/
ponyous 5y ago
Been hearing about MikroTik for years from couple of a friends who do a lot of network related projects. Only good stuff, so when I will need a good home router in the future I will most likely go with MikroTik.
- detaro 5y ago
  Big warning though that those are not made to be userfriendly to set up. They are a network nerds dream when it comes to features per dollar, but not easy to configure and updates can be wonky.

slategruen 5y ago

Thank you for all the recommendations HN. I will look into them and research further. Just to clarify, I'm actually looking for a hybrid of access point and switch to replace my trashy Huawei router my ISP has provided. Apologies for not being so clear on what I meant by "router." Edit: typo

kappuchino 5y ago
In that case, I'll suggest you consider a FRITZ!box from avm (https://en.avm.de/ https://en.avm.de/). It might be a "local" thing, but ask any person with IT knowledge in Germany for a router suggestion, you will hear 9 out of 10 this brand. The routers are robust, well designed (or not, some think they are ugly as hell) and secure in comparison to any competitor. Disadvantages are they are not easily hackable for oneself and some things that wrt allows because its open it does not. Then again, the development of the OS it runs on continues and recently they added (experimental) support for Wireguard. (I wonder btw why they are not mentioned here - lack of international support? But I've seen them at least at friends all over europe)

SirChainsaw 5y ago

I'm a big fan of DrayTek. Not only do they offer all the products I could need (Switches, AP's, Routers....) but their products are well positioned for the enthusiast...super configurable without the "enterprise" price tag. Similar to MicroTik.

poushkar 5y ago

What's the purpose of a "good" router? I am using a TP-Link provided my Internet provider and it just works?... Maybe I am missing something.

hedora 5y ago
People are usually looking for a combination of 100% uptime, the ability to configure DNS on your LAN (ssh dhcphostname, and/or pi hole), light virtualization (x86 routers with power consumption similar to a raspberry pi are available), security, etc. Also, with your TP-Link, your ISP has administrative access to log into your home LAN, and poke around. They might give themselves the right to do so in their TOS, or they might have hired a malicious employee, or suffer a security compromise.

nikau 5y ago

I've had no issues with tplink routers, their hardware is good. Secret is to check the openwrt database for compatibility before purchase, power up the router, confirm its not dead on arrival, then flash the openwrt firmware. Best bit is the router config is just flat files - you can transfer them from old to new router and have it up and running in no time even if they are different models/brands.

esbeeb 5y ago

I have a Seeed mini-router with a Raspberry Pi 4 compute module, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash. *This is a more rare router which comes with OpenWRT pre-installed*, for those who don't like the idea of reflashing a router from stock firmware, to alternative firmware (and super-frustrating minor hardware revisions *not stated on the product packaging* can trip you up, potentially-bricking the router). Be warned that the wifi onboard the CM4 is weak (like the usable range is only 9ish feet, or 3ish metres), but the CM4 does have a tiny connector to attach a better antenna (not included). There are also 2 USB3 ports, so some sort of better Linux-compatible wifi dongle could be attached there. OpenWRT makes it easy to graphically add such a new network device into a quickly-usable network interface. The linux kernel version at present is 5.4, if you were wondering how recent the driver support would be. And remember, that's aarch64 drivers, not amd64.

huqedato 5y ago

CISCO

landmass 5y ago

If open-source routers don't interest you, you might try reviewing this site: https://routersecurity.org/ https://routersecurity.org/ The short answer is the line of routers from Peplink, including their low-end business router, the Pepwave Surf SOHO. The site's owner argues that big box routers put overmuch emphasis on speed at the cost to security; they build a fast router, he feels, but then neglect firmware security updates. I've owned the Surf SOHO since 2017 and have just upgraded to the Peplink Balance 20+ for a little more future-proofing. I can attest that their engineers are still updating the firmware.

KolenCh 5y ago

Asus routers that Asus-Merlin support are great, from personal experience.

yuppie_scum 5y ago

My Asus has been great for 5-6 years now

WaxedChewbacca 5y ago

rektide 5y ago

I wish Netgear would stop being so Broadcom centric. Broadcom is such a shit ass dead useless company, basically actively hostile to open source. Anyone can take tbis crown any day, but the r7800, the Nighthawk X4S (2017), is still basically "the" openwrt router, & there's just flat nothing, not a single thing since 2017 that really competes & is viable. There's almost nothing that's 802.11ac compatible, much less wifi6, just a couple good but low end MediaTek units, & the world awaits some change & progress in tbis deadlocked sad unmoving sob story of broad unavailability.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

u2077 5y ago

Someone in a previous thread recommended https://www.linksys.com/nz/wireless-routers/wrt-wireless-routers/linksys-wrt1200ac-ac1200-dual-band-wifi-router/p/p-wrt1200ac/ https://www.linksys.com/nz/wireless-routers/wrt-wireless-rou...