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Boy am I glad I replaced stock firmware with OpenWRT the moment my router came out of box last week. It was also extremely painless experience, and I'd really r

Boy am I glad I replaced stock firmware with OpenWRT the moment my router came out of box last week. It was also extremely painless experience, and I'd really recommend people to buy routers with OpenWRT support, even if they cost a little more. A router is something you buy for a decade or more, and it's worth the investment. Our livelihood depends on network availability, and depending on whims of terrible router firmware is not something to rely on.

gat1 3y ago
OpenWRT is a bliss to setup a router. We configured a lot of little customed subnetworks at work and it made everything so much easier.
- intelVISA 3y ago
  Can't reccommend OpenWRT enough, really solid.
iforgotpassword 3y ago
I've given up on trying to find one with perfect openwrt support. Something is always broken, mostly hardware offloading, so speeds suck.
- wtallis 3y ago
  The kind of hardware offloading included in consumer router hardware is fundamentally broken by design. Relying on the ethernet switch to handle NAT instead of the CPU makes it impossible to do software-based QoS (eg. the SQM module's cake or fq-codel) or any other packet processing that said ethernet switch isn't equipped for.
enlyth 3y ago
There's also this one for Asus routers, I've been using it without issues for a long time: https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/
- ipython 3y ago
  Seconded. I used Merlin before I switched to ubiquiti. My only issue with Merlin was intermittent problems with ipv6 router advertisements which caused connectivity issues. I’ve never had an issue since switching to an edgerouter.
- jve 3y ago
  Thanks for the link. If I want VLAN support I'm out of luck?
  - RichardCA 3y ago
    If your use case is you want IoT isolation, the standard advice is to just use separate SSID's. If you are using one of the routers that has true VLAN support like the AX86U Pro, there are anecdotal reports of people getting it to work but it's hacks and workarounds. https://www.snbforums.com/threads/ax86u-pro-vlan.83996/ https://www.snbforums.com/threads/ax86u-pro-vlan.83996/ VLAN support in the AX86U (not Pro) would be a win. But it looks very hacky. https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/l47ocn/secure_iot_devices_on_asus_rtax88u_vlan/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/l47ocn/secu...
- AviationAtom 3y ago
  Merlin really is the best option for Asus, as Broadcom sucks about their drivers
- pteraspidomorph 3y ago
  I'm also using this fork since I was having trouble with vanilla after I purchased the router; no issues today or ever.
- deepspace 3y ago
  Another vote for Merlin. It has been rock-solid for me for many years, while allowing me to get rid of annoyances with the stock firmware.
- jareklupinski 3y ago
  the best part about it is Diversion and Skynet, a set of scripts that allows you to adblock inside your router (preventing even in-app ads from loading), and an actually viable outbound firewall seeing weird IP addesses pinging my router from the outside is normal, but when i see something _inside_ my network trying to get _out_, that's when I know it's time to start reformatting
kmlx 3y ago
i agree with you, but after a decade of routers and openwrt i decided to go with ubiquiti. it got to a point where the router hardware just wasn’t good enough, no matter the software. so i got myself a dream machine, a pro switch with poe and an AP and i have never looked back.
- alfiedotwtf 3y ago
  How's the range? I have d-link mesh satellites, and needed 4 around the house just so I didn't have any blindspots. To show how bad they are, when my laptop is within a metre of the d-link main satellite, I get the full 150Mbs of my upstream, but 2 metres away but with line of sight, it drops to ~130Mbs. Leave the room, and it's about 90Mbs :( I was hoping something like Ubiquiti would be something like the full upstream speed without the horrible dropout-per-metre I'm getting right now. Happy to get a few of them in mesh (if that's how they work) if I can get full speed from my office which is curretly 4 hops away.
  - kmlx 3y ago
    i do not recommend mesh. mesh networks halve your bandwidth. if you can just use an ethernet cable to the next access point. the good news is that all their APs use power-over-ethernet, so you just need an ethernet cable, no sockets. https://store.ui.com/products/u6-lr-us https://store.ui.com/products/u6-lr-us this single long range one should cover most of your home (depending on walls etc). and if it's not enough, just get another one from this list: https://www.ui.com/wi-fi#compare https://www.ui.com/wi-fi#compare of course, if you can't/won't use ethernet cables for your APs, you can try this mesh: https://store.ui.com/products/access-point-wifi-6-mesh https://store.ui.com/products/access-point-wifi-6-mesh as a reference, a single long range AP covered a 7 bedroom house (wood), with just a couple of minor blind spots. but for a double wall brick house we needed 3x U6 lite.
    - alfiedotwtf 3y ago
      > mesh networks halve your bandwidth Oh. I actually didn't know this. Damn. > power-over-ethernet I used to use PoE and was getting great speeds everywhere in the house, but then I got solar panels and an inverter. Turns out, that a lot of people ended up having the same issues as me on whirlpool.net.au :( But yeah, I've also considered getting an electrician in and wiring some rooms with CAT-6 and go wireless AP in that room. But sounds like it's still going to be the same as mesh doing this and halving my speed? Awesome! Thank you for the links. I'll check them out!
hnarn 3y ago
The router I have right now is the best one I've ever had, it's an APU4D4 from teklager.se.[1] > APU router is the most open-source network device you can buy. It comes with open-source BIOS, open-source operating system of your choice and open hardware schematics. It's not locked down in any way. I bought mine with opnsense pre-installed and it has been absolutely rock solid. For wi-fi, I've just used an old router with wifi in "ap-mode" connected to my APU router -- interestingly it turns out that the throughput bandwidth for wi-fi increased by orders of magnitude as soon as the poor Asus box didn't have to perform any logic on the packets passing through. [1]: https://teklager.se/en/products/routers/apu4d4-open-source-router https://teklager.se/en/products/routers/apu4d4-open-source-r... -- I have no affiliation with the company, just a happy customer.
- progbits 3y ago
  Sadly pcengines, the original manufacturer of the APU boards, is EOL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35635900 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35635900
  - hnarn 3y ago
    Yeah that really sucks, but I hope the many other options for opnsense routers are decent too when this one decides to break.
    - kaliszad 3y ago
      It should be possible to e.g. use the Turris router: https://www.turris.com/en/ https://www.turris.com/en/ I heard a 10G option is in the pipeline.
      - ptman 3y ago
        Turris Omnia Enterprise: https://old.reddit.com/r/Turris/comments/11ns0ho/new_turris_models_on_15th_and_16th_of_march/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Turris/comments/11ns0ho/new_turris_...
quantgenius 3y ago
Has anyone tried Mikrotik routers? The one I tried a while ago was fantastic.
- newhotelowner 3y ago
  I have it. It's nice. But a lot of boxes to check to get it working. We have Rukus unleashed (AP) + PfSense at one of my hotel But I prefer Aruba Instant on APs. Most easist and simple.
- somehnguy 3y ago
  I've been using a Mikrotik for about 2 years now, switched from an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X when I upgraded to 1gig at home. It works great and has been rock solid since setting it up. I even have 4 port bonding setup to my main switch because neither has SFP+. However, it was kind of a bear to get all setup. In terms of setup difficulty it goes Mikrotik -> EdgeRouter - any consumer focused router. I've been putting off setting up VLANs for about a year and a half because I just know I'm going to break everything.
- bombcar 3y ago
  I've used them for years and have had no major issues, and the wiki is good enough to follow along for most any normal setup you might have. It is certainly a step up from "plug in and it works" consumer routers/APs but the setup has gotten much easier since the early days. Recommended. And if you check you can even find some of their hardware can run OpenWRT so you have that as a backup.
throw0101c 3y ago
> Boy am I glad I replaced stock firmware with OpenWRT the moment my router came out of box last week. I have had an Asus for years and use the vendor firmware, and update it semi-regularly when I remember to, and have never had an issue. I bought an Asus because they have decent capabilities out-of-box, but also because there is the option of using third-party firmware (which I've never bothered to do). Even with this event I'll probably stick with the OEM firmware.
- daneel_w 3y ago
  Even if it turns out (once this event has been fully understood) that the vendor-installed firmware "phoned home" to collect an update of sorts that led to this?
  - rajamaka 3y ago
    I have like 50 other pieces of software on my systems calling home whenever they want. One more for the pile I guess.
    - daneel_w 3y ago
      Looking at it in a shallow way I suppose one could say that. But to me there's a great distinction between a switch/router and e.g. a smartphone or desktop browser.
      - wernercd 3y ago
        Switch/Router, IMO, is a bigger reason to have automatic pull/updates. You're looking at your phone on a day to day basis. Using your desktop. The router/switch/lightbulb/etc? All stuff that sits in the background and gets forgotten. Those things should do self maintenance - especially with zero days and issues that require updates to not be pwned the instant you connect to the www.
        daneel_w 3y ago
BoppreH 3y ago
Or, if you're in Germany, get a FRITZ!Box. It's been my favorite product purchase ever[1]. Solid performance, and the software is a bliss. Here are some niceties available out of the box: - Traffic prioritization (real-time, prioritized, background), and access profiles (per-device data budget, filters, max online time). - Per device statistics on max data rate, current throughput, Wi-Fi standard, encryption, signal properties (e.g. MU-MIMO or not), etc. - Special LAN port for guests, without access to the rest of the network (good for that ad filled smart TV). - Extra LED with customizable function (can light up if there's anybody in the guest network, or a device plugged in the USB, or data cap is exceeded, etc). - Energy consumption graphs for each major component (CPU, Wi-Fi, USB devices, etc). - More information about my DSL cable than I know what to do, including spectrum graphs, line attenuation, latency, and even approximate line length. - Security diagnostics with provider info, firmware status, login credentials type, open ports, egress filters, Wi-Fi security, etc. - Also has features for smarthome, telephony, NAS, and media center, but I've never tried those. [1] https://avm.de/produkte/fritzbox/fritzbox-7530-ax/ https://avm.de/produkte/fritzbox/fritzbox-7530-ax/
- davidgerard 3y ago
  or in the UK - the preferred router on Zen Internet, who sell them to customers at cost price (about half retail)
- parkersweb 3y ago
  I have a 7530-AX and on the whole it's been good - but for some reason the 5GHz service keeps switching off; wondered if you'd had any similar experience?
  - BoppreH 3y ago
    No, can't say I have. Does your SSID disappear for some time, or is the 5GHz setting turning off permanently? I've read about routers disabling 5GHz when they detect RADAR, because 5GHz can interfere with that use, and RADAR has higher priority. Here's an article on this, official from the manufacturer and for your specific model (another point for them in my book): https://avm.de/service/wissensdatenbank/dok/FRITZ-Box-7530-AX/1349_5-GHz-Funknetz-gelegentlich-deaktiviert-Radar-Signal/ https://avm.de/service/wissensdatenbank/dok/FRITZ-Box-7530-A...
rollcat 3y ago
I would also recommend OpenWRT - to anyone who's tech-savvy enough to upload a new firmware file and go through a web interface to set up the network. I was used to setting up things like Mikrotik or OpenBSD+pf (which while great, are not exactly intuitive), and was surprised it's really no more difficult (often less difficult) than using whatever stock web UI these SoHo routers usually come with.
bentcorner 3y ago
I would recommend installing opnsense on any old desktop PCs you have lying around. Get an intel LAN card with two ports (or more) and you'll be golden. OpenWRT is fine but I've found that if you're shopping around for devices it's hard to find ones that will do 1gbps with traffic shaping enabled for an affordable price.
- rascul 3y ago
  Most desktops I've come across tend to be louder and draw more power than consumer routers. That could be important for some.
  - geerlingguy 3y ago
    ServeTheHome has been doing a series on fanless mini desktops that are perfect for the role of router (most don't have WiFi though, you'd need a separate AP).
    - yabones 3y ago
      Honestly, not such a bad thing. Routers are normally located far from the ideal location in most houses/apartments for good wireless coverage. Usually in the corner of the basement where the coax/fibre/phone lines come in, not exactly a good place to put an AP.
      - bentcorner 3y ago
        I've been running separate APs for awhile and IMO it's the way to go if you're at all interested in running anything like openwrt/opnsense. Modern routing appliances are like a vcr/tv combo. You will have a better time if you split the functionality apart. It allows you to change/upgrade pieces of your network infrastructure more easily.
- ntauthority 3y ago
  FYI: OpenWRT is just Linux and will run fine on x86 hardware as well.
gwbas1c 3y ago
When I went shopping for a router I had a lot of trouble finding one. I basically don't care about "features," but I wanted the latest WIFI standards because of reception issues in my house, and at least 4 wired ethernet ports. (I don't want to have to buy dongles / extenders for wired ethernet ports.) It was surprisingly hard to find an OpenWRT router that supports the latest WIFI features, so I just went with a proprietary router.
- sarahdellysse 3y ago
  I recently picked up a Linksys e8450 (twin sibling of the Belkin RT3200) and flashed it with openWRT and it's been great; WIFI-6 speeds on a router that is actually configurable
jcpham2 3y ago
Couldn't reccomend OpenWRT as opposed to any stock vendor firmware enough. Simple-adblock is a godsend
creeble 3y ago
More of a Tomato fan myself (used multiple ASUS routers), but using a router with stock firmware always seemed not worth the risk when there are so many great alternatives.
tracker1 3y ago
I really liked the Tomato firmware for these things a while back... Been using OpnSense currently, with a dedicated AP mounted centrally in my home. It's a shame that the FCC rules have pretty much guaranteed that routers will only allow signed firmware updates, though the companies could do it differently. In the end, I miss the plethora of home hardware that can be consumer maintained and upgraded. I've avoided most "smart home" stuff for that reason.
sgtnoodle 3y ago
Something I learned first-hand from empirical testing is that Intel cards are quantifiably better at receiving frames than cards with Realtek/Mediatek/Ralink chipsets, specifically in congested environments. In the presence of a collision, the Intel cards are able to successfully receive the stronger signal of the two as long as there's enough of a difference in signal strength. The cards with Realtek chipsets on the other hand, are only able to receive the stronger of the two frames if the stronger frame started being transmitted first. It's as if Intel's receiver is always looking for frame preambles even when a valid preamble has been heard and the radio is in the middle of receiving a frame. The other receivers stop looking for preambles while in the middle of receiving a frame. If you live in an urban environment and have wifi problems, you'll likely have an observable improvement if you upgrade. I don't know how well Qualcomm and Broadcom chipsets perform, but I wouldn't be surprised if at least Qualcomm works as well as Intel.
- gcbirzan 3y ago
  What year is this, there are no collisions in full duplex ethernet with switches, which is the overwhelming majority of cases

gat1 3y ago

OpenWRT is a bliss to setup a router. We configured a lot of little customed subnetworks at work and it made everything so much easier.

intelVISA 3y ago
Can't reccommend OpenWRT enough, really solid.

iforgotpassword 3y ago

I've given up on trying to find one with perfect openwrt support. Something is always broken, mostly hardware offloading, so speeds suck.

wtallis 3y ago
The kind of hardware offloading included in consumer router hardware is fundamentally broken by design. Relying on the ethernet switch to handle NAT instead of the CPU makes it impossible to do software-based QoS (eg. the SQM module's cake or fq-codel) or any other packet processing that said ethernet switch isn't equipped for.

enlyth 3y ago

There's also this one for Asus routers, I've been using it without issues for a long time: https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/

ipython 3y ago
Seconded. I used Merlin before I switched to ubiquiti. My only issue with Merlin was intermittent problems with ipv6 router advertisements which caused connectivity issues. I’ve never had an issue since switching to an edgerouter.
jve 3y ago
Thanks for the link. If I want VLAN support I'm out of luck?
- RichardCA 3y ago
  If your use case is you want IoT isolation, the standard advice is to just use separate SSID's. If you are using one of the routers that has true VLAN support like the AX86U Pro, there are anecdotal reports of people getting it to work but it's hacks and workarounds. https://www.snbforums.com/threads/ax86u-pro-vlan.83996/ https://www.snbforums.com/threads/ax86u-pro-vlan.83996/ VLAN support in the AX86U (not Pro) would be a win. But it looks very hacky. https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/l47ocn/secure_iot_devices_on_asus_rtax88u_vlan/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/l47ocn/secu...
AviationAtom 3y ago
Merlin really is the best option for Asus, as Broadcom sucks about their drivers
pteraspidomorph 3y ago
I'm also using this fork since I was having trouble with vanilla after I purchased the router; no issues today or ever.
deepspace 3y ago
Another vote for Merlin. It has been rock-solid for me for many years, while allowing me to get rid of annoyances with the stock firmware.
jareklupinski 3y ago
the best part about it is Diversion and Skynet, a set of scripts that allows you to adblock inside your router (preventing even in-app ads from loading), and an actually viable outbound firewall seeing weird IP addesses pinging my router from the outside is normal, but when i see something _inside_ my network trying to get _out_, that's when I know it's time to start reformatting

kmlx 3y ago

i agree with you, but after a decade of routers and openwrt i decided to go with ubiquiti. it got to a point where the router hardware just wasn’t good enough, no matter the software. so i got myself a dream machine, a pro switch with poe and an AP and i have never looked back.

alfiedotwtf 3y ago
How's the range? I have d-link mesh satellites, and needed 4 around the house just so I didn't have any blindspots. To show how bad they are, when my laptop is within a metre of the d-link main satellite, I get the full 150Mbs of my upstream, but 2 metres away but with line of sight, it drops to ~130Mbs. Leave the room, and it's about 90Mbs :( I was hoping something like Ubiquiti would be something like the full upstream speed without the horrible dropout-per-metre I'm getting right now. Happy to get a few of them in mesh (if that's how they work) if I can get full speed from my office which is curretly 4 hops away.
- kmlx 3y ago
  i do not recommend mesh. mesh networks halve your bandwidth. if you can just use an ethernet cable to the next access point. the good news is that all their APs use power-over-ethernet, so you just need an ethernet cable, no sockets. https://store.ui.com/products/u6-lr-us https://store.ui.com/products/u6-lr-us this single long range one should cover most of your home (depending on walls etc). and if it's not enough, just get another one from this list: https://www.ui.com/wi-fi#compare https://www.ui.com/wi-fi#compare of course, if you can't/won't use ethernet cables for your APs, you can try this mesh: https://store.ui.com/products/access-point-wifi-6-mesh https://store.ui.com/products/access-point-wifi-6-mesh as a reference, a single long range AP covered a 7 bedroom house (wood), with just a couple of minor blind spots. but for a double wall brick house we needed 3x U6 lite.
  - alfiedotwtf 3y ago
    > mesh networks halve your bandwidth Oh. I actually didn't know this. Damn. > power-over-ethernet I used to use PoE and was getting great speeds everywhere in the house, but then I got solar panels and an inverter. Turns out, that a lot of people ended up having the same issues as me on whirlpool.net.au :( But yeah, I've also considered getting an electrician in and wiring some rooms with CAT-6 and go wireless AP in that room. But sounds like it's still going to be the same as mesh doing this and halving my speed? Awesome! Thank you for the links. I'll check them out!

hnarn 3y ago

The router I have right now is the best one I've ever had, it's an APU4D4 from teklager.se.[1] > APU router is the most open-source network device you can buy. It comes with open-source BIOS, open-source operating system of your choice and open hardware schematics. It's not locked down in any way. I bought mine with opnsense pre-installed and it has been absolutely rock solid. For wi-fi, I've just used an old router with wifi in "ap-mode" connected to my APU router -- interestingly it turns out that the throughput bandwidth for wi-fi increased by orders of magnitude as soon as the poor Asus box didn't have to perform any logic on the packets passing through. [1]: https://teklager.se/en/products/routers/apu4d4-open-source-router https://teklager.se/en/products/routers/apu4d4-open-source-r... -- I have no affiliation with the company, just a happy customer.

progbits 3y ago
Sadly pcengines, the original manufacturer of the APU boards, is EOL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35635900 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35635900
- hnarn 3y ago
  Yeah that really sucks, but I hope the many other options for opnsense routers are decent too when this one decides to break.
  - kaliszad 3y ago
    It should be possible to e.g. use the Turris router: https://www.turris.com/en/ https://www.turris.com/en/ I heard a 10G option is in the pipeline.
    - ptman 3y ago
      Turris Omnia Enterprise: https://old.reddit.com/r/Turris/comments/11ns0ho/new_turris_models_on_15th_and_16th_of_march/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Turris/comments/11ns0ho/new_turris_...

quantgenius 3y ago

Has anyone tried Mikrotik routers? The one I tried a while ago was fantastic.

newhotelowner 3y ago
I have it. It's nice. But a lot of boxes to check to get it working. We have Rukus unleashed (AP) + PfSense at one of my hotel But I prefer Aruba Instant on APs. Most easist and simple.
somehnguy 3y ago
I've been using a Mikrotik for about 2 years now, switched from an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X when I upgraded to 1gig at home. It works great and has been rock solid since setting it up. I even have 4 port bonding setup to my main switch because neither has SFP+. However, it was kind of a bear to get all setup. In terms of setup difficulty it goes Mikrotik -> EdgeRouter - any consumer focused router. I've been putting off setting up VLANs for about a year and a half because I just know I'm going to break everything.
bombcar 3y ago
I've used them for years and have had no major issues, and the wiki is good enough to follow along for most any normal setup you might have. It is certainly a step up from "plug in and it works" consumer routers/APs but the setup has gotten much easier since the early days. Recommended. And if you check you can even find some of their hardware can run OpenWRT so you have that as a backup.

throw0101c 3y ago

> Boy am I glad I replaced stock firmware with OpenWRT the moment my router came out of box last week. I have had an Asus for years and use the vendor firmware, and update it semi-regularly when I remember to, and have never had an issue. I bought an Asus because they have decent capabilities out-of-box, but also because there is the option of using third-party firmware (which I've never bothered to do). Even with this event I'll probably stick with the OEM firmware.

daneel_w 3y ago
Even if it turns out (once this event has been fully understood) that the vendor-installed firmware "phoned home" to collect an update of sorts that led to this?
- rajamaka 3y ago
  I have like 50 other pieces of software on my systems calling home whenever they want. One more for the pile I guess.
  - daneel_w 3y ago
    Looking at it in a shallow way I suppose one could say that. But to me there's a great distinction between a switch/router and e.g. a smartphone or desktop browser.
    - wernercd 3y ago
      Switch/Router, IMO, is a bigger reason to have automatic pull/updates. You're looking at your phone on a day to day basis. Using your desktop. The router/switch/lightbulb/etc? All stuff that sits in the background and gets forgotten. Those things should do self maintenance - especially with zero days and issues that require updates to not be pwned the instant you connect to the www.
      - daneel_w 3y ago

BoppreH 3y ago

Or, if you're in Germany, get a FRITZ!Box. It's been my favorite product purchase ever[1]. Solid performance, and the software is a bliss. Here are some niceties available out of the box: - Traffic prioritization (real-time, prioritized, background), and access profiles (per-device data budget, filters, max online time). - Per device statistics on max data rate, current throughput, Wi-Fi standard, encryption, signal properties (e.g. MU-MIMO or not), etc. - Special LAN port for guests, without access to the rest of the network (good for that ad filled smart TV). - Extra LED with customizable function (can light up if there's anybody in the guest network, or a device plugged in the USB, or data cap is exceeded, etc). - Energy consumption graphs for each major component (CPU, Wi-Fi, USB devices, etc). - More information about my DSL cable than I know what to do, including spectrum graphs, line attenuation, latency, and even approximate line length. - Security diagnostics with provider info, firmware status, login credentials type, open ports, egress filters, Wi-Fi security, etc. - Also has features for smarthome, telephony, NAS, and media center, but I've never tried those. [1] https://avm.de/produkte/fritzbox/fritzbox-7530-ax/ https://avm.de/produkte/fritzbox/fritzbox-7530-ax/

davidgerard 3y ago
or in the UK - the preferred router on Zen Internet, who sell them to customers at cost price (about half retail)
parkersweb 3y ago
I have a 7530-AX and on the whole it's been good - but for some reason the 5GHz service keeps switching off; wondered if you'd had any similar experience?
- BoppreH 3y ago
  No, can't say I have. Does your SSID disappear for some time, or is the 5GHz setting turning off permanently? I've read about routers disabling 5GHz when they detect RADAR, because 5GHz can interfere with that use, and RADAR has higher priority. Here's an article on this, official from the manufacturer and for your specific model (another point for them in my book): https://avm.de/service/wissensdatenbank/dok/FRITZ-Box-7530-AX/1349_5-GHz-Funknetz-gelegentlich-deaktiviert-Radar-Signal/ https://avm.de/service/wissensdatenbank/dok/FRITZ-Box-7530-A...

rollcat 3y ago

I would also recommend OpenWRT - to anyone who's tech-savvy enough to upload a new firmware file and go through a web interface to set up the network. I was used to setting up things like Mikrotik or OpenBSD+pf (which while great, are not exactly intuitive), and was surprised it's really no more difficult (often less difficult) than using whatever stock web UI these SoHo routers usually come with.

bentcorner 3y ago

I would recommend installing opnsense on any old desktop PCs you have lying around. Get an intel LAN card with two ports (or more) and you'll be golden. OpenWRT is fine but I've found that if you're shopping around for devices it's hard to find ones that will do 1gbps with traffic shaping enabled for an affordable price.

rascul 3y ago
Most desktops I've come across tend to be louder and draw more power than consumer routers. That could be important for some.
- geerlingguy 3y ago
  ServeTheHome has been doing a series on fanless mini desktops that are perfect for the role of router (most don't have WiFi though, you'd need a separate AP).
  - yabones 3y ago
    Honestly, not such a bad thing. Routers are normally located far from the ideal location in most houses/apartments for good wireless coverage. Usually in the corner of the basement where the coax/fibre/phone lines come in, not exactly a good place to put an AP.
    - bentcorner 3y ago
      I've been running separate APs for awhile and IMO it's the way to go if you're at all interested in running anything like openwrt/opnsense. Modern routing appliances are like a vcr/tv combo. You will have a better time if you split the functionality apart. It allows you to change/upgrade pieces of your network infrastructure more easily.
ntauthority 3y ago
FYI: OpenWRT is just Linux and will run fine on x86 hardware as well.

gwbas1c 3y ago

When I went shopping for a router I had a lot of trouble finding one. I basically don't care about "features," but I wanted the latest WIFI standards because of reception issues in my house, and at least 4 wired ethernet ports. (I don't want to have to buy dongles / extenders for wired ethernet ports.) It was surprisingly hard to find an OpenWRT router that supports the latest WIFI features, so I just went with a proprietary router.

sarahdellysse 3y ago
I recently picked up a Linksys e8450 (twin sibling of the Belkin RT3200) and flashed it with openWRT and it's been great; WIFI-6 speeds on a router that is actually configurable

jcpham2 3y ago

Couldn't reccomend OpenWRT as opposed to any stock vendor firmware enough. Simple-adblock is a godsend

creeble 3y ago

More of a Tomato fan myself (used multiple ASUS routers), but using a router with stock firmware always seemed not worth the risk when there are so many great alternatives.

tracker1 3y ago

I really liked the Tomato firmware for these things a while back... Been using OpnSense currently, with a dedicated AP mounted centrally in my home. It's a shame that the FCC rules have pretty much guaranteed that routers will only allow signed firmware updates, though the companies could do it differently. In the end, I miss the plethora of home hardware that can be consumer maintained and upgraded. I've avoided most "smart home" stuff for that reason.

sgtnoodle 3y ago

Something I learned first-hand from empirical testing is that Intel cards are quantifiably better at receiving frames than cards with Realtek/Mediatek/Ralink chipsets, specifically in congested environments. In the presence of a collision, the Intel cards are able to successfully receive the stronger signal of the two as long as there's enough of a difference in signal strength. The cards with Realtek chipsets on the other hand, are only able to receive the stronger of the two frames if the stronger frame started being transmitted first. It's as if Intel's receiver is always looking for frame preambles even when a valid preamble has been heard and the radio is in the middle of receiving a frame. The other receivers stop looking for preambles while in the middle of receiving a frame. If you live in an urban environment and have wifi problems, you'll likely have an observable improvement if you upgrade. I don't know how well Qualcomm and Broadcom chipsets perform, but I wouldn't be surprised if at least Qualcomm works as well as Intel.

gcbirzan 3y ago
What year is this, there are no collisions in full duplex ethernet with switches, which is the overwhelming majority of cases