81–90 of 230 posts
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.
I had a related problem with their PowerLine TPA-4220 devices yesterday. It turns out there's a DHCP server on it that you can't turn off! It's supposed to be smart and know when there's another DHCP server on the network, but it appears that this sometimes doesn't work. So I found that my laptop sometimes ends up configured on the wrong subnet, which of course kills the internet connection. The thing is, the web int…
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There was more to the debacle, for example, putting ads for their other products in the controller UI.
Given their inexpensive pricing, as long as they only do that in their admin interface and don’t mess with my packets, it’s not worth throwing the baby out with the bath water in my book… especially since there are no real competitors offering good hardware with nice UI.
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> But I am wondering why the author does not value his personal time. Maybe, because it is fun reverse engineering stuff?
I agree. I like tinkering myself. But then why mention avoiding spending a hundred dollars for a new device, but spending a couple of hours as if those hours are worth less than said amount of money.
Maybe some people are happy with either option, but it sure is unethical to force that choice, especially when all the effort it could have taken from the manufacturer was to add a boolean flag.
I'd complain too, not everyone is in the same situation, and this is dodgy behavior anyway regardless of me liking the workarounds or not, simply having to workaround is bad enough in principle.
So after the Ubiquiti debacle I went out and looked for a similar combination (solid hardware + not-too-annoying software). After briefly considering Mikrotik (which has issues with ac (wifi 5) and no ax (wifi 6) support) I settled on Grandstream for now. They don't just make phones but a small set of fairly nicely featured wifi APs for ok prices. Hardware seems solid, Software not annoying. I've bought a few pieces…
-Someone who suffered through years of their software / support horror show.
I use Unifi UAP-AC-LR for the AP, because they are easy to set up from an Android phone, are not expensive, are not flakey, can be mounted in a location to optimise WiFi reception (powered from Ethernet cable by included DC injector), can be easily moved to new ISP or house, don’t require a controller, and they just keep working. Ubiquiti have made some dick moves, but their AP and point-to-point hardware has been solidly reliable and relatively simple to configure.
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Tried it, but Wifi speed on the Archer C7 was significantly reduced.
OpenWrt probably has to do everything through the CPU. Not hardware accelerated like in the stock firmware.
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.
Sadly OpenWRT doesn’t support band steering.
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.
Sadly OpenWRT doesn’t support band steering.
I had a related problem with their PowerLine TPA-4220 devices yesterday. It turns out there's a DHCP server on it that you can't turn off! It's supposed to be smart and know when there's another DHCP server on the network, but it appears that this sometimes doesn't work. So I found that my laptop sometimes ends up configured on the wrong subnet, which of course kills the internet connection. The thing is, the web int…
I discovered that this problem affects many models and people have been posting about it in the tp link forums for many years and have only received annoying "we'll look into it" customer service responses.
I will never buy a router I can't put openwrt on again.