Microtek hands down the best value for money.
I presume you mean Mikrotik?
Yea :) autocorrect is not my friend
Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
11–20 of 203 posts
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#12Turris Omnia [0], although if you can you might want to wait for the 2022 model [1].
Alternatively, build your own out of Turris MOX modules [2].
[0] https://openwrt.org/toh/turris/turris_omnia [1] https://forum.turris.cz/t/turris-omnia-2022/15995 [2] https://www.turris.com/en/mox/overview/
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#13>need a cloud account to access the management page
Do they? Zyxel don't, Huawei don't, Netgear don't, Asus don't etc etc..
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#14Take a look at TPLink equipment. They support cloud accounts, but they're not required. And their equipment is fairly good in my experience. I use the Archer C20 in my house, but in the $40-100 range I'd take a look at the Archer AX20.
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#15Linksys Velop can be set up without a cloud account:
https://www.linksys.com/gb/support-article?articleNum=226218
Aruba Instant On might be possible too, but I am not sure.
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#16I have an asus AX3000 bought last year. I don’t remember there being any cloud account associated with it, but it is out of the price range ($150) you’re asking for.
It could be the budget options are reducing prices in exchange for the ability to gather data, similar to smartTVs
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#17Any system capable of running OpenWRT. https://openwrt.org/supported_devices You might find / inquire about specific devices at the OpenWRT subreddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/openwrt/ The Turris Omnia is priced above your preferred range, but is effectively a small server and has excellent capabilities. It runs a specifically-tuned and live-upgradable version of OpenWRT: https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/
I'd never heard of the Omnia before, I'll have to check this out it looks pretty neat!
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#18Asus has been good for me. You could see what modern models are supported by asuswrt merlin or tomato firmwares.
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#19What about a linux box with Smoothwall, and a switch? If you’re unhappy about cloud routers (as I am) perhaps build your own.
Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account
#20OpenWRT is definitely the single best option, however there is very limited support for the WiFi6 routers. If you're upgrading to 6 or 6E, as I was this last month, I found few options for OpenWRT.
However, I already operate OPNSense as my primary router, and all WiFi "routers" on the network act as Access Points and do no routing. OPNSense provides granular control over the network, and offers all the services you would expect in at least a SMB-grade edge device (arguably enterprise), including routing, firewall, DHCP, DNS, IDS/IPS, etc.
Even in AP mode (routing disabled), the new WiFi COTS routers seem to phone home. My guess is a combination of checks for patching and some telemetry. I just block those lookups at the DNS layer for that device, which was effective enough at preventing the traffic. If I have to, I'll block outbound from that device specifically, though I admittedly haven't played around with the after-effects since its sort of the gateway for that specific NIC interface.