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Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account

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Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account

#121

Post by shadowoflight »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #116
shadowoflight wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd personally recommend FreshTomato[0] over OpenWRT, as it has a more approachable UI, is still open-source, and (in my experience) tends to run a bit smoother while needing less babysitting. [0]: https://freshtomato.org/

It has serious updating issues however requiring you to completely setup the router every time you update and the update process is entirely manual. I like FreshTomato I have used it for some years but the wifi performance sucks and the constant clearing of settings just grates over time. This is something commercial routers get right, updates keep your settings. This requirement will cause you to delay if you use an…

Updating FreshTomato has never cleared out my settings, is it possible your install is broken?

Manual updates don't bother me, personally, but wifi throughput is definitely a pain point (my understanding is the lower speeds are due to FreshTomato doing more with the CPU than stock firmware does, which decreases the amount of CPU time that actual routing gets).

Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account

#122

Post by prirun »

I have been using Netgear WNDR3700 and similar routers for years with no problems and no cloud account. I keep one as a spare for family in case someone's gets knocked out by a power surge, or the power supply dies, or whatever. Had that happen several times. I've never had one be "flaky": they either work or don't.

I buy them at Goodwill for $5-10 whenever I see them there, which is fairly often.

They have two main features I like:

- separate main and guest networks. I put all my non-computer stuff like phone, TV, Roku, Tivo, etc on the guest network. There is a setting to isloate the guest network from the main network on separate vlans.

- they have a QOS setting for uploads (I only have 1Mbit up), so when I do online backups with HashBackup (I'm the author), the router will use the full upload bandwidth if there are no other connections uploading, but if there are other connections needing to upload, the router splits the capacity between the active connections. Without QOS, it was impossible to have an interactive ssh session during a bulk upload. With QOS it works fine.

You can buy these on eBay for $15-25. Get one with free shipping so that if you have trouble and have to return it (unlikely with a high feedback seller), you don't have to pay for shipping.

Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account

#123

Post by formerly_proven »

Any random Linux distro or Free/OpenBSD install doesn't need an account of any kind. Unless you need an awkward modem which is hard/costly to get (e.g. cable internet, VDSL2+), almost everything can be a decent router. Commercial routers often have some kind of hardware offloading for routing built into their SoCs, but you don't really need that per se at residential internet speeds (I'd recommend to separate router and wifi AP because this lets you pick the optimal place for the wifi AP regardless of where the internet cable is. Somewhat more costly but likely worth it for anything bigger than a three-room flat.

Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account

#124

Post by clircle »

droningparrot wrote: post #117
dredmorbius wrote: post #9

Any 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've had good experiences running OpenWRT on the TP-Link Archer C7. It's a popular router and I've been able to find plenty of them used for around $40

I've got a C7 and it doesn't even need a cloud account to set up

Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account

#125

Post by reaperducer »

bennyp101 wrote: post #27

None of my TPLink, Netgear, or ASUS routers have ever needed a cloud account - I guess this is a new/regional thing? I use Mikrotik hAP2 (~£60/$80) - if you are comfortable with that sort of thing, otherwise I guess anything that supports OpenWRT as others have said. Have you got examples of ones that need a cloud account? I'm intrigued now

I guess this is a new/regional thing?

Only if there's no Amazon in your region.

Amazon eeros require an account.

Apple's Airports did, too, when those were still being made. Not directly, but you needed an App Store account to download the setup utility.

Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account

#128

Post by tomc1985 »

ramphastidae wrote: post #104
Faaak wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really see what you're talking about. I've flashed all of my routers and _never_ had a problem. Maybe the thing that took me the most time was to decide which version to use or whether I should use openwrt vs tomato vs other competitors

Your post history says you use Dvorak and Vim, and were tinkering with your school’s network at 15, so I think my point stands :)

Everyone should strive to this level of competence, and I like that some of the posts here (like advice for installing OpenWRT) kind of force it

Breaking stuff and then fixing it is the fast track for learning

If you're not a smart computer guy then maybe this isnt the forum for you

Re: Ask HN: Please recommend a router without need for a cloud account

#129

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

ABeeSea wrote: post #72
bennyp101 wrote: post #27

None of my TPLink, Netgear, or ASUS routers have ever needed a cloud account - I guess this is a new/regional thing? I use Mikrotik hAP2 (~£60/$80) - if you are comfortable with that sort of thing, otherwise I guess anything that supports OpenWRT as others have said. Have you got examples of ones that need a cloud account? I'm intrigued now

Yea I just bought a netgear router and it didn’t require a cloud account. It did push creating one very heavily during setup.

Just to confirm, you don't need the cloud account for entering management page right? The reviews I read on Amazon could be from people who are not technical enough so they fell for the cloud acc trap.
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