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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

#131

Post by merlinscholz »

mmastrac wrote: post #101
merlinscholz wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be aware that Unifi's products sometimes require cloud accounts, depending on which update is installed. ALso, the dashboard is full of ads. I definitely would recommend MikroTik, sold my Unifi stuff for MikroTik and would never go back.

I haven't seen ads in my Unifi dashboard at all, except possibly for some of their other products (they are so minor I struggled to recognize them as ads).

Personally, I do not classify that as minor: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzgB7QFX0AEAQIs?format=jpg&name=...

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

#132

Post by bell-cot »

otterley wrote: post #59

Ubiquiti's EdgeRouter X is relatively inexpensive, has plenty of features, and does not require a cloud account of any sort.

That's what I would buy...but they do NOT include Wi-Fi. And I'd say they're more "Prosumer" market than "Family".

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

#133

Post by redman25 »

otterley wrote: post #59

Ubiquiti's EdgeRouter X is relatively inexpensive, has plenty of features, and does not require a cloud account of any sort.

Yes, this is a solid router. Just be aware it’s not the most user friendly to configure. I’ve had one for personal use for about 5 years or so. After set up, it’s trucked along without issue though.

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

#134

Post by Rebelgecko »

ramphastidae wrote: post #74
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/

IMHO, skip OpenWRT. It is much more difficult to get working correctly than HN likes to admit. There’s a non-trivial chance you will spend hours and hours reflashing your router and reading forum posts until you eventually brick it. It’s just like Raspberry Pis. Theoretically the right choice but practically speaking a huge time sink and poor, unstable experience that is best left to hobbiest tinkering or networking…

FWIW I've had the opposite experience. The stock firmware on my TP-Link router was awful. It was a pain to update and I frequently had to reboot the thing because it decided to stop working. Installing OpenWRT took maybe 15 minutes and an hour or so of fiddling and setting up my port forwarding and static IPs. Now my router's uptime is measured in months (and that's only because of power outages)

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

#135

Post by greenyoda »

umvi wrote: post #30

I bought the TPLink Archer A7 and did not need a cloud account for it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JD7F7G/

I've also had one for a year now, and I'm happy with it. You can connect to the router's admin interface just by opening 192.168.0.1 in your browser.

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

#136

Post by Kadin »

metabagel wrote: post #127

OP obviously used a new throwaway (presumably one-time use) account. Does anyone know what might be the reason for this?

Maybe he doesn't want to create a permanent record of the router/AP hardware that they are using, that could easily be found by someone Googling their username?

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

#137

Post by garbagecoder »

fartcannon wrote: post #119
ramphastidae wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO, skip OpenWRT. It is much more difficult to get working correctly than HN likes to admit. There’s a non-trivial chance you will spend hours and hours reflashing your router and reading forum posts until you eventually brick it. It’s just like Raspberry Pis. Theoretically the right choice but practically speaking a huge time sink and poor, unstable experience that is best left to hobbiest tinkering or networking…

Forgive me if this sounds arrogant, but I think the general HN user is capable of handling the relatively simple UI based download and flash required to use OpenWRT. Likewise, using a raspberry pi is probably trivial for most developers. If not, I'm being under paid.

I think most people are capable. It’s whether it’s worth it. I loved learning more about Linux and networking with it, and loved having automatic cell failover, but at the end of the day, it was too unreliable.

So, forgive me for how this sounds, but the general HN user probably needs a reliable as possible internet link.

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

#138

Post by redprince »

stevenjgarner wrote: post #109
juancn wrote: post #50

Any router (or routerboard) that supports Mikrotik: https://mikrotik.com/ You don't have to buy from them the hardware. I used to use OpenWRT (which is also a nice second option), but the robustness and flexibility of mikrotik is fantastic.

I strongly upvote Mikrotik with its open-source RouterOS software (which you can run on nearly any computer). I have used Mikrotik for years, from their low-end (but powerful) routerBOARD offerings through to their CCR1036-12G-4S optical router and their nRAY 60 GHz point-to-point wireless Internet. I have supported dozens of router brands for clients since 1996, and I cannot say enough good things about Mikrotik. It…

> I strongly upvote Mikrotik with its open-source RouterOS software (which you can run on nearly any computer).

Unless I have missed a few recent development, the RouterOS is open source only in the sense that it is build on a foundation of open source software. The source of the GPL parts is available upon request.

Running RouterOS on non-Mikrotik hardware requires the purchase of a separate license. Mikrotik hardware usually comes with a license already on the device.

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

#139

Post by brynjolf »

hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #129
ABeeSea wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have a R7800 and they used to have an app for Android and iOS they didn't need account. They later removed that app and made the router refuse connections to it in favor of the new app that does require an account.

That being said, if you don't want the app you don't need an account.

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