Ask HN: Best current model routers for OpenWRT, DD-WRT, Tomato, etc.?
The first thing you need to know is that the OpenWRT project is basically dead and that 95+% of the developers went over to the LEDE Project. However, LEDE has not yet published a stable release yet. You can get nightly builds that are in pretty good shape though.<p>I would highly recommend an ipq806x-based system, if you can afford it. Almost always matched with qca9880 radios. These are modern 802.11ac wave2 systems.<p>ipq806x is a Qualcomm-Atheros SoC. Go to wikidevi for specifications on the chips and all of the devices I mention below.<p>Check camelcamelcamel for recent pricing info if buying in the USA.<p>The list would be:<p>Linksys EA8500<p>TP-Link Archer C2600 (Not recommended due to TP-Link going anti-OSS. Modern versions require signed firmware and other DRM junk)<p>Trendnet TEW827DRU (Not yet accepted into LEDE, but could be any day now)<p>Netgear R7800 (Has a slightly faster CPU, but more expensive)<p>Netgear R7500v2 (Avoid the V1)<p>ZyXEL NBG6817 (Has the same slightly faster CPU as the R7800, but it&#x27;s storage flash is goofy and I&#x27;m not 100% sure it&#x27;s fully working. Ask the lede-dev mailing list first.)<p>The top issue that all of these devices have is that the 802.11 radio LEDs don&#x27;t work yet because the driver is missing support for it. However, if you can live without blinking lights, these models are the way to go. This feature will almost certainly get fixed in the future.<p>I would tell you to go with the Linksys EA8500 if price&#x2F;value is your concern. Otherwise the Netgear R7800 has a very active dev and probably has the best support. The ZyXEL NBG6817 looks really interesting to me, but I don&#x27;t have one yet.<p>If $140-$200 USD is too much for you, look to some older 802.11ac devices. Like I said above, avoid TP-Link as they have started locking down their devices by removing serial ports and requiring signed firmware&#x2F;DRM etc.<p>Your list here in comments is pretty good, though I&#x27;d avoid the TP-Link unless you can get one that is older (before TP-Link became anti-OSS.)<p>Good luck