[conspire] Genuine IT question (wifi routers)

[Ivan Sergio Borgonovo]

On 5/11/20 8:10 AM, paulz at ieee.org wrote:
> Someone I know will soon be moving to a new house.  What to do about 
> Internet access?  It appears that Waves, AT&T and Comcast might all be 
> available.  Any comments on the first two?   Comcast's ads are so weird 
> they must be targeting someone else.
> 
> Second topic: Wifi Routers
>    Any models that might possibly cover full house?
>    Any compelling reason to pick model that can be upgraded with OSS 
> firmware?  If so  DD-WRT?  tomato? openWRT?

I'd say OpenWRT, it's the healthiest (larger community, most active, 
good documentation...).

I'd spend less than $200 otherwise other solutions start to make more 
sense for better wifi and/or faster CPU.
Brands that have a good price, quality, support tend to be tp-link, 
netgear, bufalo and zyxel.

Mikrotik and PC Engines are more a DIY solutions and I wouldn't choose 
OpenWRT on a DIY solution.

Linksys may have a litte bit nicer enclosure... but it's not worth the 
money.

Generally I go to the OpenWRT web site and filter by:
- supported wifi standards
- memory flash and ram
- cpu core/speed
- availability
- newest firmware supported
- newest product
(beware that if too new etc.. be sure to buy right hardware version...)
- FULLY SUPPORTED with no extra tweaking (read comments in the various 
columns especially wifi, vlan).
- manufacturer
- usb ports
- full support (eg. no notes in wifi or vlan support)
- wifi feature/speed (you've to integrate with manufacturer info)

You may rearrange priority if wifi is more important than eg. running 
more software on the router or you've a big pipe.
Here 1Gb/200Mb link is affordable and you may find the limit of a 
$100-$200 OpenWRT router before you saturate it (depending on use).
I'm still on a 100Mb/20Mb line simply because I'm too lazy.
I've been thinking about a PC Engines solution but again I'm lazy.

Then pick up the best one in the $120-$180 range since at over $200 a 
DIY solution with PC Engines/Mikrotik starts to be more interesting.

My current router is a Netgear Nighthawk X4S R7800, but it mostly 
depends on time of purchase (offers, availability etc...).

Netgear are generally a bit more expensive than tp-link but tp-link 
seems to be equally good. Bufalo may offer boxes with interesting specs 
but here they are hard to purchase. Zyxel should be the most 
"professional" one and they have a long history in building network 
appliance and it is said they have better wifi but if your priority is 
good wifi coverage and your appartment has at least some ethernet cables 
running around, you may consider adding an AP.
Good wifi may mostly depends on model rather than brand and once you've 
picked up the best looking just at specs difference in quality may be 
hard to measure or may depends more on where your router is placed.

I have an HP microserver, slapped in a cheap wifi card, installed 
hostapd and at least signal strength is good all around the home.
If I had put more bucks in the wifi card speed would be on par with the 
speed nearby the router, but well I tend not to watch FullHD movies on 
my phone in the kitchen and browsing or looking at the occasional 
youtube video is OK and my home is mostly cabled, so more demanding 
clients are wired.

If you can't slap a network card in an existing box, buying an AP is not 
that expensive and it may be better than investing tons of extra money 
in the most luxurious wifi router.

Covering large spaces with many ap is an art and require specialized 
HW/SW but for 2 or 3 AP, I think you don't have to have special 
knowledge/big budget and just chose channels/signal strength statically 
and manually.

OpenWRT on a consumer router:
- it is open, and they tend to update it
- you can install plenty of software and that can be handy. Not all 
software makes sense on a consumer router but some does.
- low power consumption
- comes with everything you may need (switch, wifi, usb3...)
- it is cheap
- scripting luci (OpenWRT the shell configuration tool) is a bit of a 
pain and sometimes it gets into the way but it is not terrible.
- a web GUI can be useful

Consumer router with semi-free original software:
- hardware NAT
- you don't have to flash a new firmware
- shorter software support
- very small list of software/functionality

DIY:
- more expensive
- enclosures etc... could end up in being a bit messy
- no web interface or more work to build a web interface
- really scriptable as you want
- chose your "size"
- separate routing from wifi
- choice between a really DIY solution or picking up some distro etc...
- as fast as you need it to be

Open source commercial router as ubiquiti, netgate...
- something in betweern OpenWRT and DIY, but not completely open
- specialized hardware with proprietary drivers
- can be expensive but eg. ubiquiti edge router without wifi at $60 + 
AP, similar ballpark as consumer router
- you've to get used to their tools
- completely free? no lock-in?
- wifi separated from router


-- 
Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
https://www.webthatworks.it https://www.borgonovo.net