OpenWRT compatible router in 2022

H

halfbytecode

Messages
14
Location
India
ISP
BSNL
I am looking for a new router that is OpenWRT compatible and has good WiFi range. Initially I was considering TP-Link Archer A7, but it has a single core CPU and also seems outdated being launched a number of years ago.

Now Archer A6 V3 also seems to supported by OpenWRT now. It is dual core, but is more like an entry level router.

I also looked a Asus routers, but ASUS 58U does not really seem to be available now.

Are there any other routers that I can consider, which are OpenWRT compatible and have a good WiFi range?
 
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The performance improvement is probably due to newer drivers and less bloat 😛
 
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@albonycal Pretty decent I would say. I was using a Mikrotik hap ac2 prior to this, and it all of a sudden died / started malfunctioning, I am suspecting some power fluctuation as the DC UPS that I was using is also dead. My hap ac2 still kinda works, but then it would randomly stop working and would need a reset and restore of config to get it back to working. Like every 2-3 days this happens.

On the Mi Router 4A, I get 350-400 Mbps on speedtests. So for connections upto 300 Mbps, its decent. The wireless performance is not as great as the hap ac2 on which I used to get around 400-500 Mbps on speedtests. These speedtests are done when in the same room as the router/ap.

The hap ac2 definitely is more powerful and more expensive too, but this one at Rs 1500 is like a no brainer.

I was considering getting a Mikrotik hap ax2 as the replacement for my hap ac2, but then the price is close to 9.5k, so got this for now. The ax2 definitely has the CPU/Memory, but they screwed up by removing the USB port. If it had the USB port, I'd have definitely got it, as could have easily ran some containers on it.
 
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You can still run containers with a RAM disk if you wanted. The 1G ram is barely utilized on this. Also have you tried reaching out to your dealer / Mikrotik support regarding your AC2?
I have been using the ax2 for a while now, and its rock solid 🙂
Prior to this I was using my Nokia ONT as a router but it doesn't have a decent firewall.

DC UPS that I was using is also dead
Click to expand...
Also, that's why you should always use the power adapter which was provided with the gear 😅
 
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Yeah that's in a way true, 1 GB RAM is not really required. My hap ac2 with 256 MB RAM, I've barely seen it using more than 50-75 MB 😅

The hap ac2, I purchased back in 2018 from EuroDK. Almost 5 years now, I don't think there's any hope to get it replaced. Any fix would need to be DIY I guess. Maybe will open it up and see if there is anything obviously wrong. But I will reach out to Mikrotik support and see if they have any suggestions to self repair, they've been helpful in the past, they added support for a Jio LTE device based on my request.

Yeah. the hap ac2 was also super stable, runs for months together without a reboot, until it got messed up 🙁

Yeah, it was this Artis DC UPS which was working fine for many months. Then one day the connected devices stopped working, and I was away for a month so couldn't check on it as well. When I got back, the DC UPS was in a power on/off loop, the connected devices turn on for a second and then off. This would have repeated for a month. Luckily my ONT was fine. If I was home, probably wouldn't have been an issue.

Anyway Artis will be replacing the broken UPS, so that's good I guess. But will definitely not leave it running unattended.
 

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@albonycal Not necessarily, cause the device probably need to be switched to the right mode. In Linux you can achieve this using usb-modeswitch with the right parameters.And the parameters for each device varies.

btw I reinstalled RouterOS on my hap ac2 using netinstall (which formats the disk and installs it clean). Have put it back to service, hopefully it doesn’t crash.

In other news, the Mi Router 4A Gigabit is available for Rs 1299 today.

dl.flipkart.com

Mi Router 4A Gigabit Edition 1200 Mbps Router - Mi : Flipkart.com

Buy Mi Router 4A Gigabit Edition 1200 Mbps Router only for Rs. 2999 from Flipkart.com. Only Genuine Products. 30 Day Replacement Guarantee. Free Shipping. Cash On Delivery!
dl.flipkart.com dl.flipkart.com
 
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Yeah I was suspecting some sort of software corruption. I had tried updating the firmware from the UI a bunch of times already but that didn’t really fix it. I thought doing it from the UI should also flash it properly. But it appears when you do a netinstall, it does a full format and then flashes the firmware. During this process if there are any bad NAND blocks, it would be omitted and spare blocks would be used.
Another thing I did was, instead of restoring from the binary backup, I used the command export and applied that.

So yeah if you see unexplained random crashes or odd behaviours, do a netinstall and flash the latest firmware and then do a restore from an export.
 
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