Hi folks,
I am seeking suggestions for a new set-top router for my home LAN -- based on your personal usage experience. Been browsing reviews but most are little more than the usual click-bait reviews.
For more than a dozen years I have been using a Linksys WRT54GL with DD-WRT. Getting old and I worry about the device dying. DD-WRT has not been updated in several years. I would like to retire the device to an emergency replacement role. I would like something with newer features to improve wireless connections in the LAN.
Desired features:
* Most devices these days have a built-in switch but that is not a priority. Separate unmanaged 1 Gbs switches are common enough, but if built-in then 1 Gbps is the criterion.
* If the device supports a built-in switch then built-in VLAN support would be nice to create isolated wired subnets for testing.
* Support 802.11ac wireless (nominal future proofing if there is such a thing with these devices).
* Support separate guest wireless subnets.
* VPN support. (I don't know whether this should be handled at the router or use passthrough to an internal server.)
* Low energy consumption.
* Web browser interface.
* No vendor lock-in or automatic updates.
* No phone-homing.
* Dependable security patches.
The new device does not need to support free/libre firmware although that might be nice. While DD-WRT has done well enough for me, the WRT54GL version has not been updated in several years and there never was an official release -- so I am not entranced with free/libre firmware support. Any free/libre support needs to be with firmware that is actively maintained for all devices and not just the latest cool devices.
I never liked the idea of reading gobs and gobs of documentation and forum threads just to install DD-WRT. Likewise with OpenWRT. This seems more problematic these days with newer devices, which are more complicated. I would pay extra for a device that has free/libre firmware preinstalled, but I am not convinced free/libre firmware is any more secure than vendor firmware. Vendor firmware probably is adequate as long as there are regular security patches.
Originally I considered installing a dedicated firewall/router distro in a physical or virtual machine. For example, with a mini-itx dual NIC main board. Yet I need wireless support. I want an all-in-one device and not two devices. Would be nice if these distros could be installed in a typical wired/wireless set-top device. Using a full computer and installing a wireless radio card gets complicated and defeats the desire for low energy consumption. And probably is overkill compared to any set-top device.
Thanks for suggesting and sharing.