Affordable router that can do dd-wrt and/or maybe open source firmware
 

Hi

I have been checking out the ZYXEL NBG6515 Dual-Band AC750 Gigabit and to me it looks very capable in the price range.

However I would love to have the option to try out dd-wrt and/or any router that may have open source firmware available...use case, in bridge on a 100/20mbit connection, multiple wireless devices, preferably able to do guest wifi.

Any such device you could recommend in that price range?

if you already know you want to install a router distro on it, i'd go the other way around:
find out which devices are supported, and get one.

i'm no expert, but i don't think you need to buy a new device for that.
most of the router's capabilities are in the software, not hardware, i'd think.
and old routers are a dime a dozen.

Gl.Inet minirouters are very inexpensive (under $30 USD) if you just want to dip your toe in the waters.

https://www.gl-inet.com/docs/mini/

hth

Maybe a Rasberry Pi would be enough for what you want, (brand new £32 + power supply), & has a whole forum & community that goes with it. :)

https://www.raspberrypi.org/

ASUS RT-N12 with Tomato 3rd party firmware on it (I prefer the Shibby version of Tomato).

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-3-In-1-W...keywords=rtn12

It's not gigabit and it's not dual-band. It has excellent 2.7GHz performance. Your description of your use case sounds like you don't need gigabit, unknown if you need dual band. Amazon has it for $29 with a $10 rebate, so only $19 in the end. You can't hardly go wrong with this router, which probably costs less than a Taco Bell run for your family.