
Ask HN: What Router Do You Use? - maguay
I&#x27;m looking into buying a new router, to finally replace&#x2F;supplement the one my ISP provided. The ASUS RT-AC68U has been recommend by just about everyone, except those who recommended Apple&#x27;s AirPort instead.<p>Essentially, would like faster&#x2F;more reliable Wifi with better reach, backup support (aka Time Machine), and VPN tools (to both VPN all traffic, and&#x2F;or VPN back into home network).<p>What&#x27;s HN using nowadays?
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officialchicken
Any hardware running OpenWRT [1] - you could try flashing your ASUS before
buying a new one.

[1] [https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/asus/rt-
ac68u](https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/asus/rt-ac68u)

~~~
narrowrail
I would probably look at dd-wrt.org first, as this has a broadcom chip and
OpenWRT doesn't like binary blobs, but dd-wrt doesn't care.

~~~
officialchicken
Good point, I have JTAG in case I get stuck.

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kogir
For routing, VPN, and firewall, I run pfSense on a Jetway NF36-2600 I bought 4
years ago. I intend to keep using it for another 6 more years. It's still
massively overpowered for my limited bandwidth and can run normal FreeBSD
packages. x64 beats ARM/MIPS/Other in convenience every time.

Keeping wireless separate allows me to use better commercial gear from Ruckus,
Cisco, or Aruba for the WiFi. I'm currently using some 5th generation, 802.11n
Airport Extremes that are now the bottleneck when transferring files around
the house. Will probably go with Cisco 802.11ac gear later this year.

------
brudgers
I am not a router expert. Two of my routers run OpenWRT [they're Buffalos [1]
that shipped with it], my old Linksys WRT54G [2] hangs off the Xbox360 and
runs dd-wrt in its measly 8 megabytes of RAM. It and one of the Buffalos are
client-bridged [3] to the second Buffalo that sits on the gateway to my ISP.

Anyway, the dd-wrt wiki is a great resource for setting up a dd-wrt or OpenWRT
router or routers. Particularly the tutorials: [http://www.dd-
wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorials](http://www.dd-
wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorials)

Good luck.

[1]:
[http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless](http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless)

[2]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series)

[3]: [http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Bridged](http://www.dd-
wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Bridged)

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cauterized
Speaking of which, are there any home routers out there without ridiculously
tiny upload bandwidth? When I finally got FIOS I had to pay Verizon $300 for
their crappy router that I can't even configure because even though my own
router served perfectly well in every other regard, it couldn't handle more
than 768kbps up.

------
byg80
Some old crusty Linksys from the early 2000's. I really should upgrade but I'm
too lazy and locked into a great grandfathered deal from my ISP. They keep
trying to offer me new routers and cable boxes just to break the deal but I'm
smarter than that. I pay $25 a month for a 20 mbit connection.

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nonuby
The free one provided by my ISP some months ago, I suspect/hope that such
recent models have better firmware to handle buffer-bloat etc.. but I haven't
had enough reason to investigate. I would definitely upgrade anything older
than 3 years though given the buffer-bloat lessons during that period.

------
alexgaribay
I use two AirPort Extremes (one is actually a Time Capsule). I've never had an
issues with it and my wi-fi performance is very good, Since I have a multiple
Macs in my household, the automatic backups when connected to the network is
very nice.

------
jeffwilcox
ASUS RT-AC66U (primary), AirPort Extreme (Secondary). And I weep for something
better... ASUS firmware updates are starting to destabilize a multi-year solid
and consistent experience.

~~~
maguay
Oh that's worrisome; have their firmware updates gone down in quality
recently?

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akulbe
I'm using an Ubiquiti ER-X. It's not the easiest to configure, but it works
well with my dual-WAN setup.

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NetStrikeForce
> and/or VPN back into home network

For that I would recommend our own service,
[https://wormhole.network](https://wormhole.network), that uses open source
software (SoftEther [https://www.softether.org](https://www.softether.org)).
You don't have to open ports on your router or play with firewalls
configurations for it to work :)

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Gustomaximus
TP‑Link Archer D9

Seemed a solid plug and play after deciding against spending time setting up
OpenWRT.

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akerro
I currently have basic router from ISP, but I'm waiting for Omnia Turris.

