Been running OpenWRT for 16 years (okay some of those years was dd-wrt, and LEDE… But you get the point.)
Using them as dumb AP’s is what I really appreciate openwrt for… I can buy consumer grade hardware and get an actually stable experience as a WiFi AP. Not the typical “oh the WiFi is slow/stopped working? You have reboot it twice a month!” You get with the manufacturer’s shit software. I have a full opnsense box that handles firewall duties and vpn’s etc… So I really only like and need the stability of the hardware as an AP.
I also stock pile WiFi router running OpenWRT and give them to friends that don’t have a lot of money when I help with tech upgrades, knowing the WiFi router will be rock solid and not cause any issues, they truly are ‘set it and forget it’ units.
You’ve made good points here. Using them as dumb AP points or basic budget routers makes sense. If I want more advanced and user-friendly configuration then I might look elsewhere, but for those use cases, can’t go wrong.
Been running OpenWRT for 16 years (okay some of those years was dd-wrt, and LEDE… But you get the point.)
Using them as dumb AP’s is what I really appreciate openwrt for… I can buy consumer grade hardware and get an actually stable experience as a WiFi AP. Not the typical “oh the WiFi is slow/stopped working? You have reboot it twice a month!” You get with the manufacturer’s shit software. I have a full opnsense box that handles firewall duties and vpn’s etc… So I really only like and need the stability of the hardware as an AP.
I also stock pile WiFi router running OpenWRT and give them to friends that don’t have a lot of money when I help with tech upgrades, knowing the WiFi router will be rock solid and not cause any issues, they truly are ‘set it and forget it’ units.
You’ve made good points here. Using them as dumb AP points or basic budget routers makes sense. If I want more advanced and user-friendly configuration then I might look elsewhere, but for those use cases, can’t go wrong.