Which model? I have WRT3200ACM, R7800 and bought both early last year used for 80 USD each. Wish I had saved 20, but it's not a big problem as these models are best supported by DD-WRT.
Marvell sold their wifi assets to NXT and development of the open source driver mwlwifi came to a halt (before was floundering for a year) so the remaining bugs are unresolved. You can disable wireless and use it strictly as an Ethernet router and in that case it's great. You can always use an external access point.
It really depends on your connected devices and configuration if you will have any problems or not with the integrated radios.
If I had to do it all again: EA8500, R7800, R9000 or x86 all the way. That said I'm on the WRT right now.
Joined: 11 Feb 2016 Posts: 198 Location: South London
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 11:27 Post subject:
I have a Linksys WRT1900ACS v1 and a Netgear R7800 and for me i prefer my WRT1900ACS as it gives me better range plus network performance plus browsing the web feels a little faster
Have used DDWRT and OpenWRT on both over the years plus when i find a WRT3200 going cheap i may pick one up _________________ | Netgear Nighthawk X4S R7800 | Linksys WRT1900ACS V1 | Huawei Echolife HG612 3B |
I replaced my Archer C7 v2 wiith a wrt1900acs v1. The c7 is a terrific router for the money but the cpu is weaker. I upgraded my internet speed from 100 down to 400 and had to return to factory firmware on the c7 as 3rd party firmware cant do hardware NAT. Ineeded hardware NAT to get full speeds when using QoS.
If you dont have above 200 down speed and/or dont use QoS, i doubt youll see a difference between them.
I find that every router has their pro's and con's regardless of the manufacturer. There's always a "better" choice or brand it seems. Having said that, I've had a few other brands. several WRT54's, two WRT300N v1's and now two WRT1200 v1's (1 new, 1 refurb). My current 1200's have been so stable that I can't bring myself to replace them with 1900"s or 3200's. The 1900/3200's have more capabilities and are therefore, IMHO, more sensitive to firmware changes but . . I will most likely upgrade to the 3200's (or next gen) at some point based on my other Linksys routers performance. If Linksys routers ever fail me . . I too will be looking for alternatives. =)
I think your linksys experience (and other brands as well) will be influenced by how complicated your network setup is. The more complicated the more issues you can/will experience. Some brands seem to handle certain setups better than others. I have a fairly simple/average setup. The seriously complicated setups can bring issues regardless of brand.
Since the stepbrother is "not" using the router ask him to let you "test" drive it??? Then decide if it works for you. If not return it with no hard feelings.
I think your linksys experience (and other brands as well) will be influenced by how complicated your network setup is. The more complicated the more issues you can/will experience.
That's very true, especially with 3rd party firmware like dd-wrt that give a lot more options for people to play around with.
More options can mean higher cpu/ram usage. That's what makes the WRT1900acs a better router while not necessarily performing any better in general usage. If you aren't using options that need more cpu/ram, you don't notice the difference. The Archer c7 has a 720MHz cpu while the 1900acs is dual core at 1.6Ghz. RAM is 128 vs 512.
If I hadn't wanted to use QoS for VOIP and to lower bufferbloat, I'd still be using my Archer C7. Without QoS turned on, the C7's performance was just about the same and I can still max out my 400MB/s connection. To max out my connection with QoS on, I had to go back to the TP-link firmware and use hardware NAT and TP-link's version of QoS.
Quote:
Since the stepbrother is "not" using the router ask him to let you "test" drive it??? Then decide if it works for you. If not return it with no hard feelings.
That's a pretty common sense plan. Test drive it and see.
Joined: 12 Mar 2018 Posts: 57 Location: Mont-St-Hilaire, Qc, Canada
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 4:43 Post subject:
Thank you all for your input.
blkt wrote:
..so the remaining bugs are unresolved. You can disable wireless and use it strictly as an Ethernet router and in that case it's great. You can always use an external access point.
What kind of Wifi problems are we talking about ? _________________ [Supermicro X10SBA] pfSense as of 20/12/20 | firewall, gateway, routing, QoS, adblocking
[Archer C7(CA)v2] running r47510 as of 21/10/06 | WAP
[Archer C7(US)v2] running r47510 as of 21/10/04 | napping backup for Gateway, routing, QoS
..so the remaining bugs are unresolved. You can disable wireless and use it strictly as an Ethernet router and in that case it's great. You can always use an external access point.
What kind of Wifi problems are we talking about ?
Read the build threads. Reread what Blkt said above.
"It really depends on your connected devices and configuration if you will have any problems or not with the integrated radios."
Some people report problems with specific firmware builds and others have no problems at all. I'm stuck on build r40009 for instance because I have a bug where I lose access to the router's GUI after a time. I don't know what causes it but think it could be something to do with the wireless. It's not something a lot of people have reported.
Joined: 10 Nov 2018 Posts: 350 Location: South Carolina
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 1:34 Post subject: Re: Is a linksys WRT good or not ?
NinthWave wrote:
I actually have an Archer C7v2.
My stepbrother has an WRT he is not using and would resell it to me?
I have been reading through the Marvell subforum and honestly, I can not make my mind if those are good routers or not.
Would anyone handy with some experience with them care to do a recap please.
Thanks
I personally like the WRT routers. Probably due to familiarity. Been using WRT routers since the early 54's. They all have pros and cons. The latest DDWRT isn't always the best answer. Research and test the ddwrt firmware, and stick with what works well for you.
I know there are folks that seem to have a ton of issues, but mine for the most part have been quite dependable. Most problems I've experienced have been due to either serious firmware flaws (bricking or won't update), or configuration issues on my end. Otherwise, they tend to be off hands dependable for me.
I also tend to gravitate to routers that look like electronic shelf equipment rather then some feminine hygiene device. Square and boxy is just fine. Curves and rounded edges tend to not "stack" well.
Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:19 Post subject: Re: Is a linksys WRT good or not ?
NinthWave wrote:
I actually have an Archer C7v2.
My stepbrother has an WRT he is not using and would resell it to me?
I have been reading through the Marvell subforum and honestly, I can not make my mind if those are good routers or not.
Would anyone handy with some experience with them care to do a recap please.
Thanks
Which WRT? How much does he want for it?
The answer to your question is, yes, they are good devices.
Positives; the new ones have a powerful processor (by router standards), good build quality and have two partitions, so suitable for home flashing.
Bad; the Marvell WiFi drivers, although I find my speeds/ latency acceptable on VDSL. The design is devisive. Also stock firnware doesn't get many upgrades.
I have the 1900ACS V2. Would I pay £200? No. Was it worth £50, no doubt at all.
You can pick up the WRT32X on Amazon very cheaply, which is the best value if you want to use DD WRT
Joined: 04 Aug 2018 Posts: 1447 Location: Appalachian mountains, USA
Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 17:05 Post subject:
blkt wrote:
I need to have mesh and that bigger number! WiFi 6! 6E! 7! Hey, it's optimized for gaming! (stares at Ethernet cable)
How many people now even know that when "transistor radios" (radios not using vacuum tubes) came out in the 1960's, the basic one was the six-transistor model (for basic AM broadcasting), but -- WOW! -- before long you could pay extra and get an EIGHT-TRANSISTOR radio!
The number of transistors in your phone is in the billions. It's almost frightening when you consider that the understanding of how it (or any computer) works has to be passed on from generation to generation to keep us from quickly regressing technologically to perhaps the 17th century or earlier, because no one now knows how to design much of anything without all the computer tools. Even farming enough food to feed the population would be a really dicey proposition, so a new dark ages might well beckon.
So educate a young person... about anything and everything!
BTW, back on topic, I've been very happy with the WRT1900ACSv2. I run a fairly involved config (ISP 200 Mbps down) and typically have one to two dozen clients and have never felt limited by the router itself. The wifi-driver issues of the later models, causing struggles for some with connecting certain devices, have never arisen for me. I honestly feel like this is the best router of the WRT series. (It does run hot and a USB fan is recommended for reliability.) _________________ 2x Netgear XR500 and 3x Linksys WRT1900ACSv2 on 53544: VLANs, VAPs, NAS, station mode, OpenVPN client (AirVPN), wireguard server (AirVPN port forward) and clients (AzireVPN, AirVPN, private), 3 DNSCrypt providers via VPN.
Joined: 17 Feb 2010 Posts: 611 Location: Yorkshire (GOC)
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 12:38 Post subject: Re: Is a linksys WRT good or not ?
NinthWave wrote:
I actually have an Archer C7v2.
My stepbrother has an WRT he is not using and would resell it to me?
I have been reading through the Marvell subforum and honestly, I can not make my mind if those are good routers or not.
Would anyone handy with some experience with them care to do a recap please.
Thanks
Some stepbrother... why doesn't he just give it to you? _________________ Linksys WRT32X v1 - r45677
Linksys WRT1900AC v1 - r45677
TP-Link Archer C9 v1 - r45677
Firmware: ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2021/
