[stemmer]

I am more then pleased since putting DD-WRT onto my Netgear WNR 3500L. Still undecided which upgrade to install next.

I would like to configure another router with DD-WRT for my brother and his wife. They are both non technical and retired. Brother was a diesel mechanic and his wife a administrative assistant.

Any recommnedations for an inexpensive router that is a good candidate for DD-WRT?

Many thanks..

[blkt]

R7800 or R9000 are the flagship routers, then cheaper used alternatives are R7500v2 or EA8500.

Prices are inflated right now, for example R7800 should be no more than $170 new.

A cheap router would be Archer A7 v5, but might be better off finding a used router.

Offerup, craigslist, mercari, ebay, amazon blah. Try using less or simpler search terms.

People tend to poorly describe item thanks to marketing terminology, so try other keywords.

Nighthawk X4S AC2600, Nighthawk X10 AD7200, Nighthawk X4 AC2350, Max Stream AC2600

[eibgrad]

I'm always hesitant to make recommendations since users typically do NOT provide sufficient details to make a *proper* recommendation. In this case, what is *inexpensive*? That's highly subjective. And what other features will be *required* but not mentioned? Many less expensive routers are poor performers when it comes to VPNs. Does that matter?

Personally, I use the ASUS RT-AC68U (800-1000GHz processor), which is rather old at this point, but it meets all my current needs (except for the rather meager VPN performance of OpenVPN). You can pick one up used (at least the TM-1900 version from T-Mobile) for $50-60 before shipping on eBay. Most probably come w/ dd-wrt or tomato preinstalled! And then there's the ASUS AC1900, which is similar to the RT-AC68U/TM-1900, but has a 1.4GHz processor, vastly improving the OpenVPN performance. About $120 on Amazon, although recently was available for $90.

Then there's the uber cheap ASUS RT-N12 D1 for about $20-30. But it's only a single radio (2.4GHz), and like the older RT-AC68U, will NOT be a good OpenVPN performer. But if being inexpensive is the primary criteria, it may be sufficient for the right person.

So again, when given scant requirements, it's darn near impossible to know what will make sense for YOU. While you can somewhat protect yourself against routers that have various shortcomings, doing so usually comes at a hefty price ($$).

[mikesal57]

[blkt]

Which build? R7500v2 outperforms A7v5 and r46130 is certainly a build to avoid; r46166 and 46177 are fine.

[mikesal57]