Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2023 17:06 Post subject: Cheapest router that supports DD-WRT
I'm going to North Cyprus from the UK on Thursday and just to stop me from being bored I thought I'd try to circumvent EE's WiFi calling restrictions on foreign IPs so my mobile phone can make and receive calls.
I run OpenVPN on my home router so I thought I'd ethernet to the current router in North Cyprus and using a cheap router running DD WRT make a Wireless Access Point that tunnels back to the UK.
So can anyone recommend the cheapest router new or used that supports DD-WRT?
I was looking at the TP-Link TL-WR841N which is an amazing £18.97 new on Amazon but the current hardware version is V13 or V14 and DD-WRT support for it on the database stops at V12.
Joined: 16 Nov 2015 Posts: 6436 Location: UK, London, just across the river..
Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2023 18:25 Post subject:
cheap is not always good..you can find cheap second hand some decent stuff like
Netgear R7000 or R6400v2 or even XR 300..basically all those are the same SoC Broadcom based dual core CPU routers that can deliver decent performance either working as a wap or in getaway mode with or without vpn or wireguard...have a look on ebay or amazon..lots of offers...all those support DDWRT..
-just dont get router/dsl combos as those are not supported by DDWRT-
Your problem is multi-fold. The TL-WR841N family of devices that are supported do not include OpenVPN as an option due to lack of flash space. The problem with the newer versions (v13 & 14) is that they use an unsupported MediaTek SoC and the developer does not wish to venture down that road at present. You need a device with at least 8MB flash that has OpenVPN included (better option is to have two routers with Wireguard), preferably ≥ 16MB flash and ≥64MB RAM. People seem to think all supported devices have all the goodies, and this is not the case.
look into wireguard protocol , less requirements for hardware , better speed ...
the lowest priced dd-wrt capable router would be : Dlink DIR-825 REV B , these go 2nd hand for 5~10 USD
this model is capable of 50mbps wireguard speed ....
next in line is TP LINK Archer C5 V1.2 or TP LINK Archer C7 V2.0 , both routers are internaly 100% the same ... Wireguard speed up to 90 MBPS , openvpn 15mbps ...
these go for 10-20 USD if you are lucky ...
the wifi range is execellent on these, because they support quite high power wifi operation ...
next in line would be Asus AC56U , wireguard up to 135 mbps, Openvpn around 35 mbps ...
20~30USD 2nd hand , flashing is tricky, must use asus flash tool and older firmware otherwise you end up in a bootloop and need to fix the router with serial interface ...
