Joined: 04 Dec 2012 Posts: 126 Location: Seattle, WA
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 16:03 Post subject: Worth running DD-WRT on non-wireless router? If so, which?
I have a three story house that's 12,000 sq feet. My cable modem, and most of the "geeky" hardware for the house, live in a corner in the basement, and it's impractical to relocate them elsewhere.
I currently use four APs throughout the house (Belkins running DD-WRT in AP mode only) in addition to an E4200 wireless router in the basement to get WiFi coverage, and even then, I have dead spots.
My plan is to switch over to 3 or four Ubiquiti access points mounted higher and more centrally. I've been considering getting an R7000 router to replace my E4200, but am also open to getting a router with no WiFi (the UBNT device on the floor above the basement will cover that area fine).
So are there wired routers that will run DD-WRT? Or is it even worth running DD-WRT on a wired router?
Or is the price different not enough of a big deal that I should buy the R7000 and switch WiFi off?
The issue is that you're using Broadcom-based routers, which have worse coverage than Atheros. Additionally, Belkin are crap, IMHO. I'd suggest to switch over to Atheros... some Netgear, D-Link with beamforming or Linksys would do fine. But not Broadcom-based. _________________ THERE ARE NO STRANGERS HERE; ONLY FRIENDS YOU HAVEN'T YET MET.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DD-WRT CHANGELOG | DEVICES | DD-WRT BUILDS | KONG BUILDS | UNOFFICIAL BUILDS | DD-WRT in VIRTUALBOX
If you don't need wifi, just buy a switch and don't use ddwrt. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
I see. So the question then becomes, do you need any feature that you can't get with stock firmware. If a stock firmware would support afraid.org, it would be worth looking into. If you are not running wireless, many aspects of ddwrt lose utility. I would not put ddwrt on a router that functions well without it, as often ddwrt will increase the load and decrease performance. R7000 are very popular, or perhaps they appear popular because a lot of people are trying to get them to work well with ddwrt. There were problems with having them lose connections randomly, and I am nut sure that was ever fully resolved. Asus routers are also pretty good these days. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
I get outstanding coverage with the TP-Link Archer C7 v2. I have 4 covering a concrete/rebar (floors too) building with no dead spots. In a few corners I lose 5ghz and 2.4ghz drops to 2 bars, but pages still load quickly. Without walls and floors in the way I've had a stable connection at around 200m on my phone in the park across the street. At ~$100, I highly recommend them. I have them all running as APs, but unless your connection is >100mbit, 1 of them should be able to handle the routing duties as well.
Joined: 04 Dec 2012 Posts: 126 Location: Seattle, WA
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 18:10 Post subject:
mwbuss8 wrote:
I get outstanding coverage with the TP-Link Archer C7 v2. I have 4 covering a concrete/rebar (floors too) building with no dead spots. In a few corners I lose 5ghz and 2.4ghz drops to 2 bars, but pages still load quickly. Without walls and floors in the way I've had a stable connection at around 200m on my phone in the park across the street. At ~$100, I highly recommend them. I have them all running as APs, but unless your connection is >100mbit, 1 of them should be able to handle the routing duties as well.
