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Alternative router firmware: what are DD-WRT, OpenWrt, Tomato & ASUSwrt Merlin (binaryfork.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

72 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Just like the operating system on your computer & cell phone, you can change the software running on your router.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Opnsense and PFsense run on top of BSD underpinnings, so as long as the base OS sports the hardware you should be ok there, but:

I still don't really recommend throwing it all on one device. At the minimum, it's unlikely that a white-box PC with a wifi card is going to be as good for signal etc as a multi-antenna wireless device in hardware designed for such.

DD-WRT and OpenWRT can both do VLAN's and per-interface routing, so what I'd recommend instead is having AP's that run that software connected to port(s) or a VLAN intended for your wireless network, then having that run through your firewall (running PFsense, opnsense or whatever). You can even bind a specific SSID to a VLAN and separate your internal vs guest networks so they can't talk to each other (or at least, not without rules on the firewall host). That also allows you to run a bit of cable and space out multiple AP's in such a way that it provides better coverage, while still managing rules/routing/DHCP/etc so the central firewall.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I agree entirely. Look at these lovely radiation patterns:

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005212927-UniFi-Network-AP-Antenna-Radiation-Patterns

I strongly suspect that those antennas are highly optimised and they lend themselves to being mounted in optimal locations. A couple of rubber duck antennas will work in the same room, but keeping that stuff up and away from all the other gear will pay dividends on the fringes of your wifi coverage.