[ale] SOHO router(s), buy v build

[Derek Atkins]

depending on your requirements, I'd buy either a Unifi or Mikrotik router.
They are relatively inexpensive and generally pretty stable.
I use Unifi these days, but I've used Open-WRT, DD-WRT, and Mikrotik in
the past.
Happy networking!

-derek

On Sat, March 14, 2026 8:35 am, Boris Borisov via Ale wrote:
> I find openwrt to work for me.
>
> It's more flexible that ddwrt but seems to load little slower than ddwrt.
> But you load software pieces you need as you do on regular Linux distro.
>
> Only thing to keep in mind is close source wifi adapters are not
> supported.
>
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 14, 2026, 00:24 Ken Cochran via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi ALE folks,
>>
>> I'm looking for 3-ish *good* SOHO routers.
>>
>> I like separating the radio from the routing, i.e. the wireless
>> part is a separate piece of hardware & the router just routes.
>>
>> CLI config?  Used to be we'd make a textfile config & TFTP it
>> into Ye Olde Cisco 2501 by the serial port. (Umm, do we even
>> HAVE serial porta anymore...?)
>>
>> CLI/text config would be nice so I can keep up with config
>> changes a la source code controls/versioning.
>>
>> Could use "a few" ports, say 4-6-ish.
>> Some kinda "fast low power" CPU like ARM-64.
>>
>> Buy or build?
>> Buy would be something like Ubiquiti I guess?  Powerable by USB-C or
>> POE...
>> What to build?  Any resources/recommendations/FAQs/Docs?
>> Build would mean I can use the likes of PFSense or DDWrt or other Linux
>> or *BSD-based software/firmware.
>> Protectli?  Routerboard?  Something else?
>>
>> Over the years I've been pretty ok with Asus but they're kinda
>> fragile - power surge has taken a few of mine.  They appear
>> to score ok on non-spyware in their firmware (consent decree
>> some years ago IIRC but that's expiring I think). And they
>> run DDWrt fine.
>>
>> Y'all's input welcome.  Thanks, -kc
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-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant