CassandrichMar 5
Lazyweb, what's a decent wifi ap/router in the $50-100 price range that works painlessly with OpenWRT? Good antennas, decent speeds, and low power draw (long life on battery backup) are my main criteria. TP-Link would be my normal go-to vendor and I saw some praise for the Archer C7 which I could get for around $60 but I wasn't clear from the OpenWRT wiki if it's reliable.
Show threadsrslypascalMar 5

@dalias

Especially with TP-Link devices, the hardware revision is just as important as the model.

I've been using an Archer C7 hardware revision 4.0 for the last few years, and it works fine with OpenWRT.

However, I'd recommend buying a device where the serial console works without having to solder pull-up resistors to the PCB to allow for recovery should you ever come across a bad OpenWRT update.

https://forum.openwrt.org/t/solved-serial-console-tp-link-archer-c7-v4-not-working/112154

[solved] Serial Console TP-Link Archer C7 v4 not working

I usually don't have any problems connecting to the UART port of my devices but my Archer C7 v4 is giving me problems. From looking at the Wiki / ToH pages version 5 of this router doesn't have the RX connected. It seems that version 4 has something similar. I could find R27 (which is also referenced on version 5), but I still can't get serial data out of the device. Anyone any suggestions on how to get serial console to work on Version 4?

OpenWrt Forum
Show threadsrslypascalMar 5

@dalias

Something like this might give you more bang for the buck (and ships with OpenWRT out of the box):

https://store.gl-inet.com/collections/smart-home-gateway-mesh-router/products/marble-gl-b3000-wi-fi-6-dual-band-gigabit-router

Note that even though the OpenWRT doesn't mention the device having a serial/UART port, it still seems to have one:

https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/commit/3307fe8ee4cf8ee52cefd03feb97f1d826253eeb

Also, with WiFi 6, 128 MiB of flash and 512 MiB of RAM, this is a lot more future proof than the Archer C7 (wihich only features WiFi 5, 16 MiB of flash and 128 MiB of RAM).

Marble (GL-B3000) Wi-Fi 6 Dual-Band Gigabit Router

Show threadCassandrichMar 5
@srslypascal I'm not an expert on RF stuff and whether you can just hide them inside, but this looks like it lacks any suitable antennas...
Show threadCassandrichMar 5
@srslypascal Hmm, this looks like it might be the more serious product they sell, and it's also pretty reasonably priced: https://store.gl-inet.com/products/flint-gl-ax1800-dual-band-gigabit-wifi-6-openwrt-adguard-home
Flint (GL-AX1800) Wi-Fi 6 Home Secure Router

Show threadBen ZaninMar 6
@dalias @srslypascal get the Flint 2
Show threadCassandrich
@gnomon @srslypascal Is there a reason to prefer it over either of the above?
Mar 6 at 2:34amWeb
Show threadBen ZaninMar 6

@dalias @srslypascal yes: the Flint 2 runs a notably more recent version of OpenWRT (21.x) than the AX-1800/Flint 1², plus it runs mainline OpenWRT (24.x)³. (Avoid the Flint 3: it runs Qualcomm hardware and works poorly with mainline OpenWRT⁴.)

(That said, the Flint 2 does cost a good chunk more than the Flint 1. That might be a disqualifier.)

¹: https://dl.gl-inet.com/router/mt6000/stable

²: https://dl.gl-inet.com/router/ax1800/stable

³: https://dl.gl-inet.com/router/mt6000/openwrt24

⁴: https://www.servethehome.com/gl-inet-flint-3-be9300-wifi-7-2-5gbe-router-review-good-in-many-ways/

⁵: https://www.servethehome.com/gl-inet-gl-mt6000-flint-2-wifi-router-review-mediatek-openwrt/

GL.iNet download center

Show threadBen ZaninMar 6
@dalias (also, I recently got a Flint 2 and I'm super happy with it, so I'm biased.)
Show threadCassandrichMar 6
@gnomon What about the GL-B3000?
Show threadBen ZaninMar 6
@dalias I'm afraid I haven't done any reading about that model specifically, I don't know offhand. Sorry about that.
Show threadsrslypascalMar 6

@gnomon @dalias

The whole point of getting a device that is supported by mainline OpenWRT is being able to use it with mainline OpenWRT without relying on the hardware vendor for firmware updates.

https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?target=qualcommax%2Fipq60xx&id=glinet_gl-ax1800

https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?target=qualcommax%2Fipq50xx&id=glinet_gl-b3000

OpenWrt Firmware Selector

Show threadCassandrichMar 10
@srslypascal @gnomon You seem to be familiar with OpenWRT; could you give me some advice on how to get a working install? The B3000 firmware you linked is tiny and has no packages whatsoever. It supports ssh access after flashing and booting but I'm not sure how you're supposed to get a full set of packages on it to actually configure and use it as a router.
Show threadsrslypascalMar 10

@dalias

TBH I don't use the web interface myself, and I compile my own custom images for my devices.

AFAIK, OpenWRT has switched from opkg to apk as the default package manager with OpenWRT 25.x, and the default images should contain the "luci" package, which is the web interface.

What exactly do you mean by "tiny"? AFAICT, both the "sysupgrade" and "factory" versions of the firmware image should be somewhere around 14 MiB in size and have (among other things) the luci package pre-installed.

Show threadCassandrichMar 10
@srslypascal Yep, that was it. I just discovered that myself and I just now got it setup right. Still missing https on the web ui, but otherwise it looks ready to deploy. luci wasn't in the base image for whatever reason tho; I had to apk add it.