My dad LOVES OpenWRT, and has been frustrated for some time that he can get ~400-500mbit/s through his 8-year-old Archer C7, but can't seem to get any higher than that on any of the other routers he's tested.
Points:
Does not need wifi (though it would be fine if it had it)
Must be router form-factor (i.e. running OpenWRT from minimal embedded flash, not like rpi or x86)
Must get >800 Mbit/s on speed test With OpenWRT.
Must be OpenWRT and OpenWRT's routing. Mikrotik's OS, Regular Linux, DD-WRT, etc. Are not feasible, since he's so used to OpenWRT and he has a very unusual dual-home setup for his server. (We will be getting 2x of this configuration for separate internet connections that go to the same server)
Price must be < $300
Must be < 25W
Must be reasonably easy to upgrade to OpenWRT.
I've read through So you have 500Mbps-1Gbps fiber and need a router READ THIS FIRST - #91 and I understand the points, but I've also seen a lot of clarity further down in the thread pointing out there are newer router architectures, like the MT7622 or the IPQ8074. Additionally, the aforementioned thread has been closed for quite some time.
Additionally, there are some really cursed setups he's found people talking about online like running on the Mikrotik RB2011 he's trying to get me configure... After reading how-to's and watching some videos, I am very resistant to trying.
That particular x86 is inappropriate as it uses an SSD instead of the basic on-board SOIC flash that we are shooting for. If there was something like that, but followed the same sort of configuration that most routers follow, that would def work.
What are the pro's and cons of a Belkin RT3200 vs Linksys E8450? I just found a super cheap used E8450 on ebay I plan to try out.
I concur with @frollic's question, why require "minimal embedded flash"? There probably is a good reason, but since I come up blank when trying to imagine one, I am quite curious ;).
P.S.: I understand the lure and attraction of cheap all in one devices however manufacturers of such devices are so cost conscious that most of them still come with SoCs not really up to 1 Gbps speeds, so if they do work than mostly by employing some offload/acceleration engines that mostly are not (or not well) supported under OpenWrt/upstream Linux, so ATM >> 250 Mbps really still requires something beefy like arm or x86.
Now, personally I use a turris omnia, would hit most of your requirements (except price, so I am not actually recommending it) it will also do routing at 1 Gbps, but once you want traffic-shaping/SQM you are looking at best at 500/500 Mbps shaper thoughput, but it does come with two WiFi radios...
That particular x86 is inappropriate as it uses an SSD instead of the basic on-board SOIC flash that we are shooting for. If there was something like that, but followed the same sort of configuration that most routers follow, that would def work.
SOLUTION:
I bought one Linksys E8450 and one Belkin RT3200. Both work at full gigabit speeds it seems with to not load down the processor. All went swimmingly well. For anyone else in a situation like me, don't worry about any crazy x86 setups or special hardware. These bad bois are beasts.
I followed the guide here, 100% worked out of box, no need for any JTAG or UART connections. https://github.com/dangowrt/owrt-ubi-installer (Note: you cannot go back to factory firmware if you update it this way)