Is there any donation value in these WiFi routers?

I have retired my old Linksys WRT1900AC (too old for support) and I have two Netgear WiFi routers: R6350 (AC1750) and WAC124 (AC2000) that I experimented on to learn about newer OpenWRT installation and configuration. Fortunately, I do not need additional coverage with my new, current OpenWRT device, so I don't need them for extending coverage.

Would any of these be suitable for a hardware donation? or should I e-waste them?
Thanks for any suggestions.
-D

Hi.
I don't consider any of these devices as scrap. They still have a purpose, for example recycled as a simple AP. So yes, they are suitable for donation. And just in case, keep one as a backup device in case of your main router has a failure.

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Yes, I'm aware of the hardware backup needs, thanks! I'm considering a used or refurb WRT32X so I can experiment more freely with software, configuration, and automation.

According to https://openwrt.org/donate#hardware_donations
@badulesia would you be a suitable developer?

WRT32X is practically the same machine as WRT1900AC. They both have the problem Marvell wifi, but otherwise are fine for a wired use case. The WRT1900AC is not too old.

If you simply don't want them around any more, flash back to stock and offer them to a charity that has a thrift store. These models are completely useful in a typical home network.

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No, thank you. :blush:
By "suitable for donation", I meant the same that @mk24.

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Due to the sad story of mwlwifi being abandoned, I wouldn't expect any further 'development' to happen for the WRT1900AC - which doesn't make it less useful for wired usage (and if your environment works with mwlwifi, some limited usability of its wireless side).

R6350 and WAC124 are both pretty standard specimens of mt7621at+mt7603e+mt7615n devices, I would expect most developers working mt7621 to already have a (similar) specimen of this SOC family at their disposal - and/ or probably being more interested in this SOC with mt7915/ mt7921 wireless (mt7621 development is relatively stable, mt7622 SOCs and/ or mt7915/ mt7921 wireless are the areas where active development happens right now). But maybe there are still some in need of a test device in your region and may contact you.

All of these devices (the wrt1900ac apart from its known wireless issues) are still fully usable with OpenWrt for quite some time to come, so there's no reason to get rid of them anytime soon - nor not to sell them on your local used market places.

As mentioned by mk24, it doesn't make sense to replace a wrt1900ac with a 'new' wrt3200acm/ wrt32xx (unless you can find an extremely cheap specimen), the wired performance isn't much better and the same mwlwifi wireless issues make it unfit for a new purchase (if wireless is among your requirements). Rather look at more modern, better alternatives (e.g. mt7622+mt7915 as router or mt7920a+mt7915 for mere AP uses; ipq807x is also promising for the future).

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Thank you @slh for the details, I'm still parsing your insights and will do some research on the wiki for chipsets and devices. I'll follow up if I can't figure things out.

I found the performance of the Netgear devices to be unsatisfactory (dropped connections) after a few hours of getting OpenWRT on them, so I purchased to the WRT32X for a decent deal to remain in support with OpenWRT. It's performed roughly the same as the WRT1900AC with OpenWRT, which was rock solid for my family, so that goal was achieved.

I will reflash the Netgear devices to stock and donate to local charity: thank you @mk24! An OpenWRT developer in Europe has requested the WRT1900AC, I'll see if I can make that happen if postage from the US isn't horrible.

Thanks everyone!

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