Looking for a home router to support openwrt up to 105$

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hello! I did some research, came down to 3 options and with all I face the same kind of problem looking for a solution or someone who can guide me.
I’d prefer to avoid customs delays and paperwork and order something up to ~ 108USD either total or in parts with a budget somewhere up to ~150, the less the better if I don’t lose in quality. The router is for home use. It is connected with dynamic IP to the ISP currently with some old TP-Link router.

Options that I understood worth looking at:

  1. GL.iNet Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) - on Ali 170USD + shipping - and technically I cannot order board and etc.. separately

  2. Banana Pi BPI-R3, looks like a good option. However, on bpi-shop it is listed for 173 on ameridroid 109.95 which gets me into the customs safe zone (if usd won’t change) but the processor listed by ameridroid is different? how is it possible?

what other options do I have that I can order in parts up to 105-108 in parts?

2

you quote in USD, yet I doubt you're in US ?

your location matters, if you want to get relevant suggestions.

1 Like
3

Well, I’m ordering it to Georgia if that helps. If the product is in the US, I can use a company that forwards it to me

4

Radxa E52C might be your device, recently got snapshot support if i recall

dual 2.5g, some impressive wireguard bandwidth numbers

2gb model 90-99 USD, out of stock currently, but should be a mini powerhouse

5

the country, not the state ? :wink:

SAX1V1K is ~$35 on US eBay.
W1700k ~$85 on US Amazon.

6

thanks quite interesting where can I find it for that price?

@frollic Thanks, I’m afraid those routers aren’t supported by openwrt and they might have some bottleneck in near future by cpu power or software, am I right?

7

I'm afraid you're wrong.

BE wifi, 2GB RAM, 400MB flash two 10GbE NICs, yep, not future proof at all.

8

https://radxa.com/products/network-computer/e52c/ - use the 'buy now' and select the seller that supports shipping to you

1 Like
9

GL.iNet MT6000 - flint-2 very popular and well supported also with stable builds

10

... and also very overpriced (IMHO) ,)

1 Like
11

I scored one for $ 105 not a bad deal

12

Dunno, I scored a T-56 for 30€ and W1700k around the same, in USD.

13

Can you simply upgrade from stock via the stock GUI?

14

No, the price diff is the price of the UI upgrade feature :slight_smile:
Plus 8GB eMMC instead of 400MB.

1 Like
15

I’m sorry I didn’t mean to sound rude you’re here waisting your time to help me, with a quick I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude. You’re taking the time to help me, and I really appreciate it from a quick search I did, I understand that the W1700K is sold by some ISP, and I’m concerned it might not support something in the future—like a VPN or other software-dependent features—since it’s a closed-source router. The specs look very nice for the price; I would even say they’re almost too good. I just hope it won’t overheat.

T-56—is that from ZyXEL? I just read that it’s officially supported by OpenWRT and has the best CPU for support, the MT7986A. Correct me if I misunderstood anything about this CPU and its support. If I can find it somewhere in Germany, it could also be an option for me.

@egc, the cheapest I can see is €160 before shipping for the Flint-2.

Currently, two Ethernet ports are enough for me, as everything else runs on Wi-Fi.

16

You posted at OpenWRT, it's assumed OpenWRT will be installed.
OpenWRT removes all firmware limitations enforced by the stock firmware.

Any ISP branded device will have (or not have) the same limits as if you'd have bought it in a store under it's "non ISP branded" name.

It's also ISP branded (NL Odido), so I guess it's a no go too.

17

Well that is a bummer :frowning:

I think Zyxel t-56 has the same CPU as the Flint 2

18

It does.

The T-56/EX5601 is used by multiple ISPs across Europe.

19

I thought I cannot change the firmware to openwrt on W1700K (I couldnt’ find official support) and that you suggest me it just as a good router option the CPU on the T-56 looks better anyway, please correct me if I’m wrong.

@datrumole I found the 4gb version for 97USD should I wait for the 8gb? as I understood this one from the suggested has the best cpu however what else would I need? I can be fine with 1 port and the one I’m using right now I’ll change to WiFi, in case I would need ports I would need to get a switch. However, is there anything else that I need for this box? as I understood I need wifi ap, is it really worth it?

20

You're wrong, but it's a mature product, from an Openwrt point of view.
W1700k support was added a week ago, give or take.