I recently redid the networking at my parents' place and replaced a DIR-825 B1 with a younger Archer C7 v2. The best place for a router is in the living room, besides the TV, so C7 being all black stands out like a sore thumb. Hence, I'm on a lookout for a more up-to-date and aesthetically-pleasing device: no RGB-laden black spiders.
I doesn't need much power, AC and above is fine. There aren't that many client devices. A WAN and 1 or 2 LAN ports are enough. The uplink is symmetric 100 Mbps only. Ideally it should do Wireguard at those 100 Mbps and be able to run Adguard Home (so more RAM is better). Otherwise, a USB port would be nice. Supported by OpenWrt, of course.
Visually, I was looking for something along the lines of 1st gen Google Wifi or similar: small, unobtrusive and of lighter color. With as little blinking lights as possible, and no external antennas.
I know that T-56 exists, and I have one, however it still looks too much like a piece of hardware, even with most lights off, to my eye.
Google WiFi works well, I have one exactly in my mom's home, previously I tested this router and it's able to serve roughly up to 600Mbps throughput while my mom's internet is just 100Mbps so there is no issue with it. The LEDs are configurable to be flashing, or just static, I prefer static lights and told my mom what's the color referring to (e.g. when WAN port is out what color is expected, etc....) so she can tell me on phone when problem comes.
More important, this router has plenty of storage space, I put TailScale (routers with little storage space might not be able to install this big monster, like my previous Linksys WRT1900ACv2), with all those statistics thing on top so I can remotely check if anything suspicious remomtely.
Unifi ceiling mounted APs tend to pass the "mom-test" if you turn off the lights on them. I went with that a few years ago due to needing multiple APs (old house with tick walls, and a "no cables" policy, so had to use WiFi for uplink between APs).
I'm not running openwrt on that install, though I do believe it can be done on some unifi equipment. I believe there are also better options these days, with proper tri-band support.
In general, ceiling mounted office APs might be the way to go, maybe from another brand than unifi.
Zyxel wsm20 is quite pretty, just a white led on the front.
Belkin RT1800/ Linksys E7350 might be too angular but has the requested USB socket.
GL-INET B3000 has a photo frame design.
Any router with Openwrt firmware flashed is definetly not a layman friendly. Spinning up the wifi is probably going to be very complicated for them. By default wifi is turned off, so you need to turn it on by going here and doing this and that. All of it with mambo jambo words that they probably have no idea what is it.
Compared that to consumer router with stock OEM firmware and pair that with a smartphone app that communicates like a human to configure the router and done on a step by step wizard kind of setup.
Google Wifi, the original option, not available. Good looks though.
Belkin RT1800/Linksys E7350, yep - too angular.
TP-Link Deco M4R: 16/128, a bit too little for 2025, but looks OK.
D-Link DAP-X1860, wall-wart-type devices are not suitable
D-Link COVR-X1860: 128/256, looks the most appropriate, but barely available and I can’t find just one.
GL.iNet GL-B1300: 32/256, 32 is kind of pushing it, and not sold anymore?
Zyxel WSM20, looks OK, but not widely available.
GL-INET B3000, support is still not merged, I'm not sure the photo frame is as pretty as they intend it to be.
It looks like the "mesh"-type routers have the most appropriate looks, but come and go extremely fast and it's impossible to get them once they get OpenWrt support.
Better yet: OpenWRT router paired with off-the-shelf APs (Eero and Orbi are both fine choices) in AP mode. Best tool for the job, always - let the router route. OpenWRT's weak point, always, has been wireless (and is particularly unsuited to mesh roaming applications in multi-floor environments).
This would be an overkill setup for the usecase: the less hardware and wires - the better. Previous D-Link DIR-825 B1 with OpenWrt from something like 2008/9 had no problem covering the whole apartment.
The looks might not be quite what you're after (especially with the antennas in the operational position) but the gl.inet GL-A1300 is supported and still seems to be available; similarly the GL-MT3000 although I'd avoid it (for your use case) as I understand it has a SoC fan :-(.
GL-B2200 might also fit the bill if you can find one (or a pair) as NOS or second-hand.
If it does I've never heard it running. Device is cute and works well. I'm using it as a travel router in an apt while recovering from the SoCal fires in Jan.
Gl.Inet GL-B2200, looks like 8GB eMMC is by default, but seems discontinued
Cudy M3000, 256MB RAM might be pushing it with Adguard Home, can’t find a white one for sale in EU
D-Link AQUILA PRO AI M30, specs seem good, but the design is… a choice. And the dimensions seem like it would be a pain to fit anywhere, due to it being neither flat and low, nor narrow and tall.
Dynalink DL-WRX36, specs are good, looks OK (like a Star Wars Dalek), never seen one for sale in EU though
Gl.Inet GL-MT3000 is cool, but the fan is not helping it.
