You can get an used Atom 3k series router for less than $50 on eBay, with or without wifi.
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for a new device, the J4125 is a low-end solution now, N5095/N4105/N6005 are way better for a few extra $$$
and sometimes it's not more expensive
Way better in what sense?
You really don't need more power to do gbit routing...
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i think FASTER was the correct word to use.
what i wanted to say is : if it's about buying a NEW x86 device, better go for the faster one for a few extra $$$, and we can even find N5105 device for the price of those J4125.
Linksys WRT3200ACM a proven box.
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Yes they are faster, but my point with x64 (aka x86-64) is power consumption at idle/low loads is more than needed to do routing compared to ARM, save for the Intel J4125.
See that review, they recommend the N5105 but not the new higher CPUs because of power consumption. You can be using 5-10W with ARM, 10-15W with a J4125, but these higher chips are using 30W. Too much when my WRT32X stays under 10W and does Routing, Firewall, Samba at 100 MB/s, SQM cake at 500 Mb/s, Adblock, etc. ARM devices like that or the NanoPi R5S is plenty for OpenWrt.
For x64 boxes, Intel seems to be ignoring power consumption the last few years, these new 'low power' chips draw more, (all the way up to their 12th gen Alder Lake which draws 20% more power than the latest Ryzen 5800X or 5900X). For x64 the J4125 is still the way to go. A nice mini PC box with Intel J4125, 4x I225-V (2.5Gbe, kmod-igc driver), and USB3 ports at $300 is also a great buy no doubt.
The present and potential future needs will both include WiFi, so why not start by getting an all-in-one WiFi AP that also handles the present 200 Mbps ISP service routing needs?
Reliable OpenWrt WiFi pretty much rules out the WRT32x/3200/1900, etc., doesn't it? They make nice OpenWrt gateway routers, but their WiFi reliability is reported to be a bit questionable with OpenWrt.
An RT3200, used R7800 or just about any other used ipq806x device will handle everything today with a single low power device. Including VPN in the mix, I would pay a bit more for a new MT7622 based RT3200 (mediatek/mt7622: enable accelerated crypto drivers). If long range WiFi were a higher priority than VPN, I might look harder at used ipq806x options.
Options generally improve with time, so why rush into the 1 Gbps gateway router today?
If in the future an all-in-one AP like the RT3200 or R7800 is outgrown due to getting 1 Gbps ISP service, only then would I be looking at demoting it to AP only duty plugged into a new 1 Gbps capable gateway router. When that time comes, I do agree an ARM based SBC is the way to go over x86.
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Linksys WRT3200ACM sucks at WiFi. It's just a fast router but wifi performance is terrible, small range and not stable. I would definitely never buy this device again. It caused a lot of headache.
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and therein lies the problem. @NotAnExpert_yet says the wifi on the WRT3200ACM is bad. It's entirely possible he had a unit with bad wifi. Or maybe it's generally bad and you lucked into a unit that was at the good end of the spectrum.
Hence the reason i started this thread. i want to know what WORKS, not what's cheapest.
The routing is easier to get right (although you can have flaky digital hardware) but wifi is tough because it's harder to test and very much subject to the operating environment.
It is crippled...
There are several threads about it.
Certain devices, like IoTs, have issues with it.
Hence the endorsements of RT3200 and ipq806x targets for all in one or future WiFi AP use with something like a NanoPi R4S if you later upgrade to Gigabit. It is merely a happy coincidence that ipq806x targets are inexpensive on the used market.
If the mini PC x86 option intrigues you, that will of course work too. ARM devices are generally lower power for an always on device is all. ARM works pretty well for speedy high end long battery life Apple silicon laptops these days too.
I have purchased and installed 3 WRT3200ACM in home locations and running openvpn client and no ads application on router. Wifi coverage has been exceptional and throughput excellent even with vpn client.
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In my country ipq806x targets especially Netgear 7800 is the same price as RT3200 in the UK, from where I can import.
Which one should I choose?
Does RT3200 provide better speed compared to Netgear 7800?
If faster short to mid range WiFi (especially for WiFi6 clients), faster routing (e.g., to support future upgrade to half Gig ISP service) and faster OpenVPN are more important to you, then I would go with the RT3200, due to it having a better MT7622 CPU.
If faster long range WiFi is more important to you than above, I would lean toward the R7800.
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I need faster Lan to Wifi Performance, want to run Plex on Laptop from Synology NAS / router attached SSD/HDD at a short-range like one wall and some 15feets.
Gigabit ISPs are still years away in this part of the world.
How about APU4 from PC ENGINES? i am using previous models and all i have to say is that it rocks. It is x86 64 bit architecture with 2, 3 or 4 ethernet ports, depending on the version.
At this point I'd look for faster, more modern hardware than the APU with its rather dated jaguar cores. Yes, these boards are rather unique, but they just barely manage to route 1 GBit/s on linux - and sqm would need a lot more steam than that (however if your WAN speed is lower and you can find a bargain for a used device, these might still be convincing, but not for full price).
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i'm going to start with the R7800 and see how that does.
Thank you very much to everyone who responded !
(My first post)
i'm going to start with the R7800 and see how that does.
But the Netgear Nighthawk R7800 isn't available new. I don't mind buying refurbished (I just returned a brand-new ASUS RT-AC68U because no WiFi with OpenWRT 
) but then I have to worry about dealing with a scammy Amazon/eBay seller. I wish manufacturers would offer refurbished product themselves.
There's one new Linksys WRT3200ACM in stock near me, but people in this thread criticize its WiFi performance.
MU-MIMO seems worthwhile and multiple antennae give me something to fiddle (I'm in two-storey house with metal beams, so WiFi isn't great). The TP-Link AC1200 (Archer A6 V3) has MU-MIMO for only $40, but no USB port. I occasionally use a network drive and it sounds like OpenWRT has a decent Samba/CIFS module instead of buying yet another cheap box to configure and manage.
➜ Is there a supported new-ish WiFi router as good as the Archer A6 with a USB port? In my research:
- none of the current TP-Link "AX" series WiFi routers are supported by OpenWRT
- none of the Netgear "AX" series WiFi routers are supported by OpenWRT
- the Linksys MR8300 (Qualcomm IPQ4019) is supported, has USB, MU-MIMO, antennae to fiddle with. Supports Mesh which I don't need. But not available new; $200 refurbished.
- anything else?
Many thanks in advance.
I think it would help to filter out old hardware if the OpenWRT hardware table had columns like "Available new?", "Date introduced", and "Replaced by model"/"Replaces model".
DOH! yeah, i went to try and buy one and the you-know-who page only had refurbished units. I thought that was weird.
aaaargh... now what ?