Recomendation for accesspoints or similar equipment to implement with openwrt

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

my network is becoming old

i have 2 routers that are many years old and they dont have any form of support of any custom firmware from any project i have found

they are behind my openwrt router, but being many years old, they are now a security risk

two of them are just access points with nothing connected to them via ethernet ports, so why not replace them with a real access point, or a mesh?

some mesh solutions have two ethernet ports, one to feed them wired, another to connect something via ethernet, while the access points rarely have more than just the ethernet port to feed them

i personally have each of those routers as islands with their own wifi, apart, only feeding a couple of rooms, or just one room so i dont care at all about moving between rooms and keeping the same wifi

i would like to see some recommendations about this idea, brands, openwrt with those solutions, considerations in general

2

Only if they do not do WPA3.

Otherwise, they are fine.

They are already APs, and you do not really want mesh.

I do not think you want mesh.

What is not working or you want to improve. Your network is fine.

3

interesting point, no, they do not support wpa3, they only mention about the wpa2 psk at best iirc

the desire to upgrade also comes form speed, these old routers are just ethernet, not gigabit

about the mesh, i have seen them being configured as a ap via wire, so i think the mesh of a single wifi that idont want, can be avoided with those

4

Replace them asap.
Anything that does WPA3 is fine.
If you insist on it running OpenWrt, to future proof, a pi2 zero with an USB... that list changes daily; I'm sure you will get many suggestions

5

Netgear WAX214v2 is an 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) wireless access point.

https://git.openwrt.org/openwrt/openwrt/commit/?id=f25cd55bd1d13d2b89fefd4b1a88198ece1f8bbf

6

Are you asking for access points in terms of the form factor? Like the round discs or square devices with rounded corners that are meant to be mounted on the ceiling or flat against a wall without visually demanding much attention?

Or are you using “access point” simply to mean “a device that doesn’t need to do the router stuff”?

For private homes, I’d recommend Cudy hardware because it’s pretty cheap.

A bunch of their devices are called something like “AX3000” when you shop for them on Amazon, so you have to look at the actual model number.

See:

The one without a letter at the end only has 16 MB of flash; the others have 128 MB. They differ slightly in the number and speed of their ports: some have 1 Gbit, some have 2.5 Gbit, and one can be powered via PoE.

And if you’re actually looking for devices with the typical AP form factor, there’s the AP3000:

The router-style boxes are cheaper than the round-disc access points. You can get one of the 1 Gbit, non-PoE models for about €40 on Amazon, while the ceiling-mount disc version, which only comes with 2.5 Gbit Ethernet and PoE power, costs around €80.

Personally, I’d go for the router boxes and get two of them for the price of one AP-style device. My APs usually sit on a shelf or on top of a cupboard anyway, so I have no reason to pay extra for the more business-y look, and I don’t need them to be PoE-powered.

But make sure you check OpenWrt compatibility for the exact hardware revision. Apparently there are multiple versions, and not all of them are supported.

For all of them, read up on how to install OpenWrt and check Cudy’s official support/download pages. Some models have publicly available “switch to OpenWrt” firmware downloads. For others, you need to request the firmware from Cudy support via email.

If the device is supported by OpenWrt, Cudy will apparently send you the required firmware, but I’d do that before buying the device, just to make sure the necessary file is actually available for the exact hardware revision you’re planning to buy.

7

Does the installer double as a concubine after?

Because at that price...

8

its a mix of both, because on some places, i dont need any ethernet ports, nor see the thing

you can glue or screw a router to the wall and not look at it, for sure, some of those aps with poe do look very interesting but i have not bought a poe switch and dont plan to put a bunch of poe injectors in my network setup

yes, i have been looking at those cudy but never used one, so no idea how good they are r what am i going to deal with when using one

the old ones are just 2.4ghz connected via ethernet so barely offer 30 mbps

9

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say. Having only PoE as a power source available can be one reason for using a specific device type, being forced to look somewhat decent out in the open can be another. Apart from that, using regular router-type boxes and just not using 4 out of 5 RJ45 ports will provide just as good coverage and be half the price.

I suggest not using a few APs with high power settings but rather "many" (the definition of that depends on the number of floors and the square footage per floor you're aiming for) with fairly low transmission power settings. That most likely hints your clients to hand over rather early, especially on 5 GHz.

This also ties in with pricing. If you go for the cheaper 40€ models, you can afford looking at 3 or 4 of them instead of 1 or 2 of the 80€ models. I'm not saying you need to start with 4 APs, but I suggest it should be "financially comfortable" for you to add one or two extra ones.

As for the technical side of things: I'm pretty sure, as for the Wi-Fi capabilities and "preparedness as an AP", the 80€ APs are just as good as the 40€ routers and vice versa.

Full transparency here: I run 2 Cudys (an AX3000, the one with the 16 MBflash, and an AX3000E, both were around 35€ each when I bought them) and 4 Belkin RT3200s. I personally like the Cudys way better, but I'm not going to throw the Belkins away. I have at least 250 MBit wherever I am in my house or garden. I can't tell the exact number because 250 MBit is what my internet uplink is. And I did spend an afternoon dialing in all the TX power settings (meaning: I turned them down just enough) so that wherever I am, all my clients switch to the physically closest AP.

10

This is the least suggested and most cost effective way to cover a couple floors with 1 router:

Put it in the attic or basement.
Replace all antennas with flat antennas and place them away from each other. Then check coverage. Tweak the antenna angles.

Basement works best because the concrete acts like a reflector and beam forming adjusts for the scattering, but down from the attic works too, but signal gets further off your property.

IOW:

Think of your router as a bunch of torches and flat antennas as reflectors.

All Tx power is going up, or down; not wasted in the big fat doughnuts dipole antennas make. So it's,also, harder to proximity hack.

11

that is a great idea if i wanted to improve coverage, but i am a a point where coverage is already good, the problem is the old routers that are well over a decade old, with no updates or way to move to a custom firmware because they are old trash

the way i set up the home is each room has a wifi signal, and i get rid of all problems that way, each one has internet in their room, if they go to another room, they must connect to the wifi signal there in case the other signal is too weak in there, problem solved

i avoid a mesh and carry clients from one ap to the other without losing signal or internet access, my approach is as room focused as possible and it works for my particular case

12

I'd give you advice but that should come from people looking, today, to buy.

Things change fast.

BUMP.