Reliable alternatives to MikroTik RB750Gr3

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Any recommendations for an alternative to the MikroTik RB750Gr3? I purchased one last February, flashed it with OpenWrt and it was fine for about a year and a half. But yesterday, our internet stopped working and after spending a couple of hours diagnosing the problem, it appears to be the MikroTik. Luckily, I had an old Netgear that I turned off the WiFi on and turned into a wired router. I really expect my hardware to last more than just a year and a half!

I’d like something with at least as many ethernet ports, that I can flash OpenWrt to and that will be more durable. Thank you all in advance!

2

no wifi required then, right ?

where are you located, geographically ?

some inspiration: Inexpensive Starter Router (Wired Only)

3

Correct, no WiFi – WiFi is managed by a Deco Mesh setup. I’m in the US. I’ll take a look at the link.

4

great, then most of the hw listed will be available to you on eBay.

5

if you want something beefier, and willing to spend more than the $30 limit OP specified in the old thread, have a look at Dell Edge E42W 620/640/680 (used 620's should be around $55-60), don't buy the 610.

6

This all looks interesting. I’ve been using OpenWrt for many, many years now with much less capable devices. What are the advantages of the devices suggested in your link? I’ve read the paloalto overview and specs for the ION 2000 and it has the requisite 5 ethernet ports but I don’t understand what the additional RJ45 ports are for. With OpenWrt, can these be repurposed into addition ethernet ports?

7

Yes, they can act as switch ports, but since there's no switch chip, they're listed as separate ports (and will require a certain amount of CPU to move the data between the ports).

In the case of the ION, it'd look like this: CloudGenix ion 2000 correct port assignments.

8

I’ve never had an x86_64 based router – flashing is straightforward? I see one on ebay for $30.

9

you usally boot openwrt from a flash drive, then write (dd or zcat) the openwrt image to disk from there

make sure it comes with a power supply, those will be another $15-20 if you need to buy it separately.

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10

If you’re actually looking for a similar replacement for the RB750Gr3 the following devices are supported by OpenWrt with very similar hardware:

  • Cudy R700 16MB Flash, 128MB RAM, Available new
  • TP-Link ER605 v2 128MB Flash, 256MB RAM, 1x USB 2.0, Available new
  • TP-Link FR205 - same hardware as TP-Link ER605 v2, Available new
  • Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X, 256MB Flash, 256MB RAM, can be found on eBay.
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