Router recommendation for use as enterprise access point

[mtsolmn]

Hi all,

I am looking for router recommendations for a particular use case:

I am need to setup an access point to bridge a WPA Enterprise network to a private wireless network. This is simple enough to setup in openwrt, but I am looking for hardware recommendations for recent models that will serve this purpose well. I have a budget of around $100-150 and am looking for something that is hopefully tri-band (the enterprise network has both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks) to maximize bandwidth. I will additionally be connecting a computer to this router/access point, so a gigabit ethernet port is also desired.

I am a bit overwhelmed by all the different hardware options and some help from more knowledgeable folk would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[slh]

ipq4019 should match the requirements (as in Asus MAP-AC2200 or Linksys EA8300/ MR8300).

[mtsolmn]

Hi @slh, thanks for the quick reply. After some further research, I've purchased an MR8300 (I also considered the newer MR9000 but it doesn't seem to have support yet: Support for the Linksys MR9000)

In preparation for flashing, I am trying to find the most stable release for the MR8300 and have checked both the tech data (https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/linksys/linksys_mr8300) and table of hardware, which both list a snapshot. There doesn't appear appear to yet be a stable release for the MR8300 although it has been mentioned in the support thread for the device Flashing OpenWrt on Linksys MR8300 - partially bricked.

Do you know if I should use the current snapshot from the firmware selector or one of the instructions from the above forum thread. @cybrnook mentioned that it is now officially in master, but I don't see it.

Thanks again for any help.

[slh]

A snapshot will be the safer method.

[cybrnook]

MR8300 is in the Master branch until the next major release (likely Stable 20).

https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ipq40xx/generic/openwrt-ipq40xx-generic-linksys_mr8300-squashfs-factory.bin

Installation:
"Factory" images may be installed directly through the OEM GUI using
URL: https://ip-of-router/fwupdate.html (Typically 192.168.1.1)

Happy Holidays

[mtsolmn]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all your help. I was able to successfully get everything flashed correctly and have a stable version of OpenWrt installed. Thanks again for the replies!