is there a router that is below 40$ with opensource wifi , i mean the wifi performance will not drop after installing openwrt, a lot of router have less performance after installing openwrt on them because the oem are using an optimized proprietary driver , but openwrt are using non-optimized opensource drivers, ofcurse opensource is better since no backdoors, but after researching a lot of routers , it appears all of them have performance drop after openwrt, some even have 60% drop, this is obviously bad.
i hope someone have a recommendation of such a router
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What does "good performance" mean to you? If you are spending $40/month on the circuit, don't low-ball the equipment. That goes for any price equipment combination with circuit. If your budget is super sensitive, then lower your monthly circuit cost and buy a router that keeps up with it.
I am recently a fan of gl.inet B1300, which does 150Mbps full SQM (or 450Mbps best case no SQM). It's a $70 router, and required no schenanigans to install openwrt. That alone was worth my time. It's wifi range and throughout exceeded Unifi edge+AP combination for 1/3 the cost.
That said, there is no panacea... Costs are lower than ever, but "you get what you pay for" still holds.
YMMV, these statements have not been endorsed by anyone!