Switch/router without wifi

Hi. I know, that similar discusion was here few years ago, but I hope something changed since then.

I need to use some router, to use with only wired ports (And with abilty to run openwrt of course.) Any suggestions?

My checks suggests, that the simplest way is to buy normal wifi router, and disable radios on it. But it is kind of waste for me. ...

Beyond the obvious task of switching, what else does this device need to do?

There are switches that can run OpenWrt, but they are terrible at routing (because of the hardware). There are many routers that can run OpenWrt -- these are the obvious solution if you need to be able to perform any routing, VPN, or other such functions (and yes, you can simply disable the radios and be done with it... it's actually not that much of a waste).

  1. one port to my ISP
  2. second port to my AP
  3. some oher ports to local devices like NAS, or pc-box without wifi
  4. nat/masquerding + nftables
  5. ipsec/openvpn server on router
  6. if possible - freeradius

For now I am happy user of https://openwrt.org/toh/cudy/wr3000h_1 but some of my physical enviornment will change and "router work" and wifi AP cannot be at the same place :frowning:

You need to use a router for these things. A switch will not cut it.

Most of the routers that have built-in switches are all-in-one wifi routers. However, you can find some wired-only devices like the ER-X and the like. You'll need to determine what your performance requirements are, but in general, a more recent device will likely be a wise choice (even if it has wifi that goes unused).

  1. one port to my ISP

what kind of port? For me its DSL, so I use a Fritbox 7520 with OpenWRT and just ignore the wifi (turn the radio off)

"router work" and wifi AP cannot be at the same place

Just get one or more AccessPoints. In the meantime we got multiple management tools like OpenSOHO, so no worries about keeping 6-7 APs configured mostly identical.

GL.iNet GL-B3000, but it probably doesn't have enough ports, how many of those do you need ?

Where are you located, geographically?

Poland. But I seems that simplest way is to use another cudy wr3000h with radio disabled. Thanks to all for your responses.

Banana Pi R4 Pro might suit your use case, no idea if it will suit your budget though and you might have to wait for OpenWrt support to mature.

It is, but I'd go for a used Fujitsu Futuro S920, a PCIe riser and a dual or quad port gigabit NIC.

Should still be less than 60€, if your timing's right.

Make sure the S920 is the quad core CPU version.

I'd second that - the dual core will struggle with anything above DSL speeds. that said was there a quad core option for the 720?

Looking on the 'net I see that there was for the 740 and for the 920 but as far as I can work out the 720 was only ever dual core.

The 720 also lacked the PCI slot that the 740 had

Might have gotten the models wrong, it's been a while, post edited.

Found an older post: Router recommendation for Openwrt - #12 by frollic.

Stupid question: what about this one: [REPORT] OpenWrt on CloudGenix ION 3000 On polish marketplace used is about https://allegro.pl/produkt/router-przewodowy-tcl-ion-3000-d43d98fa-3339-483f-b908-ab21d7695cd6?offerId=18281695156 160PLN (~40€).

What is wrong? power consumption? Size?

Nothing, it's a good device, but probably noisy.
It's big too, rack size.

The seller doesn't know what to do with it. I've seen this time and time again. A device from a big-name vendor is upgraded to a newer one. The owner neither knows nor cares whether the device can be repurposed; they just want to get rid of it so it doesn't take up space in the storage room.

why not split the roles ?

  • Example : an R4S combined with a managed PoE switch that powers the AP.

  • You have a lot more ports available on the switch.

  • One of the decisions in setting up a house/greenfield, is deciding on your concentration point for wiring. If you separate routing from switching, the wiring can be more accomodating.

Deserves considering.