I just got the Archer C7 v4, and I'm very impressed. I'm certain I would have been equally impressed with the R7800, except with power usage. I typically get disappointed when I get a new router, that's its not that much better than my old. The Archer C7 runs circles around my ancient Netgear WNDR3700v2, in WiFi coverage around the house and outside. Even with two Netgear WNDR3700 I didn't have good coverage in my 180m2 house, this has complete coverage and great coverage 10m around the house. Coverage seems identical to original TP Link firmware.
Power consumption
I suspect the Netgear R7800 use 11w based on other devices. The Archer C7 uses 4.2w idle with both radios on (5.2w during load), according to my measurements, see other measurements here.
Max LAN speeds
I tested LAN max speeds with Android WiFi Speed Test + OnePlus 6 + Python server on wired pc. I use the current LEDE snapshot. My WiFi speeds at 2.4 GHz radio was: 65 Down / 99 Up Mbps in same room, and 5GHz the speeds were 425 Down /362 Up Mbps. I use WiFi Region DK, which lowers 2.4 GHz TXPower to 17db, but does not seem to affect 5 GHz. I don't think it affects close proximity tests.
I havn't tested original firmware LAN max speeds, but Ookla speed tests in edge zones were similar.
@Bogey yes absolutely. The top "enthusiast" choices right now are the R7800 or WRT3200ACM (or WRT32X same hardware). They are roughly the same price and both very active on the forums and solid support on OpenWrt 18.06 or Master branches.
@Bogey there is even a 15% student discount, if you're subscribed to Amazon Student (or someone you know). Got mine for roughly around 125€ a few weeks ago.
That beeing said, at the same price, I'd prefer the Zyxel NBG6817 over the R7800. There is a magnitude of difference between the Zyxel's and Netgear's WLAN coverage and stability; atleast in my environment. R7800 has its advantages though, like the community support. While it takes a good amount of manual work for the Zyxel to run LEDE properly, people like @hnyman make using the R7800 a breeze.
I'm looking for a new router and am considering the R7800 based on the comments here. Does anyone happen to run openVPN on an R7800 and know the speeds it is capable of with it?
My current router is pretty old and very slow when running openVPN (I am aware that routers in general run openVPN much slower than a computer for many reasons) but I am hoping there will be some improvement if I upgrade.
Here you'll find some openssl benchmarks, including the nbg6817, which uses the same SOC (ipq8065) as the r7800. While that won't directly translate into OpenVPN (which will be slower, due to the context switches needed) performance, it helps to put it into perspective.
Also keep in mind that there is no such thing as "the OpenVPN throughput", what you'll actually get depends on many configuration specific factors - the chosen crypto algorithms in particular, but also about the crypto backend you picked (OpenSSL vs mbedtls), the way you set up the networking (tun vs tap) and many other quite custom choices.
There are many variables to consider here, but for what it's worth: I've used my R7800 with OpenVPN @AES-128-CBC and Private Internet Access as a VPN provider. The maximum wired speed I reached with my particular configuration was about 45 Mbit/s (72 Mbit/s without OpenVPN).
Linksys WRT1200AC! I'm not really savvy about the specs of other routers, but a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM + 802.11 AC/5GHz router that you can readily get on the internet for about $50 is quite incredible to me. You can cross-compile ARM-based linux programs and run them on your router. Firmware installation very easy. I'm not an expert, but I like this one.
I think with a good build, like mine at https://cdn.corifeus.com/openwrt , there is no hickups at all, I can iperf3 at 600 mbits for both devices and the are like a dream.
I was looking to get the R7800 to replace by wndr38300, but only the D7800 is available in my country. I then looked into the WRT3200ACM but that is also not available, but the wrt32x is.
I did some research however and it seems there are a lot of complaints about the stability of the wifi, as well as other general complaints about it not really being stable.
Hardware wise, WRT3200ACM and WRT32x are identical (but the former tends to be slightly cheaper). Both QCA9984 (ath10k, r7800/ nbg6817) and MWL88W8964 (mwlwifi, wrt3200acm/ wrt32x) are generally supposed to work well, but neither are perfect and have different quirks and warts (still, they're the best 802.11ac options available).
Also take a look at the ZyXEL Armor Z2/ nbg6817, which is virtually identical to the r7800 (bigger flash, but no eSATA).
Doing dslreports speedtest sirq never goes above 10%
I do have irqbalance installed with /usr/sbin/irqbalance in /etc/rc.local
I turned off hyperthreading because google searches suggest it increases latency for routing and I was concerned about Spectre, Meltdown, and Foreshadow vulnerabilities on a device connected to the internet
@Dr_Fambo is one of the few thinking about what is really "enthusiast" grade, in my opinion.
Don't forget about the used market either.
Used Lanner FW-7582A, 6 Intel 82583V nics, PCIe x8 slot, USB 2.0, serial, RTC, LCD character display in 1U box. Came with i3-2120 and 4 GB memory -- US $89 on eBay
Upgraded to Xeon E3-1265L V2 -- US $99 on eBay (lower power consumption, higher performance)
Used Archer C7 v2 as "dumb AP" -- US $40 through Craigslist
2x8 GB memory sticks, DDR3 1333, from my junk drawer
Even with the original i3-2120 and 4 GB RAM in there, I pretty much guarantee it runs circles around any of the high-end home wireless routers on the market, at under US $140 (including the Archer C7). It can easily handle 2 Gbps throughput without breaking a sweat.
I think that any router with such big x86-CPUs is quite oversized for home use. Even for enthusiasts. But I agree that used hardware can be a good option for people who don't want to pay $150+ for so-called enthusiast hardware. And I think that most of us don't want such "big" hardware just for routing traffic to their TV or NAS combined with several repeaters to reach their living room. The more things I want to integrate into a router hardware the more I don't want/need OpenWrt as operating system.
I was tinking and reading a lot before I decided to buy the NBG6817. At the end the dual boot option and the flash size were the most important things for me (beside the wifi performance). But such thoughts are relevant for ppl. making their own builds only.
Is this router driven by OpenWrt? I mean ... (maybe) ... If I would have a lot of wifi users in a really big family/community with a real big glass fibre connection ... l would opt for such a router ...
Can anyone offer guidance?
I'm interested to build a router from something like Qotom-Q190S but am concerned that I don't know precisely what to ask for.
Requirements:
support shaping a 1 Gb fibre connection
I'm more concerned about wired performance but want 2.4GHz and 5Ghz (ac) WIFI
must have ethernet switch / VLAN so that I can connect a smart switch and segment my wired network
What questions should I ask about their base package and their wifi option to ensure my requirements are met?
... but the answer is that you either need a certificate signed by a recognized authority or to create your own CA, certificates, and install the CA's "trust" certificate in your browsers. If you wish to pursue further, I'd suggest search of the forums and openwrt.org. If that didn't answer your questions, follow-up on a recent, related thread or a new thread would be the next step.
