Please keep this topic free of unsupported devices and questions about unsupported devices.
Thanks!
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This thread has been very informative. Thanks for everyone's input. 
My prefered device is the Banana Pi R1, a cheap powerhouse, 1GB of memory, Dual Core ARM CPU, and i got a 32GB SD card in use.
By far the LibreRouter.org, an open source software and open source hardware wireless router for communities!
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i have two favorites i have obtained from friends who have upgraded so they gave me their old routers. i know they are old but they remain gold for me.
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netgear wndr3700v2. a neighbor gave me this and thanks to hnyman for the years i have been using his builds until i adopted wireguard. i now use the image builder so i can include wireguard in the image.
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netgear wndr4300sw. a friend gave me this after she switched isp. hardware is exactly the same as the netgear wndr4300v1 but with board id of wndr4300sw (surewest -- northern california isp). there is no existing community build hence i have to use the image builder to create a wndr4300 image but it requires the header and checksum to be changed to wndr4300sw before it can be flashed. once on openwrt, wndr4300 sysupgrade.tar can be safely flashed without any modification.
Initial support of OpenWRT on the NanoPi R2S is there and the first test results are promising.
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VERY cool.
I bought a Glinet B1300 Convexa-B after reading this thread.
https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/gl.inet/gl.inet_gl-b1300
IPQ4028 Quad-core ARM, @717MHz SoC
Memory / Storage DDR3L 256MB / FLASH 32MB
|Protocol |802.11a/b/g/n/ac|
|Wi-Fi Speed |2.4GHz(400Mbps), 5GHz(867Mbps)|
|TX power |2.4GHz: 20dBm (11b) Max, 5GHz: 20dBm (11a) Max|
|Ethernet Port |3 x 10/100/1000M|
The device has native support for OpenWRT (older version) with custom add-on.
I reflased it with OpenWRT latest release.
So for, I am very happy with it as it is rock solid and fast.
Ethernet ports are able to route Gigabyte fiber at full speed.
I am using it for mesh networks with WPA3.
The GLinet B-1300 is the size of a hand and has 4 antennas, with good coverage.
The only drawback is that it does not support hardware AES encryption, which does not make it a good choice for a VPN. I did not test and VPN yet.
A very good deal for 80€ on Amazon. Thank you for pointing me this nice appliance and OpenWRT support.
Are you using just one GL-B1300 or do you have more for mesh networking?
I am only using one GL-B1300 as main router and the other is a TP-Link re450 with custom firmware, but I am still testing. The mesh is initialized on the GL-B1300 and seems to work. I admit I have been too quick.
[Edit : I just purchased a second GL-B1300 and I will tell you shorly if dual band mesh works.]
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I am waiting for my GL B1300, and wondering if it si worth simply flush openWRT or use it wit stock (after upgrading to newest one certainly)? Do you have reasonable wifi speed? I read a lot of complain about it.
If flush how to make it over stock? just load image? I am a bit new to openWRT (I used DDWRT and tomato).
GL-B1300
High price : 88,25 €
Only 3 Lan
WR330/WR1200JS
Low price : € 29,39
5 * LAN Gigabits
Wifi B/G/N/AC
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Good point, but the GL B1300 is a quad-core AP based on ARM processor with Atheros radio. I always trust Atheros radio because it has better long term Linux support (correct me if I am wrong). The GL-B1300 is the size of a hand, has 4 antennas and good range. The WR1200JS is Mips dual core. But I agree it is pretty much the same spec. The GL B1300 is widely distributed on Amazon and I can get it in 2 days. I never buy on Aliexpress and probably never will as I am in Europe and don't like to wait a month.
frites ->
i am in France ( delay one month not a big problem !!! )
fine with OpenWrt bit a problem with Orange provider TV flux
finally i use PandoraBox version 19.01 ( compile with my options )
So I got GL B1300, I had a bit problem to flush it (by my mistake), I have found post most helpful:
https://forum.openwrt.org/t/flashing-gl-inet-gl-b1300-with-openwrt-18-06-1/25587
I am running 19.07.3. Absolutely love it, cool, fast, even without SQM scripts I am getting buffer bloat A rating.
Looking forward to learning more about openWRT, never come back to customer routers. I reckon even Mikrotik looks not too good with comparisons to that software.
WiFi is not bad either, but my house is not that big and on the wooden frame, so easy penetration.
So far very good purchase, about 100bucks with Tenda 5 port switch (half the price Asus blue cave I had use).
Very happy with my TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 and TL-WDR4300 workhorses. Not hotshot "AC" multigigabit speeds but dual band workhorses with great OPENWRT compatibility and plenty of RAM and sufficient flash of 8Mbyte. 2USB which still isn't easy to find. Long out of production, I keep a sharp eye on Kijiji etc. for them. For $40 CDN used I can't complain.
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Fellow Canuck here, I'm really new to this and looking to build my own home automation system. I have read about this or that not working well in different countries and I want to future proof my home automation system. Any suggestions on which routers to go with I plan on having 2 as I have a detached house with a backyard entertainment area with plans to add a router in the shed so maybe 3(2 will be WiFi only).
Please use this topic only for recommending your favourite device.
For questions like "Which device should I buy", please open a new topic in the Hardware Questions and Recommendations category of this forum.
Please read https://openwrt.org/faq/which_router_should_i_buy before creating a new topic. This way you will get better recommendations and come to a quicker solution.
Thanks!
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my Dream device is GL inet BrumeW now, 2nd choice is GL inet's Slate.
Brume is fast Marvel cortexA53 CPU,
1GB ram
8GB emmc
good support from GL inet.
just USD 140.
Slate use QC A9563,
128MB ram...
128MB nand, 16MB Nor.
half price at USD 70, but MUCH more popular.
dont think any can beat them.
btw they only got 1WAN 1LAN,
all gigabitLAN
but
300Mbps wifi for brume, 433 Mbps wifi for slate.
both only 1 USB 2.0 port