I'm looking for an inexpensive WiFi Router to replace my very old (But still working) TP-Link TL-WR841N.
I have found some used WRT1900AC routers used on Ebay for relatively cheap and I thought it might be a good buy, but then I ran across some FUD about the Marvell chipset. I can't get a clear answer have the 5G issues been figured out or are they still a problem?
Also it seems the 256mb version 1 of the device is more prevalent than the version 2 with 512mb ram and a faster chip. If I'm not using for hosting anything that's not a big deal right?
Fast wired/ routing performance, but challenging wlan drivers - with zero hope for future improvements.
Depending on your environment it might work well, but if you have esp8266 based (IoT-) devices or have any intention to use 802.11w, WPA3 or other broken features, you'll most likely be out of luck.
The WRT1900AC v1 uses a much older (less common) mvebu chipset (without NEON support), unless it's very cheap I wouldn't look there. For new devices (full price), the price delta is small enough to go with the WRT3200ACM/ WRT32X instead of the WRT1900AC or WRT1900ACS; at their normal retail prices, only the WRT1200AC would be cheap enough to justify its continued existence (the WLAN issues are the same for all of them).
I have the WRT1900 AC V2 which is actually physically identical to the ACS.
I would also recommend to go for the AC V2, which was sold for a while as the AC before being re-marketed as the ACS version. It doesn't have a fan, 512MB ram instead of 256, and the faster 1.6ghz processor. So, if you want to go for a bargain, hunt for a AC version, and check via the serial if it is the V2 (these start with "13J2" instead of "13J1" for the older V1 series).
With this one there is actually very little issues with the WIFI driver (I hear people with the WRT3200 complain a lot more). The only thing i've done is applied a workaround for the DFS Reg, as DFS checking is broken in the driver and it will always move away from the DFS channels.
I am pretty certain the original wrt1900 doesn't suffer from the IoT problem like wrt3200 does. At least running the older 18 release it didn't.
Regardless, if wifi is important I agree it is best to get a router with wifi drivers from a company that is updating still or more open like the mt76 devices.
Thanks for the replies. I'm not planning on using any IOT devices in my house any time soon. Is the problem with the drivers limited to IOT devices or just most noticeable in IOT?
I actually have an EA7300 which uses the MT7621 chipset but the router is not supported yet.
The various mwlwifi chipsets have interoperability issues in general - more with some vendors, less with others. The very popular Espressif esp8266/ esp32 (which is commonly found in 'smarthome' or IoT appliances (wifi enabled light bulbs or smart plugs, and much more), as well as the prime candidate for arduino related activities) seems to be particularly affected, but the issue itself is way more general.