FreshTomato on RT-AC66?

[foosion]

My RT-AC66U_B1 has reached EOL - it's no longer supported by ASUS or Merlin, but appears to be supported by FreshTomato. I'm happy with the router, at least for the moment, but worry about security updates. Will using FreshTomato, so long as it's supported, mean I'll be up to date on security?

If not, what's a good replacement router? This seems a FAQ, but responses seem to be telling people to look at other threads asking the question, none of which actually provide an answer other than much higher end / more expensive routers. Apartment with a lot of other routers in the area. 600 Mbps ISP.

I'm currently on the latest Merlin version and don't real use any features beyond basic wifi connections.

Apologies for the subject line.

 

[Tech9]

none of which actually provide an answer other than much higher end / more expensive routers.

What's the budget? Your router is >12 years old hardware. Time to replace.

Newer routers will match better your ISP line and deal better with multiple networks around.

 

[foosion]

What's the budget? Your router is >12 years old hardware. Time to replace.

Newer routers will match better your ISP line and deal better with multiple networks around.

Budget: $150, unless more will provide a substantial improvement.

I'm currently getting close to 600 on a wired connection and 425-550 on wifi depending on the device, which doesn't seem bad.

Will FreshTomato keep the old router reasonably secure, so long as it's supported?

 

[Tech9]

Will FreshTomato keep the old router reasonably secure, so long as it's supported?

Yes, but most interesting features in FT are NAT acceleration incompatible and unless you run it in very basic configuration you won't be getting your full ISP speed anymore, wired or wireless. If this router currently works well for your needs - just continue using as before. I would run the last official Asuswrt firmware on it. You perhaps have no open to Internet services, AiProtection will continue getting signature file updates, Asus Security Daemon will continue getting updates on background. No need to rush replacing it just because EoL happened recently.

Budget: $150

For this budget I would recommend different brand router, not Asus - GL.iNet GL-MT6000. It runs feature rich modern GUI OpenWrt based stock firmware and has vanilla OpenWrt option available. There is hardly anything better as price/performance ratio on the market.

Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) | High-Performance VPN Router

Experience blazing-fast VPN speeds and full OpenWrt customization with Flint 2, our best Wi-Fi 6 router yet. A new realm of power, freedom, and security.

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