Looking for the "cheapest" AC router that will support DD-wrt

[BigBillsd]

I am tired of replacing WiFi routers that never get security updates. I want to go with something that will support dd-wrt as I hear,, it gets security updates. (hopefully I am not hearing that incorrectly) I live in a large city and know there are war drivers (yes I am that old) searching our streets. Haven't seen any sidewalk marking in my neighborhood in a long time, just assumed they are probably on map software now. Anyway, Thanks in Advance. -Bill

 

[Timo]

This is a good place to start looking: https://dd-wrt.com/support/router-database/
A lot of older stuff can be used if you don't want to buy new.
Something like a trusty old RT-N66U.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Personally I don't touch DD-WRT any more. I've used it in the past and it seemed good, but back then there wasn't any alternatives.

I gave up partly because of the hopelessly out of date or missing documentation. But the final straw was when it became apparent that there were router-bricking problems with some of the builds that had been present and reported for over 6 months and there was zero interest in fixing them, or even removing the offending firmware image. I suspect this is a consequence of trying to support hundreds of different models from the same code base and the impossibility of testing them all. So it's probably OK if you've got a reasonably popular model of router, but if not it's a lottery IMHO.

In terms of "releases" there doesn't seem to be many. Either take a chance on one of the nightly builds or use a "supported beta" of which there was one in 2020 and one in 2019.

Next time I might take a look at OpenWRT supported routers, but that might just be a case of "the grass is always greener".

 

[bluzfanmr1]

Also, you'll be treated much better on this forum if you have any questions or issues.

 

[BigBillsd]

Thanks Folks! I wanted something a bit newer, maybe supporting AX and WP3. Today I saw the Slickdeals alert on the TP-Link AX1800 for $90 and just pulled the trigger. I will use the normal firmware till they stop updating it. It says it supports dd-wrt on their site. Who knows. My current router doesn't even support AES encryption so I felt it was time to sell it on ebay to some who lives out in the boondocks far from a city. Thanks Again, Bill

PS. I have had other TP-Link equipment and they have been bulletproof. We will see if I can say the same for their WiFi products.

 

[BigBillsd]

This is a good place to start looking: https://dd-wrt.com/support/router-database/
A lot of older stuff can be used if you don't want to buy new.
Something like a trusty old RT-N66U.

I did, and it say right on their site that the DB hasn't been updated nor is it reliable anymore. Not sure why they didn't just disable it instead of writing that page.