Looking for a budget router for a home (3 floors, 3000sq feet, 11 devices), because my current router is utter garbage

(bad range and doesnt support nat loopback, which makes me have to mess with dns far more than necesary, and all the messing around gets wiped out when the router restarts or unplugs itself and my computer caches the external dns server, i hate it so much please i need to get rid of it)

edit: it only has to cover maybe 1500sq feet, not 3000

  • It needs to be suitable for a small homelab. (ie: 4 ethernet ports and a functional webui)
  • preferably supports openwrt or some other open-source software, and i - would prefer to spend less than 70 CAD.
  • Wifi 6 is uneccesary as most devices in the house dont support it.

Thank you in advance!

  • explore_broadenEnglish
    2·
    8 months ago

    I have two Dynalink DL-WRX36 routers flashed with OpenWRT, and they work really well. They’re great routers for the price ($80 USD), the specs are a lot closer to well known brands that are a lot more expensive. I’ve had them for about a year with no issues. See also https://openwrt.org/toh/dynalink/dl-wrx36. I got it because I wanted a lot of range, and it seems to work for that.