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!

  • Supercritical@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    8 months ago

    Check out gear by GL.iNet. They’re pretty cheap, albeit low specced, but they come with OpenWRT flavor preinstalled. They’re an unbelievable value proposition and I’ve been running mine with no noticeable issues since September. For you I would look at something like their GL-AX1800. Poke around on their store, but that AX1800 is just shy of $100 in the US.

    I got mine specifically because of my home lab set up and them being recommended by my work’s cybersec manager.