Why do people recommend DIY routers?
Why do people recommend DIY routers?
Just for fun, I'm wondering precisely what you're aiming to manage.
I receive many inquiries about WAPS. You can assess these based on the wireless coverage area. The Nighthawk AX6 covers around 3500 square feet. There’s an ASUS model offering 5000 square feet of coverage. A budget-friendly WAP typically provides only about 1500 square feet, and wireless signals tend to perform poorly at lower distances. Most users don’t require a Layer 2 switch unless they’re using a home security system, which would benefit from a PoE-enabled device. I’m not sure how anyone figures this out. It seems people often buy porch systems for daily use, but I’ll never fully understand it.
The enhanced version remains dependent on the CPU, delivering significantly poorer results and consuming much more power than any hardware-accelerated router when used solely for routing. Why bother?
My reasoning behind choosing OpenWRT, DDWRT and FreshTomato stems from my desire to avoid costly equipment. I need more than just basic internet speed; I want reliable performance without breaking the bank. The tools I’m after include an OpenVPN client and server that can manage routing policies at a minimum. These features are hard to find in budget devices under $50. I love experimenting with technology, which is why this work now feels like my calling. Still, I believe someone who struggles to tell Wi-Fi apart from regular internet should steer clear of anything that requires complex setup like PFSS or OpenWRT. On the flip side, I can get a lot done with just two Xiaomi Mi 4A routers—bought them for under $45—and their processors handle more than the slow cable modem my ISP provided. Plus, OpenWRT and DDWRT (as far as I know) allow traffic offloading to hardware beyond the CPU. While some might suggest these options to seasoned users, I won’t endorse them for someone just starting out here who’s asking why their connection feels sluggish.
I built a few PFSense systems using consumer hardware over the past decade. My first setup was on a FiOS 50/50 plan, and now I’m running a Gigabit plan after ten years. I haven’t faced any problems using the bandwidth I paid for, but perhaps I’m misunderstanding how it works.
This router offers capabilities beyond what a typical SOHO device can provide. The Unifi USG stands out as a prime illustration of what’s achievable with hardware routing and NAT. When hardware offload is turned on, it supports advanced features like Unified Threat Management and Smart Queues (FQ-CoDel). However, enabling IDS/IPS or Smart Queues restricts performance to roughly 85-100Mbps. The USG-XG, sharing the same base as the EdgeRouter Infinity, performs exceptionally well with hardware offload—handling over 20Gb/s. But when it’s disabled, speeds drop significantly to around 1Gb/s. Users of Unifi noted that the hardware cost often outweighed the speed gains without it, leading to the product’s discontinuation. It was succeeded by the UDM series, which operates entirely in software, offering no hardware offload and delivering similar functionality at a fraction of the price. The UDM-Pro supports at least 3.5Gb/s with IDS/IPS active and up to 9Gb/s without it, priced just one-fifth of the USG-XG. While a Unifi-based setup differs from a custom DIY router, the core idea remains: hardware offloading enhances efficiency but ties performance to specific chip features. Certain functions like VPN servers can still work with hardware offload, but advanced QoS improvements are limited. I haven’t encountered a hardware implementation for CoDel or CAKE algorithms yet.
Things such as bridge mode remaining unsecured (my ISP and many others handle this on their routers), router-level firewalls, custom blocklists, router-level adblocks, etc—what are you asking about? You're wondering if only 2 Mbps is achievable with an i7/i9, while a modern Pentium could handle 2 Mbps throughput.
It's pps, not bps. One frame equals one packet, fps equals pps. For instance, AC86U reached 1,488,104 fps at a 64-frame size, which is about 1.49 Mpps. This isn't about your bandwidth—it's the router's capacity to handle and send packets, which is what routers are meant to do.