OpenWrt is what I use. I picked my routers specifically to be well supported by OpenWrt, immediately wiped whatever the original firmware and installed OpenWrt and that was about ten years ago. Then when I replaced the hardware I also looked for a compatible model with OpenWrt and did the same.

I never had any issue with OpenWrt which I couldn't solve and it just works. Its uptime is pretty much the uptime since when the power goes out due to storms and such.

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drpixie 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Same. Been running OpenWrt for years now. I select hardware that runs OpenWrt and never (well, only once, truely) have had to reboot a device due crashing. That old "reboot your router" is just not a thing (touch wood).

I'm sure it helps that all my infrastructure is on a UPS. I've found that even Raspberry Pis can be long-term reliable servers, running ubuntu server and on the UPS.

Another thing that seems to help. I separate function. One box functions only as the router. The wifi boxes only provide wifi endpoints - they do not do routing. And so on.

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gardnr 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I have my fibre ont and the wifi router on a cheap battery backup. It has always continued to work even during extended power outages.

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Viability1936 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What hardware did you go with? I was thinking of getting the second most recent glinet to run openwrt, but haven't convinced myself it's worth it since my current tplink is still pretty new and is just be getting it to tinker (I don't currently even run any vlans or anything fancy)

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rdtsc 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

I went with a TP-Link Archer C7 V2. It's quite dated by now, but it's been sitting quietly in the closet and working for all these years and I am still happy with it. My speeds are also not that fast, I only pay for 100Mbps so something faster might overwhelm this hardware. I also don't have anything fancy on it, no vlans just a few wifi networks on 2.4ghz and 5ghz, some wired devices, and two usb drivers which I access via ssh (these do require I install a few extra packages to allow mounting them).

	▲	emeril 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		I've had the same for a number of years - mine is even more vanilla than yours rock solid

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bananaboy 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I run openwrt on an ancient Netgear WNDR3700 which is probably 15 years old by now. I can get around 900Mbps on my gigabit connection (wired). We only have two adults in our home using the Internet (for now until our two kids are older!) and it’s been totally fine for us. openwrt is a great way breath extra life into older routers. A lot of homes don’t really need anything fancy or recent.

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opan 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Seconding all this. Ever since I had weird problems with the vendor firmware on a router, I just pick hardware I can put OpenWrt on right away. Works great.