Pro-sumer WiFi 6/6E routers with support for VLAN, VPN, SSH, and some custom firmware

[SDF07S]

I wanted a replacement to Ubiquity's UniFi Dream Machine (non-Pro), which was a pro-sumer router with support for many customizations, VLAN's, SSH access, VPN's, and allowed use of custom on-boot scripts, but it suffered from some major deal-breaker issues.

I ended up with ASUS AX86U Pro, which supported most of what I wanted with the latest 3.0.0.6 firmware, but that was my choice because I wasn't able to find an alternative within $200 range. Most routers that include features I want are expensive enterprise business routers and I wasn't able to handle pfSense as advised in another thread I made. DD-WRT stopped supported newer routers. ASUS was the only alternative I could find.

Are there any WiFi 6/6E routers within $200 range that at least support VLAN, VPN, and SSH CLI commands?

 

[Tech9]

Check GL.iNet GL-MT6000. It's currently $123 on Anazon US. Runs OpenWrt base firmware and has vanilla OpenWrt image available.

Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) | High-Performance VPN Router

Experience blazing-fast VPN speeds and full OpenWrt customization with Flint 2, our best Wi-Fi 6 router yet. A new realm of power, freedom, and security.

www.gl-inet.com

New hardware on MediaTek Filogic ARMv8 SoC inside, 2x 2.5GbE ports, two 2.4GHz/5GHz 4-stream radios, 1GB RAM with 8GB eMMC.

I have one GL-MT2500 gateway with similar firmware, by the way. Plenty of options and nice UI on top of OpenWrt base. Used as VPN exit point in another country currently, no complaints about speed and stability, uptime in months. Mine runs on stock firmware, good enough for the use case.

 

[SDF07S]

Thanks!

Do they support Secure Boot and similar technologies? Secure Boot and locked firmware are some of the main reasons DD-WRT and OpenWRT stopped supporting newer WiFi 6 routers.

 

[Tech9]

This is what they use:

GL-MT6000 - uboot source

Couple of folks were concerned... Discussed with the GL-Inet folks, so here's the u-boot source code... https://github.com/gl-inet/mt798x-boot For devs, feel free to review the source...

www.snbforums.com

OpenWrt support page:

[OpenWrt Wiki] GL.iNet GL-MT6000

openwrt.org

 

[sfx2000]

Thanks!

Do they support Secure Boot and similar technologies? Secure Boot and locked firmware are some of the main reasons DD-WRT and OpenWRT stopped supporting newer WiFi 6 routers.

We've got a good thing going on the Filogic branch, and it's all good - MT6000 is a nice point of entry, as gl-inet's firmware is pretty good...

I've been spending time over in OpenWRT land, and MT/Filogic has a fair amount of development - both on Wireless and Switching...

 

[SDF07S]

Yeah, but it is suspiciously cheap...

 

[Piotrek]

Yeah, but it is suspiciously cheap...

No problem.
If you want I can sell it to you for 1000 USD.

 

[SDF07S]

Pro-sumer high-end router for under $150 just sounds too good to be true, but reviews are good.

 

[Tech9]

Pro-sumer high-end router for under $150 just sounds too good to be true

Because what you are looking at is a consumer device with dual-band Wi-Fi 6 radios and not a high-end latest and greatest. Most prosumer and business routers don't have integrated Wi-Fi. Your requirements lock you to All-In-One consumer products or some attempts to get there like UDM/UDR/UniFi Express from Ubiquiti. You probably have noticed they are not very popular even in UniFi ecosystem.

 

[Digilog]

Pro-sumer high-end router for under $150 just sounds too good to be true, but reviews are good.

A lot of things are marked up 3-4 times their cost of manufacturing price. But a lot of things retail are priced like that.
But even commercial routers in certain cases will bog down under a VPN connection because it uses the cpu unless its a server.

 

[ddaenen1]

I wasn't able to handle pfSense as advised in another thread I made.

What does that even mean? I installed pfSense with zero knowledge of the product let alone any FreeBSD knowledge and with the wizards when you first install, i managed to get a perfectly fine working router with an above average firewall. The more advanced stuff, i was able to figure out on my own taking all the time in the world as it was running and doing its job in the mean time.

 

[Digilog]

What does that even mean? I installed pfSense with zero knowledge of the product let alone any FreeBSD knowledge and with the wizards when you first install, i managed to get a perfectly fine working router with an above average firewall. The more advanced stuff, i was able to figure out on my own taking all the time in the world as it was running and doing its job in the mean time.

Who knows considering this audience. Some it seems like to argue over for no reason. That's cool you got pfsense running. What are you running it on? I run a PC with IPFire on it myself.

 

[Tech9]

I installed pfSense with zero knowledge of the product

You perhaps had above average networking knowledge and experience with business equipment. I transferred my pfSense setup to the new UniFi Network interface in about 30min manually, seeing it first time. I had UniFi before this UI change, the older one with similar to Omada UI. As long as you know what you need to do and how the system works - no issues. In home routers many things are automated, terms are often different, marketing is involved, etc.

 

[sfx2000]

Thanks!

Do they support Secure Boot and similar technologies? Secure Boot and locked firmware are some of the main reasons DD-WRT and OpenWRT stopped supporting newer WiFi 6 routers.

OpenWRT One - it's their reference device...

That being said - the MT6000 from GL-Inet is one of the more accessible units out there - cost is reasonable, one can buy one off the shelf, and either use the GL-INet uboot direct, or use OpenWRT's (or code it yourself, I've shared the source)

The Router side - the SoC is good for 2.5Gb, and the SW/HW offload is reasonable - and enough horsepower to do Cake SQM if needed...

On the wireless side - working off Master, the current Wifi Firmware is pretty solid (as of Nov 2024) - collab with MediaTek and many of the WiFi devs over on the OpenWRT side...

 

[sfx2000]

I installed pfSense with zero knowledge of the product let alone any FreeBSD knowledge and with the wizards when you first install, i managed to get a perfectly fine working router with an above average firewall. The more advanced stuff, i was able to figure out on my own taking all the time in the world as it was running and doing its job in the mean time.

First install - that pretty much what pfsense/opnSense can do with supported HW - and the "wizards" can get one into a good place with settings...

On a personal basis - I do have issues with pfSense, so it's hard to recommend them there... not technical, but issues with the management folks running that distribution.

 

[SDF07S]

What about MikroTik's Chateau PRO AX? It comes with RouterOS 7, which ticks all the boxes.

 

[Digilog]

What about MikroTik's Chateau PRO AX? It comes with RouterOS 7, which ticks all the boxes.

Main reason why I haven't tried it out and pass on it was the slightly outdated Linux Kernel. But I also heard good things about it and bad things depending on the hardware you have. The one thing I like about MikroTik is they will provide support for all their units no matter how old they are. So at least they stand behind everything they make 100%.

PFsense and OpenSense I did not like primarily due to the way its interface is written. It isn't because its PHP however, the way they use the language makes it easy for them to write buggy code in php by accident. Looking at the CVE issues they had really reflects the issues behind the php programming style.

That is why I settled on IPfire. It at least tries to maintain a current kernel version, and its simplicity were winners to me. I also like the "network of colors" scheme.

 

[SDF07S]

TP-Link Omada ER706W for $300 is another candidate I think.

 

[Digilog]

TP-Link Omada ER706W for $300 is another candidate I think.

After going through 4 wifi routers and a wired router in one year, I am never going to buy another TP-Link product ever again.

 

[degrub]

After going through 4 wifi routers and a wired router in one year, I am never going to buy another TP-Link product ever again.

Omada or consumer ?