Okay… this is not going nicely, the progress that has happened with the libre network routers. Where can I find a gigabit router that works well with libre software? Think Penguin does not sell any. So it looks like I am going to have to resort to buying the hardware and flashing myself. Sure, there is good hardware I can buy from Ubiquiti Networks and PFsense, but it is unknown whether they will work with LibreCMC.
So, let’s give this one last shot… does LibreCMC have any respectable gigabit routers, other than the Netgear WNDR3800? Indeed, it does. Preciesly two. There is one (or more) Buffalo devices, and there is one TP-Link device.
20200123/https://gogs.librecmc.org/libreCMC/libreCMC/src/v1.4/docs/Supported_Hardware.md
20200123/https://gogs.librecmc.org/libreCMC/libreCMC/src/v1.4/docs/WNDR3800.md
20200123/https://gogs.librecmc.org/libreCMC/libreCMC/src/v1.4/docs/WZR_HP_G300NH.md
20200123/https://gogs.librecmc.org/libreCMC/libreCMC/src/v1.4/docs/TL_WR1043ND.md
20200123/DuckDuckGo WZR-HP-G300NH
20200123/http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c85091/WZR-HP-G300NH_Manual_web.pdf
20200123/https://www.newegg.com/buffalo-wzr-hp-g300nh-ieee-802-11b-g-n-ieee-802-3-3u-3ab/p/N82E16833162031
20200123/https://www.cnet.com/products/buffalo-technology-wzr-hp-g300nh-nfiniti-wireless-router/
20200123/DuckDuckGo WZR-600DHP
20200123/https://www.buffalotech.com/products/airstation-highpower-n600-gigabit-dual-band-open-source-dd-wrt-wireless-rou
20200123/DuckDuckGo TL-WR1043ND
20200123/https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/wifi-router/tl-wr1043nd/#overview
So, now the question comes down to, what is the power consumption? The WNDR3800 device consumes 30 W of power, judging by the AC adapter. The Buffalo device, it can consume just over 12 W of power at peak load. The TP-Link device, it can purportedly consume up to 18 W of power, judging by the AC adapter. Well, at least it’s better than the Linksys WRT AC3200 that can consume up to 30 W of power… judging by the AC adapter.
One thing you wonder is how can these devices route gigabit at a low power consumption? The answer, in the case of the TP-Link device, is hardware NAT. Without hardware NAT, either the routing would be too slow or the CPU would have to consume more energy and emit more waste heat.
Both of these devices are 802.11n Wi-Fi, but that is already outdated as 802.11ac is quite old now, and now some wireless routers are even supporting 802.11ad. Alas, the primary limitation in getting 802.11ac on a fully libre system is the complexity of the protocol invites a host of hardware that is dependent on proprietary firmware blobs to function.
So, again, it looks like I am repeating the compromise that I’ve already made years ago, when I bought the 100 Mbps Think Penguin router even though I knew it would become obsolete rather quickly when gigabit became mainstream in the future. However, to be honest, this device will be stationed in the basement, and we don’t really use many Wi-Fi devices in the basement, they’re mostly located in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms, so it may not be all that bad after all.
But, with this compromise in place, looks like I am down to buying ether the Buffalo device or the TP-Link device. I don’t really like the vertical standing design of the Buffalo device, it’s antennas are a bit ugly, that’s the same reason why I didn’t like the Netgear WNDR3800 when I say it years in advance, so I might as well go with the TP-Link device. Plus, I’m already using many TP-Link devices and I know that they manufacture good hardware. Poor hardware quality has plagued me on one old Netgear GS108Tv2 switch that I bought. Their later production runs must have fixed the hardware defect, but hey, it costed me $100 dollars, it works most of the time, so why get rid of it? Also, perhaps most importantly, they seem to have generally more detailed specifications on their product.
The only question is, will I be able to take advantage of the hardware NAT when I am running LibreCMC?