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Comment by eloff | Hacker News Reader

I'll think twice before buying D-link again. They've just tarnished their brand irrevocably for me, even though my router is not affected - I had to turn it over and compare version numbers to be certain, and I don't want to have to track exploits and check version numbers to have peace of mind.

What manufacturer can I buy next time with a good security record?

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Mikrotik or Ubiquiti. My >10yo hardware still receives updates (latest version, not a few backported changes).

This. I just decommissioned 5 x AP and 2 x backhaul radios this summer from Ubiquiti at a remote site I manage. These were all purchased and installed in 2011. I replaced them all with newer equivalents, not because they weren't working or weren't receiving updates - but because I'm 4 hours from the site and told the owner they've gotten their ROI and needed to preemptively replace. This happens to be my in-laws place and I don't want to deal with replacing some outdoor radios in the middle of a Midwestern winter. I sold all the gear as a package for about $150 and the buyer was well aware of the age and the fact that 3 of the devices had been outside that entire time. I commend Ubiquiti on the commitment to their line of products and the updates all devices that were in service continue to receive.

Both tend to pick pretty well-understood and supported SoCs. Large consumer brands are more cost-conscious and use cheaper chips with more custom work to support them, and the custom work ends up being buggier. IIRC, Ubiquiti started out by being based on OpenWRT. Not sure if they still are.

Ubiquiti's software is based on VyOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VyOS

One where you can wipe the original firmware and install OpenWRT.

Or AsusWRT! I'm pretty happy with my RT-AC3200.

There may be other answers here, but this is really the only guaranteed one.

OpenWRT really is the greatest.

Ubiquiti does really nice. It is not a "here is a pizza box device that does internet" device though.

ASUSWRT is based on (and contributes to?) openWRT

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