> What is the best alternative router firmware these days

I don't know that there is one.

My experience these days when I install a new wifi router is wading through pages and pages of forum posts to try and identify the firmware (or particular build thereof) that will work best on the particular hardware I am configuring that day.

Usually, after a few hours of digging, I sort of "converge" on a particular firmware and a particular release.

Then it's on to experimenting if the thing actually works. If it doesn't, rinse and repeat.

This is very frustrating, and for a number of reasons:

    - From a security perspective, you end up installing a random unvetted piece of binary software on what is basically the gate holding the fort secure.

    - You operate on hearsay (forum posts)

    - There is no guarantee the process will converge.