So which FOSS firmware should be used ?

 Their are 4 popular choices of FOSS firmware as of March 2022:

(1) OpenWRT
(2) DD-WRT
(3) Fresh Tomato [the older tomato version (by Shibi) has stopped development]

(4) rOOter - OpenWrt derivative focussed on supporting a wide variety of 4G Modems

 

If you are non-power user and do not want to get exposed to networking internals then Fresh Tomato maybe perfect fit with the big caveat that it works only for Broadcom Chipset (SoC) based routers. That will limit your hardware options, but still it is the closest one will get to a consumer grade wifi router expérience.

 

Comparitively DD-WRT works for the widest range of hardware with OpenWRT coming a very close second. The UI of DD-WRT is a bit cluttered and you need to look around to find where what setting/tweak is hidden, but its still manageable considering their is so much support documentation available on the internet.

 

OpenWRT is a  nuts and bolts enterprise-like networking OS which has both command line and GU-based management. If you are exposed to linux kernel internals and networking software development, then this maybe best suited for you. However OpenWRT has limitations for Broadcom Chipsets. 

Finally if all enterprse-grade  is where you want to go, then theFreeBSD based pfSense, OPN Sense is where you should be added. You have to invest in COTS PC hardware to support them and their will be no wifi support (FreeBSD has very poor wifi support) and Intel Ethernet cards are highly recommended. 

 

NOTE: Please remember its not necessary that a particular FOSS firmware is available for your hardware and you must first check the Supported Hardware list in the FOSS firmware pages. Infact generally its not advised to flash FOSS firmware on brand new devices as it voids warranty and therefore you will generally find that the latest and greatest (which is also the most expensive) router hardware will not have a FOSS firmware for it till a couple of years or more after its introduction. As of 2022 Q1, this includes almost all Wifi6/6e (or 802.11ax routers). And almost all consumer router OEMS source Wifi SoCs (and release seperate models) from major Chipset vendors like Broadcom, Qualcomm, Mediatek, etc.

- Suman Kumar Luthra @ APRC Telecom Special Interest Group