Need help and advice for a home router.

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vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
634
76
28
Hello everyone.
Here is my issue.
I am in USA.
At home, I run a pfsence setup from the ISP to switch. For wifi I use netgera wndr3400 in AP mode.

The setup is: an ISP modem(Cablevision) --> to my pfsence
Than from pfsense to 24 port netgear switch. All networking is hooked up into the switch.
Now I run mu wndr3400 from switch to wan port and have a wired pc hooked into one of the router ports the rest is Wi-Fi.

Lately, in the laat few weeks mi wifi keeps dropping. All wireless devices randomly loose connections until I reboot the router. Than I am ok for a while. Router is on the last update and since it is kind of old no more updates are coming.

Question is do I get a new router?
What can you recommend within a reasonable price range concidering it is used as Access point and all router duty is on pfsence machine.

Should I flash the current router with DD-wrt firmware to see if it fixes the issue. I think it is compatible with it?
Thanks.
 

j_h_o

Active Member
Apr 21, 2015
644
179
43
California, US
Disable DHCP on the WNDR3400, and plug your switch into a LAN port on the WNDR3400. I'd definitely try dd-wrt or any other open source firmware on it.

Otherwise, I'd suggest a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-Pro or UAP-AC-HD.
 
Last edited:

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
956
359
63
So... if you just want to avoid spending some money, I would suggest trying other firmwares, there isn't much to lose.
While you are also at it, you should ensure that the router does not route, it should be put into access point, bridge mode or whatever dd-wrt may call it.
Having a (presumably NAT) router inside your network behind your pfsense (which I assume also NAT routes) like you described, is generally unnecessary and adds complexity and latency.

The WNDR3400 is pretty old, so I see no problem in recommending a replacement.
And you probably want to buy something that is just an access point or at the very least can be put into that mode.
 

EngChiSTH

Active Member
Jun 27, 2018
108
45
28
Chicago
So you configured wndr3400 as access point (since pfsense is likely your actual router), correct?
get a real access point (UAP-AC-anything) , wire it to your switch and enjoy wireless..
 

vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
634
76
28
Yes the wndr is access point only. No routing no dhcp. The reason I wanted a router capable being an access point is that I only have 1 network jack at the location and need to plug in an htpc into it. Not sure if any AP have that option.
 

vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
634
76
28
Just want to update.
Found an ubiquity AP on eBay.
It is an older model so needs the controller to configure and run. But works. Spend almost a week trying to update firmware. Had to do manual upload and update via ssh but works so far. Been up for several hours
Even stream a movie from my media server to phone.
Will see in a week. Much better range than the old router.