OpenWrt
Open-source Linux-based firmware for routers, access points and other embedded network devices.
Liked as a flexible, real-Linux router OS123 with straightforward WireGuard, VLAN and IPv6 support,45678 often flashed in place of vendor firmware on inexpensive hardware.910111213 Caveats include multi-step setup for things like VLANs and hairpin port forwards,14 and a default .lan domain that one commenter calls non-compliant.1516
Why people recommend it
Flexibility · 3
Commenters value it as full Linux that is easy to customize and script.
“I switched from Mikrotik to OWRT because I wanted actual Linux, not a nerfed version of it that made scripting miserable.”
“it presents a very usable GUI straight away these days and it has a ton of flexibility for getting creative later.”
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“OpenWrt is a great piece of software(firmware)”
Replaces vendor firmware · 3
Users flash stock OpenWrt over OEM firmware for fixes and years of updates.
“I generally prefer vanilla OpwnWRT”
“cURL was broken in this application with some inscrutable error that went away when I used stock openwrt.”
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“I recommend you flash stock openwrt instead, I did on mine”
Cheap hardware reuse · 3
Inexpensive or secondhand routers become capable access points with OpenWrt.
“Just excellent, some pretty smart people in the Openwrt forum as well if you have problems.”
“TP-Link boxes flashed with OpenWrt are also considerably better value”
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“Everything is built around OpenWRT”
VPN and VLANs · 3
WireGuard peers, VPN policy routing and VLANs are described as easy to set up.
“I have an openwrt router running wireguard.”
“This is quite easy with OpenWRT.”
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“I use OpenWRT, which has great support for this”
IPv6 support · 2
Its IPv6 handling is praised, including as a reason to leave pfSense.
“Openwrt pretty much implements all of this out of the box.”
“I moved from pfSense to OpenWRT due to the really poor IPv6 support in pfSense.”
Accessibility · 1
A screen reader user says the web interface works well and issues get fixed quickly.
“OpenWRT has bin good with a screen reader since the start”
Caveats and dissent
Multi-step config · 1
Some tasks, like adding a VLAN or hairpin port forward, need changes in many places.
“One thing that frustrates me about MikroTik and OpenWRT too, is a lot of things require multiple steps to set up”
.lan default · 2
It assigns .lan names by default, which one commenter calls non-compliant.
“OpenWRT isn't supposed to be using ".lan". That's a ridiculous non-compliant behavior.”
“OpenWRT, possibly others as well, assign .lan names to devices on the LAN by default.”
Hardware support · 2
Users stick to devices that are supported by stable upstream releases.
“This is why I use openwrt where supported.”
“I generally prefer vanilla OpwnWRT”
Multi-WAN IPv6 · 1
One commenter could not get a clean multi-prefix IPv6 failover working.
“I really was not able to make it work cleanly with either Mikrotik or OpenWRT routers.”
Vendor builds lag · 1
Vendor firmware based on OpenWrt can ship a relatively old version.
“The OpenWRT version is relatively old”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed? 7 mentions
- OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router 6 mentions
- New gTLD Application for .lan 2 mentions
- HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router 2 mentions
- Imgur geo-blocked the UK, so I geo-unblocked my network 2 mentions
- What I self-host 1 mention
Also written as OpenWRT. Data: openwrt.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 38
“Pfsense and maybe openwrt allow split horizon DNS”
“This is why I use openwrt where supported.”
“I wouldn't buy any of their stuff if not for OpenWRT— that's the killer feature for me.”
“I generally prefer vanilla OpwnWRT”
“The OpenWRT version is relatively old”
“cURL was broken in this application with some inscrutable error that went away when I used stock openwrt.”
“Everything is built around OpenWRT”
“I used to use pfsense and openwrt and stuff but now with Claude I just use a custom Linux distribution”
“it presents a very usable GUI straight away these days and it has a ton of flexibility for getting creative later.”
“OpenWRT isn't supposed to be using ".lan". That's a ridiculous non-compliant behavior.”
“OpenWRT, possibly others as well, assign .lan names to devices on the LAN by default.”
“I have an openwrt router running wireguard.”
“With OpenWRT I use something like this”
“You need a firewall in front of the pihole intercepting that traffic, I use OpenWrt.”
“One thing that frustrates me about MikroTik and OpenWRT too, is a lot of things require multiple steps to set up”
“I switched from Mikrotik to OWRT because I wanted actual Linux, not a nerfed version of it that made scripting miserable.”
“And it runs OpenWRT.”
“OpenWrt is a great piece of software(firmware)”
“I recommend you flash stock openwrt instead, I did on mine”
“Just excellent, some pretty smart people in the Openwrt forum as well if you have problems.”
“OpenWRT has bin good with a screen reader since the start”
“having openwrt with all features working and no tinkering out of the box”
“I moved from pfSense to OpenWRT due to the really poor IPv6 support in pfSense.”
“build modern hardware for OpenWRT with some additions”
“I'm in control of the firewall/NAT router itself, deployed OpenWRT, and setup the port-forwarding rules there”
“i contribute to a lot of openwrt packages”
“I really was not able to make it work cleanly with either Mikrotik or OpenWRT routers.”
“the second is on a Raspberry Pi running OpenWrt”
“Openwrt pretty much implements all of this out of the box.”
“I use OpenWRT, which has great support for this”
“my two openwrt routers”
“running OpenWRT as our edge gateways”
“I have always used my own device and I maintain a GitHub Snippet in how to connect OpenWRT modem”
“TP-Link boxes flashed with OpenWrt are also considerably better value”
“I've got OpenWRT (technically FriendlyWRT, but it's the same) running on it”
“This is quite easy with OpenWRT.”
“I run openwrt, adguard, unbound, proxmox, jellyfin, samba, qbittorrent and syncthing”
“The OS was OpenWRT and was very limited, but just about good enough.”