Switched from factory firmware to OpenWRT on my router last night and the difference is wild

I finally flashed OpenWRT onto my old TP-Link router after putting it off for months. The interface went from crashing every day to running smooth for over 12 hours straight without a reboot. All it took was following a guide on their forum for my specific model number. Has anyone else noticed a big performance jump after ditching stock firmware?

2 comments

2 Comments

betty_scott1811d ago

Oh hold on, so you're saying it's less about the raw performance and more about what the stock firmware was doing in the background? That's actually a good point I hadn't thought about. Like, all that cloud syncing and auto-updating stuff they bundle in, it must be hogging resources. But here's my real question - after you switched, did you notice any weird quirks with stuff like your old printer or a smart plug that just refused to play nice? Because in my experience, that's where OpenWRT can be a real pain, some hardware just doesnt want to cooperate. I only ask cause I've had mixed results with different routers, your mileage may seriously vary. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the control you get, but it's not always smooth sailing.

jesseb2012d ago

Oh nice, glad it worked out for you! I'd just say though that it's not really a performance jump from the stock firmware itself, more like OpenWRT just doesn't have all the bloatware and background stuff that TP-Link loads onto their routers. Like, your router was probably fine hardware-wise, the stock firmware was just choking it with all that extra junk running in the background. For real though, once you get into the advanced settings like setting up a VLAN or adjusting firewall rules, it makes you realize how much stock firmware holds these things back.