The 10 Best DD-WRT Routers

While the Asus RT-AC66U comes with the company's proprietary, versatile interface, that's frequently replaced with the primary DD-WRT firmware, which offers a refined blend of comprehensive settings and user-friendly controls.

Many power users feel that the TP-Link Archer C7v4 has the widest support of any in today's market. It plays nicely with a huge variety of builds, from the user-friendly Tomato to the seminal OpenWRT -- just be sure to avoid the unsupported 5th version.

Commanding two separate 5-gHz bands plus the standard 2.4-GHz, the Asus RT-AC88U theoretically tops out at a somewhat ridiculous 5 gigabits per second. Its nearly unrivaled, 1.8-GHz, 4-core, ARM processor ensures that computation-heavy configurations run smoothly.

The MikroTik Hex is an extremely simple and ultra-powerful tool for administrators to bend wired connections to their will using specially programmed daemons. It many be tiny, but its 880-MHz chipset and 256GB of RAM make it quite a capable device.

Certain specialized applications are very well served by the GL.iNet AR300, a low-budget addition to some of today's most intricate projects. Unlike most comparable models, its Wi-Fi interface is perpetually available, making it capable of sustained PC-free operation.

A common selection among connectivity control freaks, the Netgear R7800 is notable for an eSATA port that enables lightning-fast network-attached storage access. It also offers above-average 2.4-GHz transmission, which helps legacy devices communicate at higher speeds.

The TrendNet 824DRU's stock programming is quite lackluster, but it's accompanied by a proprietary version of the in-depth Linux kernel, which turns it into a useful, fast, and remarkably affordable high-speed network gateway.

Backed by the testimony of countless Raspberry Pi-eating technicians, the MikroTik HAP AC Lite lives up to the powerful reputation that precedes it. This one's perfect for IT professionals who spend a lot of time on unfamiliar networks.

The best choice for most households that stream a lot of high-resolution video, the Netgear R7000P is a high-end unit at a mid-level price. It features a 1-gigahertz, dual-core CPU that helps quicken the pace of most non-hardware-accelerated Linux builds.

Not only is the Netgear Nighthawk X10 among the first ever to employ the ultra-fast, 60-GHz 802.11ad band, but it also comes preloaded with a specially designed Linux kernel that allows in-depth control of nearly every network setting possible.