Recommendations for Silent and Secure Routers

Questions
1

Hey everyone,

I’ve seen a lot of threads here about routers like OPNsense, pfSense, Firewalla, UniFi and many others. But the noise from most of them really gets to me, especially since you can’t exactly put a humming box in the living room or bedroom. Anyone have solid recommendations for truly quiet models? I’d love options from companies that genuinely prioritize security and privacy. I already know Asus, Cisco and Fritz!Box, but I’m looking for other silent performers that nail both.

Thanks!

2

The absolute best option here for what you’re looking for is the Banana Pi OpenWRT Router. Originally released and to be found here:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807609464530.html

This is a highly reputable product even though you may not like the website on which it is listed (though it has great reviews). You may want to change your country if you’re not in the US before placing an order on the website.

The only drawback here I can think of is that this router does not support WiFi 7. But it is plenty fast nonetheless.

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3

It is also available through the proxystore if you are in Europe.

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4

Wow. I didn’t know this. Excellent!

5

No idea how loud it is, but security-wise I have seen peplink routers be recommended.

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6

This doesn’t even appear to support Wireguard. I would not recommend buying this when there are objectively better options available with open source firmware.

7

I recommend reading this for info on router security.

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8

Thanks for sharing. Didn’t know about this website. I’ll read up to learn more.

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9

I still feel my recommended router (which has been discussed on the forum in the past) does come highly recommended still that’s a lot more affordable. And with OpenWRT, it gives you full flexibility to manage your network as you want in a highly privately and securely (which is OPs preference).

Also, the link you shared is of a business router, not really ideal for residences.

10

Do you know if there is something similar but with support for a 5G SIM card? I’m looking for a router that supports 5G (and possibly WiFi 7), but the choices seem extremely limited…

11

What you’re asking for is still relatively brand new for routers (even though WiFi 7 has been out for a while but is no where close to being ubiquitous yet). I mean, there are WiFi 7 routers easily available now but I don’t know of any that can support custom firmware like OpenWRT or DD-WRT.

Right now, you’ll have to pick one you want more.

12

Yeah, I’ve been only able to find some Chinese routers with those capabilities, and a single one from Taiwan. All with proprietary firmware, of course, and with the latter being super expensive.

13

I still recommend sticking with my preference above. It really is the best option though I wish they release one with WiFi 7 soon. I might upgrade. I’m a sucker for privacy tech. Albeit I wonder if its possible to simply change the WiFI card in the router. I need to look into this more.

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14

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro is the only one that come to mind it. Is a WiFi 7 router and you can add 5G SIM Card Module to it but just know it’s experience and it’s more a do it yourself router then OpenWRT ONE and it isn’t officially supported by the OpenWRT team like how the OpenWRT ONE is. Also need a heat sink with fan.

I have no idea how good it is or how good the OpenWRT support is. The only reason I know of it is because I did research on Banana PI a year ago because I wanted to buy a OpenWRT ONE.

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15

Good well known recommendation companies from that article (that are also cross-referenced across the Internet in general):

I’m definitely no security expert but I heard about this one from Naomi Brookwell (it can support some 4G):

Looks decent in terms of features and privacy even tho it might be sourcing the hardware itself from China. Not sure about Qualcom, Mediatek etc…but maybe it’s not a good thing? Again no expert. :man_shrugging:t2:

Tomaž Zaman is building his own router + software last time I checked.

Looks quite knowledgeable on the topic and has a page for his upcoming product here: mono.si. Might be worth giving it a look for something very much different?

Jeff Geerling reviewed an early version of it recently.

Finally yes, a BananiPi is probably the best way to go because it’s based on OpenWRT One itself and looks very self-contained + amazing price/performance ratio. :heart_eyes:

Btw, they also plan to release the Two soon with a spec bump and around 250$?
Still too early to have more details tho.

Finally, you have Ubiquiti (which is not recommended by the post above btw).
It’s a banger for the price/performance ratio and some people are very happy with their proprietary software but at the same time, I am not sure how private it is.
It’s the old decision of, do you:

  • harden an iPhone
  • run GrapheneOS on an Android

You could probably also just wipe their software and install OpenWRT on it but then you pretty much lose the entire point of buying some good hardware for cheap.
And the same could be told for any kind of crappy router that you nuke.

TLDR: probably go for the OpenWRT one (with any BananaPi :banana: + some accessories to tune it further) tbh. :+1:t2:

Update: I personally ended up going with the Flint 2 for the following reasons:

  • easier to buy and with no fluff as of when/where I would receive it, stock on Aliexpress is not always the best
  • I’m not sure about the overall quality of the R4/R4 Pro when it comes down to shielding and doing the thing right[1]
  • R4 Pro’s firmware situation is still a hot mess and I don’t feel like it is nowhere as stable as the R4’s + I don’t want to receive a cool PCB but have no actual use for it waiting for a firmware bump :joy:
  • follows my needs better: WiFi 7 is not ready at all[2], I don’t plan on using a 5G mobile card for a backup, I am not sure I want to straight upgrade to 10Gbe given the amount of work it requires, I’ll probably stick to 2.5G for now
    • since I realized that a basic WiFi 6 router would be more than enough for me right now, I then decided to pick the most stable and reliable recommendation over the Internet: the Flint 2
    • you can flash its firmware if you want a Zero Trust approach :victory_hand:
    • the OpenWRT forums themselves are leaning heavily towards Flint 2 or BPi R4, hence both are safe bets for something that works just well :1st_place_medal:

Now it’s time to flash that bad boi! :face_savoring_food:

  1. I didn’t felt like getting into 3D printing a custom case + applying copper/aluminum foil + everything in between, was a bit too enthusiast for a first timer ↩︎

  2. moreover, I have no WiFi 7 clients supporting it anyway ↩︎

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Thoughts on GLiNet Flint 2 as an OpenWRT router?
How do you decide to trust a router?
What are your 2026 privacy and security resolutions?
16

Are you sure you really need WiFi 7? Far less choices than WiFi 6, not even considering cellular modem requirements, and you might not experience WiFi 7 benefits as much as marketing departments want buyers to think.

You can search for OpenWrt supported routers at the OpenWrt Table Of Hardware page. Click filters and select the features you want.

Here’s a good resource if you’d like to read more about WiFi generations and real world stuff vs marketing: https://www.wiisfi.com/

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17

Excellent links, thanks for those! :folded_hands:t2:
And yes I agree, got surprised that my Pixel 9a doesn’t support Wifi 7 but turns out not a lot of devices do anyway so the benefits are quite relative as of today. :relieved_face:

I guess people like LTT might be hype-ing it a lot. :sweat_smile:

18

I had the Flint 2 on trial, but switching to the Asus RT-BE88 running MerlinWRT was a no-brainer. The performance is night and day, though obviously, the price reflects that.

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19

Running OpenWrt on the Flint2?
Also, how did you compare the performance?

WiFi, wired, through some VPN or something totally different?
Let us know how you ended up on this conclusion. :hugs:
I also wonder which version of OpenWrt did you ran on it and if it’s kinda comparable (based on different foundations to begin with so eh :woman_shrugging:t2:).

The Asus has:

  • double the RAM but that shouldn’t really matter
  • 10Gbe port, that should make it a bit more toasty :fire:
  • slightly more storage
  • WiFi 7 might give an edge if consumed by compatible clients
20

I’m tied up right now, I’ll respond later.

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