Inexpensive router with guest network

@Navier has as explained it well.
The pi zero 2 w consumes around 5W of power, so it's relatively inexpensive to run with regard to electrical costs.
Tailscale uses something called UDP hole punching to bypass CGNAT (if you're behind one).
Also tailscale is basically the beautiful skin of wireguard. (It uses wireguard underneath)
Subnet routing is a facility that tailscale provides wherein you are able to remotely access devices that you can't install tailscale on (such as routers, ESP32s) etc.
The advantage of tailscale is that it's free for upto 3 users (3 email IDs) and 100 devices (only devices that you have installed tailscale on count towards the limit).
If you're worried about privacy, do read up on headscarf (it's the open source implementation of tailscale) but it requires you to have atleast one publicly accessible IP.(such as the Oracle free tier)
 
Sorry. I remembered Mi from when I was searching for a Gigabit router. Google and YT reviews are your friends for this.

Please remember that the Pi Zero 2W costs around 1.5k and it needs a 5V 2A micro usb adapter, and an SD card of atleast 32 GB size. You will need to add these to your budget, albeit, the Pi can be used for a lot more than just tailscale (like PiHole, or your own password manager and the like, once again Google and YT are your friends here).

I use an Archer C6. It is around 2.5k but I find it worthy.
 
Get a TP Link Deco used - some are selling cheap, setup as a access point and enable the guest network. It will do the job and you can manage it remotely using the Deco app.

I would suggest to take the E4 - these are limited to 100mbps, but will be easily fitting your budget. If you can get M4 or M5 even better
 
Seeing @vivek.krishnan 's post reminds me of why you actually wanted this.
I've been so focused on tailscale that I forgot your entire usecase.

1. Need to have guest access.
2. Need to be able to access control panel remotely.
3. Need to be able to separate devices on network.

In this case, the router I currently use, the Archer C6 is a perfect fit.

1. It has guest networks for both bands, with options to either allow or deny access to devices connected via your regular SSID.
2. It has TP-Link cloud access which allows remote access via app.
2b. Should you have a dynamic public IP it also provides support in the form of DDNS with 3 providers. There is also the option to remote access router via WAN (if you have a public IP)
3. It also has an IoT devices SSID (consider this for all intents and purposes, another guest network).

My apologies. I have been super focused on my solution and not your actual usecase.

At 2.5k (check on Flipkart prices might be lower there) this is worthy. It covers the average 3 BHK house without dead spots. In any case, buying a Pi Zero 2 W and the cheapest gigabit router will still put you over this price and your coverage might not be as great in that case. (Albeit, you can benefit from other uses of the Pi and if you're a DIY aficionado, enjoy the thrill)

Pros -
1. Has 1x1 MU-MIMO, so if you have a device that supports it, you will get good speeds on the 5GHz band.
2. Supposedly has beamforming antennas, though I do t know how they work.
3. Has this feature where it auto switches b/w 2.4 and 5GHz. Although I think this is a gimmick, because if you're latched to the 2.4 GHz network, it rarely switches to 5 GHz. So basically all this feature does is, it sets the same SSID to both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

Has 1x WAN and 4x LAN gigabit ports and the connections have been saturated to gigabit bandwidth without bottlenecks.

A con however is that you can't upgrade to openWRT at a later date, since it uses an 8/32 processor.
You will also not be able to measure WAN data transfer and will have to depend on your ISP for it.
 
badwhitevision said:
Seeing @vivek.krishnan 's post reminds me of why you actually wanted this.
I've been so focused on tailscale that I forgot your entire usecase.
Click to expand...

I was surprised by how the discussion was veering off into the stratosphere.

badwhitevision said:
1. Need to have guest access.
2. Need to be able to access control panel remotely.
3. Need to be able to separate devices on network.

In this case, the router I currently use, the Archer C6 is a perfect fit.

1. It has guest networks for both bands, with options to either allow or deny access to devices connected via your regular SSID.
2. It has TP-Link cloud access which allows remote access via app.
2b. Should you have a dynamic public IP it also provides support in the form of DDNS with 3 providers. There is also the option to remote access router via WAN (if you have a public IP)
3. It also has an IoT devices SSID (consider this for all intents and purposes, another guest network).
Click to expand...

If this has remote access then even better. I have been so much into the commercial market that I hardly have looked into the consumer market.

Using Decos here at my house and clients.

badwhitevision said:
My apologies. I have been super focused on my solution and not your actual usecase.

At 2.5k (check on Flipkart prices might be lower there) this is worthy. It covers the average 3 BHK house without dead spots. In any case, buying a Pi Zero 2 W and the cheapest gigabit router will still put you over this price and your coverage might not be as great in that case. (Albeit, you can benefit from other uses of the Pi and if you're a DIY aficionado, enjoy the thrill)

Pros -
1. Has 1x1 MU-MIMO, so if you have a device that supports it, you will get good speeds on the 5GHz band.
2. Supposedly has beamforming antennas, though I do t know how they work.
3. Has this feature where it auto switches b/w 2.4 and 5GHz. Although I think this is a gimmick, because if you're latched to the 2.4 GHz network, it rarely switches to 5 GHz. So basically all this feature does is, it sets the same SSID to both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.
Click to expand...

I doubt for guest network its going to be a big advantage. With Decos its the same SSID. Is that the same here?

badwhitevision said:
Has 1x WAN and 4x LAN gigabit ports and the connections have been saturated to gigabit bandwidth without bottlenecks.

A con however is that you can't upgrade to openWRT at a later date, since it uses an 8/32 processor.
You will also not be able to measure WAN data transfer and will have to depend on your ISP for it.
Click to expand...

Today's routers have become good, same as android phones, no longer custom firmware is something actively needed.
 
vivek.krishnan said:
I doubt for guest network its going to be a big advantage. With Decos its the same SSID. Is that the same here?
Click to expand...
This feature exists only for the regular network, not the guest network.

Also it seems the IoT network does not separate IoT devices from the main network. So I really don't see the point.

The guest network on the other hand has 2 settings -
1. Allow guest users to see each other.
2. Allow guest users to access the main network.
 
badwhitevision said:
Also it seems the IoT network does not separate IoT devices from the main network. So I really don't see the point.
Click to expand...
Apparently, this IoT network option has to be used in conjunction with IoT security option.

Wi-Fi Routers Support DoH - Home Network Community

Good news! We are happy to announce that there is new official firmware rolling out for multiple routers, such as Archer C80, C64, etc. which adds DoH, IoT Network, and several new features. Welcome to upgrade and install this version
community.tp-link.com community.tp-link.com
 
I have placed an order for TP Link Archer C6. But now I have stumbled upon the following device


Would this work with my Hathway FTTH? The existing device is RL Tech RH821GWV-DG. Would the above device combine modem+router and still have following functionalities:

1. Separate Guest network
2. Remote access
3. Approximately 1200 sq.ft. coverage

Would I need any special help from Hathway folks?

Thank you
 
I can't answer the 3 specific questions you have. Google and YT are better for real life reviews.

However, as for using this directly connected to your fibre line, each ISP uses a specific OLT (Optical Line Terminal) that may or may not be compatiable with this ONT (Optical Network Terminal).

Simplified -

An OLT is what sends you light signals (data) from the ISP.
An ONT converts it into electrical data (Ethernet/Wi-Fi)

The OLT and ONT need to be on the same page so that they can decode the data correctly.

The current ONT provided by Hathway is compatiable with their upstream OLT. The new one you have may or may not be compatiable.

Your best bet would be to call customer care and ask to talk to the tech backend or send an email to them and ask them if they would support other GPONs and more specifically this exact model.

This also brings another point to mind -

To avoid double NAT, you will have to put your existing Hathway router into bridge mode. (ie.) It becomes "dumb" and only converts the light into electrical signals. It works only as an ONT and no longer acts as a router/switch.

From this "dumb" ONT, you will connect the Archer C6 and let it deal with everything else.

To do this you will have to involve the ISP and their technical team since most, if not all ISPs,
have linked atleast the MAC ID of the router to their backend. This means that only if you connect via that specific router, you will be able to access their network or you will be blocked out.
Some ISPs support changing of the MAC-ID in their backend while others don't.

ISPs like Jio (who owns hathway) vehemently deny such requests.

The other option is to MAC clone and the Archer C6 does support this function.

In any case you will have to enable bridge mode on the ONT supplied by Hathway currently to use this without double NAT.

If you don't know what double NAT is and you only use this connection to browse the internet, and download things, this doesn't matter and you can connect the Hathway router with your Archer C6 via a LAN cable.
 
badwhitevision said:
If you don't know what double NAT is and you only use this connection to browse the internet, and download things, this doesn't matter and you can connect the Hathway router with your Archer C6 via a LAN cable.
Click to expand...
I don't think I'll be needing port forwarding or any other advanced stuff. I think it's safer to keep on using the Hathway RLTech device in tandem with Archer C6. It might be a hassle if my own ONT starts having issues in the future and Hathway is not cooperative.

Would I need some special help (like login credentials) from Hathway people to be able to connect C6 with the existing RLTech device via LAN cable? From what I could understand, bridge mode is not enabled by default, but not sure whether I'll need this. If I understand correctly, C6 can be used as a switch and WiFi access point without changing anything in the RLTech device.

Thanks again!
 
tapestry said:
I don't think I'll be needing port forwarding or any other advanced stuff. I think it's safer to keep on using the Hathway RLTech device in tandem with Archer C6. It might be a hassle if my own ONT starts having issues in the future and Hathway is not cooperative.

Would I need some special help (like login credentials) from Hathway people to be able to connect C6 with the existing RLTech device via LAN cable? From what I could understand, bridge mode is not enabled by default, but not sure whether I'll need this. If I understand correctly, C6 can be used as a switch and WiFi access point without changing anything in the RLTech device.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
If your hathway device has DMZ option & option of assigning a fixed IP to a device connected via lan wire then simply assign a static IP to your c6 router after connecting its wan port to one of the lan ports of RLTech device then put that static IP in DMZ zone of RLtech device. Connect all your devices to c6 wifi now & forget that RLTech device exist. You can also do port forwarding etc on c6 now if in future you need it.

P.S. C6 own home IP is 192.168.0.1 so assuming RLtech device works on 192.168.1.1 then no need to do anything apart from above but in case RLTech uses 192.168.0.1 then you will need to change c6 home ip to 192.168.1.1 & its dhcp server range too to 192.168.1.x.
@tapestry
 
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