Thanks to amarok for create this thread, i got motivated to upgrades my 3 LibreCMC Routers from Gnu Linux v4.14 to v6.6, API v1 to API v3 WG, Etc.
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I’m now leaning toward just buying a newer Asus router compatible with Asus-MerlinWRT again, to keep things simple and familiar, and to preserve present functionalities/setup.
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If it ain’t broke.
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Planned obsolescence wins, unfortunately. 
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If you live in Europe, I really like my Turris router. It comes with a modified version of OpenWRT out of the box which is was the primary reason why I bought it. Sure there are some wifi chip blobs, but otherwise it’s fully open source. Has some cool additional features on top of standard OpenWRT too, some that are really nice and some that are a little bit gimmicky but you don’t need to have those enabled. The only drawback IMO is that it’s usually a year or two behind the official OpenWRT upstream (probably because they have so many additional features), but that’s not too bad.
I have 3 Turris Mox connected together with ethernet. One “master” with an additional fiber module for WAN and then the other two as extenders with PoE (I don’t trust mesh networks).
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They also sell to other countries, including the U.S., where I am located. And I’ve already confirmed that the VAT is removed when shipping to the U.S. (We pay U.S. local tax instead, based on the delivery address.)
I certainly like this router as a concept.
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I’m guessing that you already got another Asus or similar, but just in case and for future reference, the OpenWrt One which has (forked) OpenWrt out of the box by the Software Freedom Conservancy for 89 USD (Tom’s HW says $99 at amazon) and $10 of every purchase goes to OpenWrt development. One of its 2 ethernet ports is 2.5Gbps capable.
Not sure why the OpenWRT is a fork since it is supposedly the “First Router Designed Specifically For OpenWrt”. I also don’t know how OpenWRT differs from Asus-MerlinWRT.
Discussion at
says that the GL mt-6000 is “similar in price” and more powerful. It also comes with OpenWrt. I’m not finding much information about it, but the manufacturer site does list extensive specs.
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Purism, come out with a router, please! Obviously, I know it’s kind of fanciful for me to make such a request and think it will make much difference, with all the planning and development that would need to go into bringing such a product to market, but it can’t hurt to ask! 
I would buy one. This is a space majorly lacking software freedom. @francois-techene
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After reading the background discussion
Everyone is invited to participate in the Purism router poll who hasn’t done so already:
I notice that the OpenWRT One (thanks @j_s) not only supports 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, but can power itself off of it. That could allow one to leave the power adapter at home, potentially. It (or one of its premium derivatives) strikes me as an ideal reference board upon which a putative Purism Router would be built. Not to mention the legal advantages of copyleft licensing.
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I fyou buy this one, of couse you should flash stock openWRT, and not GL.inet partially foss that is very bloted.
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Not yet. I just received another AsusWRT-Merlin update, so I’m not sure how urgent the need for replacement is. Still planning to replace the router soon, though.
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Of all the routers suggested so far that potentially receive very long-term updates, I like the Turris Omnia most, as it originates from the EU. If I dont buy another Asus (out of convenience), then I’ll probably get the Turris.
(Unless Purism throws a new option into the mix, of course. 
)
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I placed an order for the Turris Omnia.
The Turris has a lot of features that I might never use, but it’s good to know they’re available. The open-source firmware and potential longevity (updates/upgrades for the life of the device) were the main selling points for me.
The price is probably comparable to consumer “pro,” or gaming routers (i.e. the low end ones), which I have never bought or needed, but given that consumer routers must be replaced periodically for perhaps no good reason other than planned obsolescence (and termination of community open-source builds), I think the cost is justified. (Assuming it works!)
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Got a citation?
Leads to this URL:
No citations about the supposed open-source firmware.
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Actually for me it leads to Turris - Omnia which admittedly is in Czech and hence not useful for me but it does say “Vysoce výkonný open source router”. Clicking on English translates that to “Hi-performance and open source router”. I don’t know how definitive a statement you want.
I also wonder what you are calling “firmware”. For example, looking at the WiFi 6 card, it appears to have open source Linux drivers but I doubt that the firmware for the card itself is open source. (I would guess that the card itself requires a blob.)
By open source, I imagine that they mean that all code that runs on the ARM CPUs in the router itself is open source. (I suppose the test of it would be whether you could download the source code and build the firmware from source and install it on your router … and still have a working router. )
I also note that you get the hardware schematics.
So overall this is a reasonable commitment to being “open”.
Edit: Adding: A more accurate citation is at https://docs.turris.cz/ where it specifically says “open-source firmware”.
Random aside @amarok: I get lots of attempted breakins to my router (not a Turris Omnia) and I review all the attempted breakins and often wonder, when it’s not obvious, what specific device such an attack would actually work on.
My attention having been drawn to this device, I now see that at attempted breakin that I see several times a month is targeting the Turris range. So hopefully you researched the security reputation of the device. “No back-doors” doesn’t really help if the front door is not locked properly - with the disclaimer that it is entirely possible that the attempted breakin is targeting unpatched devices where the bug was fixed 3 years ago.
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The Turris links you pointed to are exactly what I had in mind (… the presence of putative blobs on the wifi card notwithstanding).
That’s concerning, for sure. One thing I like about Turris is their alleged rapid response to observed attacks in the wild: Home :: Project:Turris and Turris - Turris Security report 2022/12
(Nothing is 100% secure, of course.)
Out of curiosity, do you see frequent targeted attacks on other router brands? Asus, for instance? I need to learn what such attacks look like; I never see anything of interest in my Asus router log, assuming I’m looking in the right place.
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Yes. But bear in mind that I am not able to identify absolutely every single attack for what it is probing for.
Netgear, Cisco, some GPON (fibre optic) router or modem, some IP camera, Turris (LuCI) … and a bunch of network equipment that must run some distro of Linux but have really shitty security.
I also see attacks targeting specific software rather than specific hardware e.g. GIT, Druid, PHP, SONiC (operating system), Hudson, GeoServer. (Are people really exposing this stuff to the internet?)
And that’s just January so far looking at logs on one computer that is exposed to the internet.
And protocols generally: SMB, RDP, HTTP.
My VPSs could no doubt add to the above lists but I don’t want to trawl more logs just now.
Indeedy. So it’s about knowing what your attack surface is, deciding whether it can and should be reduced, and monitoring.
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