Same here. Just like a desktop Linux distro transforms a crappy, old Windows machine into something nice, OpenWRT transforms a crappy router into a powerful, often more secure device with advanced features that consumer routers don’t typically have. Consumer router firmware is pretty limiting and I’m too spoiled to ever go back at this point.
Is there a way to jailbreak them and run them on Linux?
Yes; it’s pretty trivial to flash something like OpenWRT on them as they don’t restrict what you can install whatsoever.
OpenWRT
My tplink archer has been running it for 5 years or more without issue*
*excluding human errors
Same here. Just like a desktop Linux distro transforms a crappy, old Windows machine into something nice, OpenWRT transforms a crappy router into a powerful, often more secure device with advanced features that consumer routers don’t typically have. Consumer router firmware is pretty limiting and I’m too spoiled to ever go back at this point.
OK, if it runs OpenWRT, what is their problem?
It depends who you’re trying to protect. Joe consumer doesn’t know what OpenWRT is.
Will this still allow a mesh setup?
You can basically do anything in OpenWRT, and if my memory is right a mesh setup is possible too. It may not be easy to setup, but it’s possible.
Thank you for the information.