ME: tl;dr-ing Stock firmware works (Unlike Rui, I have no need for low-level control) and so does OpenWRT. Something to consider in 2027 or something but by then there will be something shinier :-) LOL! ; Rui:: The Cudy AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 System (with OpenWRT)

Discovered: Sep 26, 2025 06:52 (UTC)ME: tl;dr-ing Stock firmware works (Unlike Rui, I have no need for low-level control) and so does OpenWRT. Something to consider in 2027 or something but by then there will be something shinier :-) LOL! ; Rui:: The Cudy AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 System (with OpenWRT) - Tao of Mac

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The Cudy AX3000/M3000 models make for pretty great Airport Extreme replacements, and in this age of networking devices with cloud features nobody asked for OpenWRT turns them into very nice locally managed access points that I will never have to worry about again (until I break the configuration myself, of course).

Although it is much too early to weigh in on hardware reliability (some of the 802.11ac Airport Extremes I was using were manufactured over a decade ago), the price/performance ratio is great, and right now I don’t mind it not being Wi-Fi 7.

After all, it took almost ten years for the 2.4GHz band to become saturated in my building, and it doesn’t look as if the 5GHz band is going to be massively swamped anytime soon, so I’m expecting something like 3-4 years of hassle-free operation if the hardware holds up.

A relevant thing I should point out again is that people who have less need for low-level control might actually be fine with the stock firmware—I did not use it extensively (nor did I try the Cudy app or any of the router/firewall features), but it already exposes a lot more functionality (and seems a lot more flexible) than ISP gear, so I would encourage people to give it a go.