Most home network gear and routers come with their own firmware. Most of the time, that firmware, and associated web interfaces are sufficient for most home routing tasks. However, the bulk of the firmware that vendors provide never get updated and tend to have a wide variety of issues. Fortunately, there is an alternative. Several open source projects provide custom firmware that you can flash on most routers. Here are three reasons to consider installing custom firmware:
Security
Custom firmware providers provide regular updates to their firmware. Often, these updates address security issues that most vendors never fix. With internet of things and routers used as vehicles for attacks on sites, this is the most important consideration. Most malware installed is temporary, so until you flash custom firmware, restart the router regularly.
Features
Most default firmware on routers lacks features. Custom firmware on the other hand support useful features like OpenVPN, traffic throttling, guest networks and VLANs. This gives users the option to make the most of their router and network connection. Some routers provide parental controls, allowing questionable content blocks.
Stability
Users constantly complain of slow internet access even on unused connections. This is usually due to unstable firmware. Most firmware cannot handle long periods where problems like memory leaks compound. Custom firmware is tested by the community on multiple hardware platforms to ensure stability.