Is using the router and modem my cable company provided for my internet putting my privacy at risk? And if so, I have heard of openWRT routers but it seems like there’s quite a bit of a learning curve with that but even if I got one would I need a non cable company branded modem as well? Any specifically that anyone here would recommend?
I use OpenWRT and I love the ability to tightly control my network. It also has very good performance.
With that being said, if you don’t have a good familiarity with Linux and Networking it could be a struggle for the more advanced functionally. If you’re just a average home user you can flash it and then go to wireless and create a new wireless network. Luci shows network hardware that’s available to it so you may need to look up which one is the 5Ghz band and which one is the 2.5 GHz band.
Another thing, make sure you get on the OpenWRT security mailing list. Its fairly rare for a security issue to affect OpenWRT but when it does it will require a manual update. If you want to upgrade your device to the latest update that also is a manual process.
For privacy, any ISP can technically see everything you do online including phone using wi-fi unless a device or syatem uses a VPN, Tor, or i2p, but that does not mean the ISP is keeping records of what an account does online. They may have no interest.
For security, you definitely need your own router. If you can build a system to use as a router running OpenBSD or pfSense, at leaat use a router with open source firmware so your router traffic is not going to someone else and an open source router will give you a lot more extensive network functionalities.
