Networking
I love both networking hardware and software. Firmware, protocols, appliances, I collect it all.
OpenWRT
OpenWRT is probably my favorite networking firmware. Awesome packages which can turn relatively simple pieces of equipment into very complex routing platforms.
The below devices I have either successfully installed OpenWRT, partially succeeded in installing OpenWRT or really wish I could install OpenWRT.
MikroTik RB5009
Love the MikroTik RB5009. This is a great piece of hardare, PoE+ ports with cycles to spare but unfortunately OpenWRT isn't quite compatible but that seems to be changing
MikroTik hEX S
The MikroTik hEX S Works flawlessly with OpenWRT and has hardware flow offloading.
Ubiquiti Access Point U6 Long-Range
At one point I was very much into Ubiquiti and their UniFi series such as the Ubiquiti Access Point U6 Long-Range but their firmware leaves a lot to be desired.
I was able to successfully flash the UniFi 6 with OpenWRT but would reboot during high load and was unstable when you needed it most.
Netgate SG-3100
The Netgate SG-3100 was a fantastic piece of hardware but being ARM meant not every package they offered would work on the platform (looking at you Telegraf)
While the pfSense interface is very powerful, I still prefer command line and being unable to flash the device to another firmware is just a bummer.