I've used a TL-WR1043ND router before. It performed reasonably well and was pretty cheap (40 euro or something). Unfortunately I bricked it by doing a simple firmware update. In hindsight, the reason for this was that I changed the the standard IP range from 192.168.1.x to 192.168.0.x because that was the range I used before with my D-Link router. Now, it seems it's not a good idea to flash a router if you've changed the default IP range.
I could have saved it, but that would mean soldering some pins onto the motherboard and reflashing it using a USB to serial adapter. (which I didn't have and would cost me 20 euro or so to get). I ended up binning it.