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FRIZL
03-10-2008, 08:47 PM
Well, I had all but given up on my mission to find a decent router at a reasonable price. When I stumbled across an article about opensource firmware called DDWRT which was being developed for the Linksys line of routers which seemed like a promising option.

So, I trek ovr to Bestbuy and low and behold there I find a Linksys WRT54G with an impressive 50 dollar price tag. Now this just happens to be one of the supported routers for the firmware, so I scoop it up and head home to try out this wonderous firmware which somehow seems too good to be true.

I arrive at home and depackage the router and start perusing through the installation walkthrough (RTFM). Seems simple enough, flash the firmware and update through the interface. Okay. No Problem. So, I complete the task at hand and reboot that bad-boy, hoping for the best.

What is this? No Lights!? Noooo!

Suddenly, as if by some divine miracle, the router lights up and blinks gleefully. I breathe a sigh of relief as I realize I hadn't bricked my router and log in to the administration gateway through the browser. What I saw was amazing, this router suddenly increased in value tenfold. I felt like the King Midas of the interweb.

Now not only does it cover appx 10 blocks with a wireless hotspot, but, I can also use this badboy as a replacement for having to purchase a useless 150 dollar wireless attachment for my Xbox 360. All this and preforms like a champ.

But don't take my word for it.

Taken from: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page-

Features


13 languages
802.1x Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#802.1x_Extensible_Authentication_Protocol_.28EAP.29 )
Access Restrictions (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Access_Restrictions)
Ad Hoc (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Ad_Hoc)
Afterburner (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Afterburner)
Client Isolation Mode (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Client_Isolation_Mode)
Client Mode (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Client_Mode) (supports multiple connected clients)
DHCP Forwarder (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#DHCP_Forwarder) (udhcp (http://udhcp.busybox.net/))
DHCP Server (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#DHCP_Server) (udhcp (http://udhcp.busybox.net/) or Dnsmasq (http://thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/doc.html))
DNS Forwarder (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#DNS_Forwarder) (Dnsmasq (http://thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/doc.html))
DMZ (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#DMZ)
Dynamic DNS (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Dynamic_DNS) (DynDNS (http://www.dyndns.com/), easyDNS (http://www.easydns.com/), FreeDNS (http://freedns.afraid.org/), No-IP (http://www.no-ip.com/), TZO (http://www.tzo.com/), ZoneEdit (http://www.zoneedit.com/), custom, and others)
Hotspot Portal (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Hotspot) (Sputnik Agent (http://www.sputnik.com/) ,Chillispot (http://www.chillispot.org/))
IPv6 (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#IPv6)
JFFS2 (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#JFFS2) (JFFS2 (http://sourceware.org/jffs2/))
MMC/SD Card Support (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#MMC.2FSD_Card) (hardware modification required)
NTP (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Network_Time_Protocol)
ntop Remote Statistic (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#ntop_Remote_Statistic) (ntop (http://www.ntop.org/overview.html))
OpenVPN Client & Server (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#OpenVPN) (only in -vpn build of the firmware)
Port Triggering (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Port_Triggering)
Port Fowarding (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Port_Forwarding)
PPTP VPN Server & Client (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#PPTP_VPN_Server_.26_Client)
QoS Bandwidth Management (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#QoS)
QoS L7 Packet Classifier (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#QoS_L7_Packet_Classifier) (l7-filter (http://l7-filter.sourceforge.net/))
RFlow (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#RFlow)
Routing (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Routing) (BIRD (http://bird.network.cz/))
Samba FS Automount (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Samba)
Syslog (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Syslog)
Rx Antenna (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Rx_Antenna)
Tx Antenna (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Tx_Antenna)
Show Status of Wireless Clients and WDS with System Uptime/Processor Utilization
Site Survey (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Site_Survey)
SNMP (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Simple_Network_Management_Protocol)
SSH server & client (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Secure_Shell) (dropbear (http://matt.ucc.asn.au/dropbear/dropbear.html))
Startup, Firewall, and Shutdown scripts (startup script (http://wrt-wiki.bsr-clan.de/index.php?title=Startup_Scripts))
Static DHCP (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Static_DHCP)
Style (Changeable GUI; v.23)
Supports New Devices (WRT54G V3, V3.1, V4, V5 and WRT54GS V2.1, V3, V4)
Telnet (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Telnet) server & client
Transmit Power Adjustment (0-251mW, default is 28mW, 100mW is safe)
UPnP (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Universal_Plug-n-Play)
VLAN (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#VLAN)
WOL (Wake On Lan) (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#WOL) (WOL (http://ahh.sourceforge.net/wol/))
WDS Connection Watchdog (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#WDS_Connection_Watchdog)
WDS Repeater Mode (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Repeater)
Wireless MAC Address Cloning (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Wireless_MAC_Addresses_Cloning)
Wireless MAC Filter (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#MAC_Filtering)
WMM (Wi-Fi MultiMedia) (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Wi-Fi_Multimedia)
WPA over WDS
WPA/TKIP with AES
WPA2 (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Glossary#Wi-Fi_Protected_Access_2)
Xbox Kaid (Kai Engine (http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/))
Pic? Sure.
http://64.40.149.184/ruka/ddwrt.jpg

And this guy actually claims he can get a 30 mile radius on his hotspot with DDWRT. IDK. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=OM5LEd-vy1I)
FX2000
03-10-2008, 09:46 PM
Sadly the new WRT's have been incredibly nerfed, they have hardly any space at all (you need to use micro versions of dd-wrt) and the antennae are fixed and cannot be replaced.

:greddy:
D3aC0n
03-11-2008, 12:51 AM
Sadly the new WRT's have been incredibly nerfed, they have hardly any space at all (you need to use micro versions of dd-wrt) and the antennae are fixed and cannot be replaced.

:greddy:

That's why you get the WRT54GL
ShowSquare
03-11-2008, 01:22 AM
lol, this must be a joke. ;) If I were ever needing a router that capable, I'd just build my own up and have seperate servers to transfer files through wires.
DocPenguin
03-12-2008, 09:37 PM
I did this and used the router. I had the L version though. It wasn't bad at first, but after a while it started to become very unstable. One of my coworkers here had a similar experience.

Right now my router of choice is the D-Link DIR-655. I've always been a Netgear/Linksys guy for home use, but this one blows all the others out of the water. http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=530. The only thing that beats this is my linux firewall that I built on an old P3 machine.
Nitroholic
03-13-2008, 01:41 AM
wrt54gl ftw
Nemmy
03-13-2008, 05:47 PM
wrt54gl ftw

Agreed. Have the DDWRT package installed and love it. Just have to find time to play with it more.
Binary Soldier
03-13-2008, 07:55 PM
Me to, this router seems to be having loads discussed about it right now, and on knowledgeable sites to.


Features


* IPv6
* OpenVPN Client & Server (only in -vpn build of the firmware)
* PPTP VPN Server & Client
* QoS Bandwidth Management



I find these features the most exciting for a router of such a great price. Am I missing anything out from the feature list? Or including too much?
MercenaryForHire
03-13-2008, 09:26 PM
oh hai, welcome to 11ty years ago.

I have a WRT54GL and an ASUS WL-500GP that does duty as a fileserver.
theartist
03-20-2008, 10:55 PM
+1 for the WRT, though I just switched to OpenWRT from DD-WRT. OpenWRT exposes many more of the underlying linux features than DD-WRT, but you lose the pretty UI....:madfawk:
smrbb6
03-31-2008, 03:54 AM
What are some standard adjustments that can be made to improve the performance of the wireless signal? I have the WRT54GL with v23 SP2
Bishop
03-31-2008, 06:31 AM
I did this and used the router. I had the L version though. It wasn't bad at first, but after a while it started to become very unstable. One of my coworkers here had a similar experience.

Right now my router of choice is the D-Link DIR-655. I've always been a Netgear/Linksys guy for home use, but this one blows all the others out of the water. http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=530. The only thing that beats this is my linux firewall that I built on an old P3 machine.
From my experience DD-WRT v23 SP2 has had stability problems. The problem was not the router but DD-WRT.

I switched to Tomato and I've had a pleasant experience with it for close to two years. It's very stable and the router can easily go 45+ days without any reboot. I've never had to power cycle the router other than to update firmware.

http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato/
Bishop
03-31-2008, 06:34 AM
+1 for the WRT, though I just switched to OpenWRT from DD-WRT. OpenWRT exposes many more of the underlying linux features than DD-WRT, but you lose the pretty UI....:madfawk:
Try Tomato

http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato/

Interface Images
http://www.polarcloud.com/img/ssbn100.png
http://www.polarcloud.com/img/ssbwm100.png
http://www.polarcloud.com/img/ssqosc108.png
http://www.polarcloud.com/img/ssqosg108.png
http://www.polarcloud.com/img/ssddns108.png

Videos
http://www.polarcloud.com/v/screst.htm
http://www.polarcloud.com/v/scbwm.htm
http://www.polarcloud.com/v/scclient.htm
Bishop
03-31-2008, 06:40 AM
What are some standard adjustments that can be made to improve the performance of the wireless signal? I have the WRT54GL with v23 SP2
Increasing power is one option, but it's not recommended, because this also can cause the Broadcom chip to overheat.

You can replace the antenna with better antenna.

A third option would be to relocate the router to a location which allows for better line of site. Wi-Fi and radio signals in general don't work well when transmitting through dense materials like concrete, or multiple walls drywall etc.

The last and easiest option to try would be to just change the wireless channel that your router is broadcasting/receiving on. Most routers are set to channel 6 or Channel 11 straight from the factory. This can cause interference if lots of your neighbors are also broadcasting on the same channel. Try Channel 1, or a higher channel.
smrbb6
03-31-2008, 01:05 PM
Increasing power is one option, but it's not recommended, because this also can cause the Broadcom chip to overheat.

You can replace the antenna with better antenna.

A third option would be to relocate the router to a location which allows for better line of site. Wi-Fi and radio signals in general don't work well when transmitting through dense materials like concrete, or multiple walls drywall etc.

The last and easiest option to try would be to just change the wireless channel that your router is broadcasting/receiving on. Most routers are set to channel 6 or Channel 11 straight from the factory. This can cause interference if lots of your neighbors are also broadcasting on the same channel. Try Channel 1, or a higher channel.

Thanks. I changed the channel, on the router/wireless adapter, didn't help much. I also increased the Xmit from 28 mW to 65 mW. The router is about ten feet away from me in the other room. I am still getting shitty signal quality.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/Mkazm83/untitled.jpg
TheBigEasy
03-31-2008, 05:59 PM
I have the wrt54gs, and it just up and stopped working, hooked up my old d-link, and im back online.
Bishop
03-31-2008, 06:49 PM
Thanks. I changed the channel, on the router/wireless adapter, didn't help much. I also increased the Xmit from 28 mW to 65 mW. The router is about ten feet away from me in the other room. I am still getting shitty signal quality.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/Mkazm83/untitled.jpg
You do not want to crank up power that much on G/GS units after v4 unless you have active cooling (fan). Technically the GL model is based on v4 hardware.

If you turn up the power too much you will burn out the radio.
smrbb6
03-31-2008, 07:24 PM
You do not want to crank up power on G/GS units after v4 unless you have active cooling (fan). Technically the GL model is based on v4 hardware.

If you turn up the power too much you will burn out the radio.

That sucks, I was under the impression that anything under 70mW was considered safe. Would you happen to know which version on DD-WRT has bandwidth monitoring (graphing)?
Bishop
03-31-2008, 08:10 PM
That sucks, I was under the impression that anything under 70mW was considered safe. Would you happen to know which version on DD-WRT has bandwidth monitoring (graphing)?
I can't remember what the safe limit was, I only recall that the linksys switch to using a SOC processor in v4 onward increased range and efficiency, but also made the unit more prone to burning out if transmit power was increased too much.
sam758
04-02-2008, 09:35 PM
tomato has a much better interface and qos than ddwrt. i couldnt get qos to work properly on ddwrt for some reason.
Bishop
04-04-2008, 06:23 AM
tomato has a much better interface and qos than ddwrt. i couldnt get qos to work properly on ddwrt for some reason.
QoS never worked properly in DD-WRT v23 SP2. Brian might have fixed it in v24, but I prefer sticking with Tomato. It's great not having to reboot the router when changing most settings
AwricBawrin
04-05-2008, 06:15 PM
does a WRT54G have one or more serial interfaces for a dedicated line (see: T1)?

yea...you're wrong.
TiZE
04-08-2008, 06:00 PM
I'd like to use it as a paid hotspot : ))
wolf911
04-09-2008, 07:30 AM
another DDWRT fan here
scrotomus
04-09-2008, 08:43 AM
had one. it was a piece of shit, and I tried a half dozen different firmwares.

poor range, locked up, traffic would slow to a crawl for no reason


absolute garbage. my netgear and my SMB are far superior products
Cthalupa
04-18-2008, 05:07 PM
If you have trouble finding a WRTG that supports the needed shit, get a Buffalo. WHR-HP-G54
patso0
04-18-2008, 05:33 PM
I run a WRT54GL with Tomato firmware and it works great. We have 5 people using a standard DSL connection with gaming, browsing and bit torrent and the QoS (quality of service) works great and everything is smooth.

I ran DD-WRT before Tomato and tomato is much more solid and runs better.
shmoogie
05-03-2008, 11:14 AM
I have one. :coold:

I haven't had a chance to mod it yet though.
DVS SHO 93
05-03-2008, 11:54 PM
I was going to try and flash my free fon wireless access point with the ddwrt, but it has the wrong firmware on it, and I didn't understand the page to revert it to one of the older ones :hs:

I'd like to do it to my linksys wrt54gs, but i'm scured :hsd:
Maxtor
05-04-2008, 12:52 PM
wow
ichibum
05-04-2008, 05:33 PM
My WRT54GL is running Firmware Version : v4.30.1, HyperWRT 2.1b1 +tofu12

Been running for 4-5 years now. No problems.
Seluryar
05-04-2008, 10:18 PM
was the router you mentioned above a sale price, or is that its new permanent price?
Blind
05-08-2008, 03:46 PM
I have one of the Old super modable ones for sale if anyone is interested =))
GTIguy
05-10-2008, 04:58 PM
COCK, i bricked my router wrt54gs v6... (flashing pwr light and no other lights on)
smrbb6
05-12-2008, 06:46 PM
I've been reading a little on the Tomato firmware and people have mentioned improved Wi-Fi performance over DD-WRT. Have any of you ex DD-WRT users experienced this? If so, was it a significant improvement?
jonstar
05-16-2008, 03:00 PM
I've got a WRT54GL running OpenWRT... i love it... its got package management and the ability to broadcast multiple SSID's using different types of encryption.

This feature proves to be excellent in my office where we have people with all ages of laptops (some old shit doesnt support WPA) and where I want to have my laptop traffic encrypted using a username/password auth scheme, but others want to use a certificate, and guests are unencrypted completely...

It plays hell with some clients though, you almost always have to hard code the SSID into Windows zconf client since it still has the same BSSID, the client only lists one of the multiple configured SSID's ...

Works well in OS X and most Linux clients though, and that's all i really care about lolol.
smrbb6
05-20-2008, 04:58 AM
V24 is out. Anyone try it yet?
D3aC0n
05-20-2008, 05:22 PM
I've been reading a little on the Tomato firmware and people have mentioned improved Wi-Fi performance over DD-WRT. Have any of you ex DD-WRT users experienced this? If so, was it a significant improvement?

I don't know about performance difference but Tomato tends to be more stable
fyp619
06-09-2008, 01:59 AM
i bought an asus wl-520gu for 40 bucks and flashed it with dd-wrt v.24. it's been up and running for 2 weeks now and i'm loving it.
HMSS013
06-11-2008, 12:35 PM
:mamoru: i use mine to 'wirelessly repeat' the strongest signal it receives with available internet securely though a private network....

...it will automatically switch up to a more powerful signal if it becomes available :bowdown:

(this is especially helpful...say, if you were to use it in 'mobile applications')
Mentok
06-11-2008, 07:14 PM
so let me ask you peeps, if i've got one of these linksys routers, and it gives my ps3 about a 70-80% connection. Would this firmware improve that?
DanManIt
06-16-2008, 11:42 PM
i have dd-wrt running on my buffalo. it really is fantastic
FRIZL
08-14-2008, 10:08 PM
Bump for relevance.
NPH
08-14-2008, 10:11 PM
Bump for relevance.

:bigthumb:
hanpan
08-16-2008, 03:42 AM
I have had no issues with the WRT54gl in general
eggnog
08-16-2008, 01:45 PM
FRIZL, how did you attach the fan to your router? I have one just like it with the 3 pin connector for power but how did you power it? (I see there's a switch on the top of the router so I assume it's probably inside connected to the router somewhere...
FRIZL
08-16-2008, 03:49 PM
FRIZL, how did you attach the fan to your router? I have one just like it with the 3 pin connector for power but how did you power it? (I see there's a switch on the top of the router so I assume it's probably inside connected to the router somewhere...

Taken from http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1292281.

Here's after I got the holes cut out. I decided to throw a switch on it to turn the fan on and off. I figured why not:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1500.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1500.jpg)

Here's with the switch in:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1501.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1501.jpg)

and wired up:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1505.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1505.jpg)

Here's the bottom of the board showing the spot on the 12V input where I soldered the fan and switch to:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1507.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1507.jpg)

And here it is all wired up and ready to be put back together:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1511.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1511.jpg)

All done:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1514.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1514.jpg)

Fan in action and working wonderfully:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1520.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1520.jpg)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1523.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1523.jpg)

View from the back to show where the wires go.
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/th_IMG_1526.jpg (http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj95/projectmayhem3/IMG_1526.jpg)
FRIZL
08-16-2008, 04:03 PM
I actually didn't cut the huge hole in the case, just drilled 6 rows of 6 worth of smaller holes.