My wireless connection at home is made possible by the WRT54G router, which is a pretty popular router for reasons I’ll explain. When the router first came out, inquisitive people soon found out that it was based on a modified Linux distribution. Since Linux is GPL, the people using the WRT54G put pressure on the makers of the router to release the firmware for it via open source, since to not do so would be in violation of the GPL license. So, after finally caving in to public pressure, the WRT54G firmware was released to the public.
Several variations exist of the firmware, so tonight I went about trying to upgrade mine to try and improve some wireless problems I’ve been having. So, after doing a bit of research, I downloaded the latest beta of the DD-WRT firmware and upgraded my device.
The good news is that my wireless problems seem to have gone away, and apparently this firmware is far better than the stock one I was using. Also, you can do cool things with it like bridge other wireless devices, or create a mesh network at home.
If you have one of these puppies at home, you should definitely check out a new firmware for it.
For some strange reason Windows Vista did not want to connect with the DD-WRT firmware. I had to revert back to the original Linksys firmware to fix the problem. Took me a while to figure this out, since I initially thought my vista wireless drivers were the cause of this problem.
It could be that new Vista updates already fixed the problem, but if you switch to Vista and have this problem, DD-WRT could be the cause.
Glad you’ve found out about the expanded possibilites that Linux can offer on routers!
I used to run a great little wireless access point – the Asus WL-HDD – that also doubled as a laptop hard drive enclosure. I managed to find some alternative firmware to ‘open’ it up and was from then able to turn it into a fully flung SAMBA fileserver, FTP Server, VPN and even host small webpages on it. Great when you wanted to access the home network from work! It seems such a shame that companies are selling these little boxes with firmware that doesn’t even take them to a quarter of their potential when with a bit of tweaking you can squeeze so much more out of them. If you are short of ideas of what you can do then you can head over to my WL-HDD wiki – many of the guides there will be relevant to other routers.
Jono
I’m using Webif2, which is based on the White Russian firmware (and does work with Vista, btw). What advantages did you find with going with DD-WRT?
Well, the internet seems a little speedier somehow. Other than that, not really any big advantages, unless of course I want to start a hotspot or doing WDS or something.
I’m using HyperWRT Thibor firmware. My WRT54G has been the backbone of my home network for four years now, and it’s still running strong. I really like being able to assign static DHCP addresses to my computers, Xbox, Wii, etc.