Re: [PLUG] Good wireless router(s)?

["Marty O'Brien" <mobrien118@ieee.org>]

I agree. I use DD-WRT on 5 routers, but as mentioned, watch which revision you get. Over time Linksys has decreased the amount of memory in the devices, for cost savings, rendering them virtually useless for anything more than the standard firmware. There ARE ways to flash them with custom firmwares, but they are usually stripped down versions with more complicated flashing methods. Here is a comprehensive list of what is supported by DD-WRT: 
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

Linksys has, however, released a hardware version specifically designed for installing custom (linux based) firmwares on. It is the "L" model (WRT54GL) If it has "S" on the end (WRT54GS) it had what Linksys calls "Speedboost" but the industry calls "Afterburner" and each manufacturer has a different name for (and sometimes slightly different implementations thereof). These models also have even more memory than the "L" and if you can find a WRT54G 
v2.1 you will get the most amount of memory for the lowest price, but this is just one factor affecting performance. I have found that I can overclock the "L" to the highest level with solid performance, enabling it to do more along the lines of QoS bandwidth leveling, which uses an L7 regular _expression_ pattern matching algorithm, rather than just limiting a certain port or MAC address (which can also be done).

There are also other choices that use the Broadcom chipset used in the Linksys WRTs, from what I understand, the routers manufactured by "Buffalo Technologies" are the best bang for the buck, but I haven't tried one yet as I seem to get Linksys WRTs given to me all the time.

Sorry if I repeated some of what has been posted in other threads.

Good luck and I hope I haven't just made you more confused!

--Marty O'Brien

On 10/30/07, Brent Saner < brent.saner@gmail.com> wrote:

mark-
that's exactly what i meant. :D

a lot of people use OpenWRT or the above Sveasoft.
personally, i prefer DD-WRT ( http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page ), they seem a lot more "open" than Sveasoft and a bit more mature/better layout and feature-ful than open-wrt ( http://openwrt.org/ )

On 10/30/07, Mark Baker <mark.baker@hxti.com> wrote:

Hi,

I recently purchased the linksys (Cisco) WAP4400N and a Power over Ethernet adapter for it so I could mount it in the ceiling.  It has worked without any issues.

If you want to go another route you can buy an old linksys wireless router and flash it with one of the open source firmware options.  The open source firmware adds a ton of features and the router would be very inexpensive on eBay.   Only certain revisions of the wireless routers can be flashed with the open source firmware, so thats something to keep in mind.

The firmware I have used in the past:   http://www.sveasoft.com/

You can find all the info you need about it here:   http://www.wrtrouters.com

Mark


> -----Original Message-----
> From: fljohnson3@isp.com [mailto: fljohnson3@isp.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 10:07 AM
> To: plug@lists.phillylinux.org
> Subject: [PLUG] Good wireless router(s)?
>
> Having determined that eBay is, at least in theory, an option, although it
> will require patience on my part, I began to consider jacking a wireless
> router into the LAN.
>
> That said, which one(s) have you had the most luck with in terms of
> firmware upgrades, arming MAC filtering and the strongest scrambling in
> the box with Fedora 7 (I think it's WPA), and overall reliability?
>
> I begin shopping in earnest the morning of November 1.
>
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Floyd Johnson
>
>
> -----------------------------------------
> Join ISP.COM today - $9.95 internet , less than 1/2 the cost of AOL
> Try us out, http://www.isp.com/
>
> _____________________________________________________________________
> ______
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___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --         http://www.phillylinux.org
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--
Brent Saner
215.264.0112(cell)
215.362.7696(residence)

http://www.thenotebookarmy.org

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --         http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug