DD-WRT users



  • My Linksys router is working just fine, but I hear off and on (like in the forums DNS thread) that DD-WRT is better.

    Anyone care to comment on why DD-WRT is better and what advantages I'll see day to day?



  • @Rotary Jihad said:

    My Linksys router is working just fine, but I hear off and on (like in the forums DNS thread) that DD-WRT is better.

    Anyone care to comment on why DD-WRT is better and what advantages I'll see day to day?

    If your router's working fine with the Linksys firmware, then there's no real reason to switch to DD-WRT. It's basically "the model 'X' engine in my car's working fine, why should I switch to model 'Y'".

    I went with DD-WRT for a few reasons, the major one being that the stock firmware doesn't support wireless bridging. Until I did a few renovations in the house, there wasn't any way to run ethernet or coax to my office without dropping ceilings or punching through walls, so a wireless bridge from my office to where the router and cable modem were was the only practical solution. DD-WRT does everything the Linksys firmware does, and more. On top of that, it's a full BusyBox Linux install, so you get a full shell which is handy if you've got multiple boxes behind the firewall you need to SSH to.

    So far the only problem I've had with DD-WRT is that PuTTY can't establish a connection properly (my password always gets rejected), but SecureCRT works just fine, so I haven't bothered playing around to figure out what's up. 



  • coax ??

     

    I did not know anyone concidered using that these days. 



  • @Helix said:

    coax ??

     

    I did not know anyone concidered using that these days. 

    Didn't see where I mentioned "cable modem" a bit later in the paragraph, I take it?



  • @Rotary Jihad said:

    My Linksys router is working just fine, but I hear off and on (like in the forums DNS thread) that DD-WRT is better.

    Anyone care to comment on why DD-WRT is better and what advantages I'll see day to day?

     

    Well, first of all, not every version of the Linksys wrt54g routers can be flashed with third-party firmware.  Take a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrt54g to determine which version you have.

    As far as the advantages to DD-WRT, or any third-party firmware for that matter, it basically provides a boatload of additional settings over the built-in firmware.  If you had a pressing need for any of these, you probably would already know about it, and wouldn't be asking about it here.  But I think some of the security/firewall features may not be possible with the built-in firmware.  Some have likened installing DD-WRT and other third-party firmwares to converting a cheap home-user router into a more professional expensive router without paying the extra money.

    One really nice setting is that it enables you to boost your wireless xmit power, which can increase your signal strength.  This might help you if you have trouble getting a signal in certain areas of your home.

    Honestly, though, the main reason I have it installed is because I like to tweak hardware, play around with settings, etc.  So I bought the WRT54GL version just for that reason. 



  • @shadowman said:

    Honestly, though, the main reason I have it installed is because I like to tweak hardware, play around with settings, etc.  So I bought the WRT54GL version just for that reason. 



    Thats why I was thinking of doing it. Now I just gotta wait till the wife is out of town and won't complain about me hosing the wireless.



  • I bought a 54GL too, for the same reason. It's great software, DD-WRT. Easy to use, very clear interface and loads and loads of extra settings. You can even overclock the Broadcom processor and adjust the power of the wireless antenna. If you like to tweak, this is the nicest software you can get in a (cheap) router, I think.


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