Free Linux Based Firmeware for WRT54G/GL Wireless Routers
Your Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GL wireless router can be turned into a stable high performance and very capable unit by replacing the original firmware with open sourced Linux based firmware.
There are three options that I am aware of, I personally went the DD-WRT route. Note, there has been considerable development since I installed it on my WRT-54G in November of 2006.
Some notes about these routers, the WRT-54G has only 8MB of RAM, the WRT-54GL has 16MB of RAM, so more features are supported on that version. For both of these routers you will want to grab the generic DD-WRT software, and you will need the micro version (install the micro version on either model, but on the WRT-54G you can then go on to install the full version and gain additional functionality). Even the micro version provides a considerable improvement over the original Linksys software.
When I first purchased this router, it wouldn't run for more than a day without crashing. In addition, browsing the web on a laptop was jerky and slow. After upgrading to DD-WRT the router was stable, it hasn't crashed in more than a year, and web browsing was now fast and responsive. Since I had the WRT-54G model I was only able to use the micro version, none the less the micro version provided a great deal more functionality than the original Linksys software.
Before you undertake an upgrade to this or other firmware, be aware that if something goes wrong during the procedure it is possible to "brick" your router. That means, to turn it into an inert object no longer capable of serving it's original intended purpose of routing IP traffic. If you do brick your router, take a look at "Recover from a bad flash" on the DD-WRT Wiki. I was fortunate and never succeeded in bricking mine so haven't had any experience with these recovery procedures.
One of the new capabilities that you gain with DD-WRT is the ability to set your routers transmit power level. It comes set at 28mw, but you can increase this up to 251mw. The manual cautions against going past 70mw, but I have run mine at the full 251mw for extended periods of time without any consequences thus far. However, depending upon circumstances, fear of cooking the router aside, there are instances where lower power levels will actually provide better performance. Best is to take your worst case connection and watch the transmit and receive errors. As you adjust the transmitter power up, the transmit errors will tend to decrease but beyond a certain point receive errors may increase. Like so many things in life, the best level is a compromise.
The website WRTrouters.com provides excellent documentation with respect to flashing to new software as well as various other open source packages available for these routers. In their listing of available firmware packages, they list the original Linksys software as being the most stable, I would very much disagree with them on this note. Under DD-WRT I haven't experienced a single crash. Under the original software the unit never ran a full day between crashes.
There are three options that I am aware of, I personally went the DD-WRT route. Note, there has been considerable development since I installed it on my WRT-54G in November of 2006.
Some notes about these routers, the WRT-54G has only 8MB of RAM, the WRT-54GL has 16MB of RAM, so more features are supported on that version. For both of these routers you will want to grab the generic DD-WRT software, and you will need the micro version (install the micro version on either model, but on the WRT-54G you can then go on to install the full version and gain additional functionality). Even the micro version provides a considerable improvement over the original Linksys software.
When I first purchased this router, it wouldn't run for more than a day without crashing. In addition, browsing the web on a laptop was jerky and slow. After upgrading to DD-WRT the router was stable, it hasn't crashed in more than a year, and web browsing was now fast and responsive. Since I had the WRT-54G model I was only able to use the micro version, none the less the micro version provided a great deal more functionality than the original Linksys software.
Before you undertake an upgrade to this or other firmware, be aware that if something goes wrong during the procedure it is possible to "brick" your router. That means, to turn it into an inert object no longer capable of serving it's original intended purpose of routing IP traffic. If you do brick your router, take a look at "Recover from a bad flash" on the DD-WRT Wiki. I was fortunate and never succeeded in bricking mine so haven't had any experience with these recovery procedures.
One of the new capabilities that you gain with DD-WRT is the ability to set your routers transmit power level. It comes set at 28mw, but you can increase this up to 251mw. The manual cautions against going past 70mw, but I have run mine at the full 251mw for extended periods of time without any consequences thus far. However, depending upon circumstances, fear of cooking the router aside, there are instances where lower power levels will actually provide better performance. Best is to take your worst case connection and watch the transmit and receive errors. As you adjust the transmitter power up, the transmit errors will tend to decrease but beyond a certain point receive errors may increase. Like so many things in life, the best level is a compromise.
The website WRTrouters.com provides excellent documentation with respect to flashing to new software as well as various other open source packages available for these routers. In their listing of available firmware packages, they list the original Linksys software as being the most stable, I would very much disagree with them on this note. Under DD-WRT I haven't experienced a single crash. Under the original software the unit never ran a full day between crashes.
posted by Nanook at 4:01 AM
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