What DD-WRT on Router

[willjackson]

I don't know if I'm on the proper place to ask this questions, however here it goes basically i am puzzled by this DD-WRT feature on new firmware of router would someone kind enough help me how or what this feature is.\

-willjackson

[bigH2O]

What is your question? DD-WRT is a firmware flash that works on some, but not all, Linxsys and similar wireless routers/access points. It gives you the ability to take a lot more control over the functionality of the router than the stock firmware does, but it requires a unit that has more memory than some versions have. If you dig around, you can still find WRT54GL and WRT54GS routers at places like eBay and Amazon occasionally. The L routers are the best for DD-WRT because they don't have the memory limitations that other versions have. Non L versions less than version 5 will usually run the full version of DD-WRT with no problem, but version 5 and beyond routers will require the "compact" DD-WRT, which is not nearly as much fun.

I run DD-WRT on my L routers here, and find the stuff rock solid and fascinating, albeit somewhat dangerous to use. It's very powerful code and you can easily destroy your router if you aren't careful with how you play with it. You can bump your power output up on the unit so high that it can be seen by the FCC two counties away, and that can get your butt in a legal ringer. You can also bump it up so high that you burn out the transmitters in short order. Just be sure to read the documentation and understand what you're doing when you start making adjustments.

[willjackson]

basically if i load this firmware on my router there is a possibility that this may or may not work and in the worst case ruin my router.

[bigH2O]

Sure. You can easily "brick" your router making it completely unusable for anything other than a doorstop, but you can do that with pretty much anything you can do a firmware flash on.

The key to any successful firmware transfer regardless of what you are flashing is to 1) know that the hardware is capable of accepting the firmware. 2) Understand the processes and consequences of your method, and 3) don't, under any circumstances, allow the process to be interupted during the flash process. If you can ensure those three steps, then you'll be fine.

WW-DRT is a very useful package. Just make sure you have done your homework. Check the revision level of your router, and make sure that you have enough flash memory in the router to accept it. V5 hardware won't have enough memory to accept the full WW-DRT package, but there is a slim WW-DRT package that will work on V5 hardware. I've already covered the L hardware version in post 2 of this thread. It's the best for the full version of the firmware.

Then be cautious with the setup. Understand all of the settings as you are adjusting them. Set your power settings so you get reasonable results for your LAN. Don't set them so you can give your buddy three miles away 100% signal or you'll burn out your amplifier in short order. Jot down your security settings so that you will be able to reference them in the future. Once you've locked yourself out because you can't remember the user ID or password, or don't remember the WAP security keys, you might as well just throw the thing in the trash. It's a brick.

You just need to evaluate your own skills. WW-DRT gives you so much control over your router that you can easily destroy it, but it also gives much more control over your network in the hands of a person who can manage it without a "duh" moment.

[vantim]

Good explanation Big Water. May I add.... Go to the dd-wrt wiki page and read it thoroughly.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

And look for your specific router on the supported devices page
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Supported_Devices

And lastly don't forget their is a competitor to dd-wrt called tomato. Which has been around for years as well.

http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato

[vantim]

Under normal circumstances most people would not even know the difference between GRE tunneling using IPsec with something like OPSF. Unless you needed to use routing protocols like appletalk or IPX.

You shouldn't have to "trick it". the firmware will either support it or not, and Cisco probably doesn't think they need to bother with it on a 40 dollar router. GRE tunneling shouldn't be limited to the hardware, it should be a software/firmware limitation. I've seen people using GRE tunneling using cisco routers that they flashed with dd-wrt. It does have support for it. Although, I must admit my knowledge of GRE is very limited, as I don't work with VPN's very often. I have one set up from work to my home, my home network is behind an Untangle Server, but I use a standard IPsec/3DES tunnel.

Will Jackson just happened across a discussion about alternative firmware for home routers and asked what the big deal is...

Perhaps you need to start a new thread etechworld and ask your question.