need to get a new wireless router that doesn't need to be reset every hour while i'm using a moderate amount of bittorrent. linksys WRT54G used to be the thing, but i've heard the new ones aren't as good.

2/17/2007 7:30:43 PM

Apple Airport Extreme

I gave up on disposable electronics (linksys, netgear, dlink etc) and got one a while back... It hasn't failed or rebooted since.

2/17/2007 8:45:12 PM

for sale

http://brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=462277

2/17/2007 8:47:13 PM

yeah good idea to stay away from the linksys. Im having alot of trouble with it dropping the signal.

2/17/2007 8:54:46 PM

get the Linksys WRT54GL

and then put on custom firmware

i like DD-WRT http://www.dd-wrt.com/

2/17/2007 9:16:01 PM

cisco871w

Much better than most, but you have to actually know something about routers to get what they are worth out of them.

2/17/2007 9:42:40 PM

having owned more than 10 different linksys routers,

Quote :

"yeah good idea to stay away from the linksys. Im having alot of trouble with it dropping the signal."

Is one of the most stupid statements I've ever heard.

Everything in the WRT54G series is a DAMN good router. The GS is a little crappier, but still heads and shoulders above Netgear and Dlink routers.

You can flash nearly any WRT54G(x) router with custom firmware.

2/17/2007 10:15:14 PM

^you haven't owned a V5

This damn thing would fuck up all the time. Linksys dropped the amount of onboard ram and used some weird new software. Could not get custom firmware because of the limited amount of space on it.

2/17/2007 10:19:55 PM

nvm

[Edited on February 17, 2007 at 11:10 PM. Reason : a]

2/17/2007 11:09:22 PM

I use smoothwall. http://www.smoothwall.org

2/18/2007 12:36:15 AM

Quote :

"Everything in the WRT54G series is a DAMN good router."

No it's not noen. I got to disagree with you here.

2/18/2007 12:51:53 AM

The Linksys WRT54G used to be a great router until, as Clevelander said, V5.0 came out.

the WRT54G V5.0 and later sucks. they cut the RAM and Flash sizes in half, and changed OS, and a lot of the 3rd party firmware would brick the router. now i think they are selling V8.0 which sucks just as bad.

and the WRT54GS is the same thing with a speed booster, but also with the crappy VxWorks OS and gimped memory capacities.

*however*

if you get the WRT54GL <-- pay attention to the "GL" part <-- that is the V4.0 repackaged.
it has the Linux-based OS, and the full 16MB RAM and 4MB of Flash that the original V1.1 through V4.0 had.

you can do all sort of mods using the 3rd party custom firmware to the "GL" version. including the speed booster which is a hardware feature in the GL's not enabled by the standard firmware.

2/18/2007 2:56:45 AM

Never had any problem with the WRT54. Also have the 871w that robster mentioned, but you could buy 10 of the Linksys boxes for that price.

2/18/2007 3:28:27 AM

which version do you have? ^

2/18/2007 3:56:28 AM

The version that someone gave me for free.

Logged in and the firmware is v1.42.2.

2/18/2007 4:21:32 AM

^ i dont recognize that firmware version number. that looks like some 3rd party firmware.

i was talking about "Hardware" version. look underneath your router, on the linksys sticker. it says MODEL NUMBER: WRT54G[x] V x.x

whats the model number and version. you probably have a version between 1.1 and 4.0. which means you have the full memory and linux-based OS which allowed that 3rd party firmware to be installed.

which explains why your router works great.

the Linksys WRT hardware is great stuff. the problem is, their firmware kind of sucked. but the good thing is, their firmware was written for their Linux-based OS, which meant that a lot of it was under the GNU GPL license. so Linksys wound up *releasing* their WRT54G firmware as open source to comply

and that means that everyone now knows how to write firmware for the WRT54G. so people wrote some rocking 3rd party firmware that took advantage of ALL the hardware features that even the original linksys firmware didnt.

but then... starting with v5.0, linksys started using a different OS, different firmware, and cut the RAM and Flash memory in half. essentially, they gimped their own router, just so they could regain control over the firmware. so V5.0 - current sucks. any WRT54G or WRT54GS that you buy off the shelf today is gimped.

however...

they offer the original linux-based router with full memory as it existed at the V 4.0... except now they call it the WRT54GL

you need to get the GL. and then get one of the 3rd party firmwares that takes full advantage of the routers hardware functions.

its a great router, as long as you dont use Linksys firmware.

2/18/2007 5:08:53 AM

dreadnought:

that problem youre talking about is a known problem of the original linksys firmware. too many connections persist in memory and lock up the router.

http://www.utorrent.com/faq.php#Special_note_for_users_with_Linksys_WRT54G_GL_GS_routers

the latest version of DD-WRT fixes this problem.

you can use this to fix your current Linksys Router so that it doesnt lock up with bit torrent. and it will make your router overall faster and more stable and have more functionality.

http://www.dd-wrt.com

Warning. make sure you follow all their instructions to the letter. check the wiki page at dd-wrt on how to install. dont skip any steps. wait an extra 5 minutes after upgrading before continuing, just to be safe.

2/18/2007 5:17:04 AM

^I have version 6.0. do you suggest using dd-wrt to change the firmware? I am having problems with the signal dropping.

2/18/2007 9:23:22 AM

according to dd-wrt's website.. you can use their firmware on the WRT54G v6.0 but you can only use the micro build since v6.0 has only 2MB of flash.

although i'd wait for one of these guys to give you an answer before doing so.. I haven't worked with the wrt54g or the 3rd party firmware to give you a good answer..

[Edited on February 18, 2007 at 10:28 AM. Reason : ]

2/18/2007 10:20:53 AM

Ever since we put dd-wrt on our router we have had problems.

Im on the "not all WRT54G's are good" bandwagon as well.

2/18/2007 10:29:30 AM

clearly the whole point of this fucking thread is that some WRT54Gs are not good, but that all WRT54GLs ARE ALL GOOD

way to be redundant and not contribute anything meaningful at all to thread

2/18/2007 10:36:22 AM

^

Thanks for the summary. Followed with a recursive comment which contributed a great deal to the topic.

Let me guess you didnt like something ive posted in the past?

2/18/2007 10:40:26 AM

For once I agree with Noen ever if he's being a jerk per norm

Wrt54gs are a very good router once you alter the firmware or get a version 6. I've had mine for 4 years, and have wonderful results from it.

2/18/2007 10:48:47 AM

nah just found it frustrating to see johnny-come-lately throw his hand up in the air, "Ooooo pick me pick me" after we'd gone through 7 or 8 very informative posts that invalidate everything you proceeded to say

2/18/2007 10:49:10 AM

"we" ?

2/18/2007 10:56:02 AM

yes, we.

[Edited on February 18, 2007 at 10:57 AM. Reason : s]

2/18/2007 10:57:19 AM

I apologize joe_schmoe, i didnt realize you were on a different user name.

2/18/2007 10:58:34 AM

believe it or not, "we" can refer to a community

2/18/2007 11:00:03 AM

or a penis as a username

2/18/2007 11:04:27 AM

o my, do i detect a little penis envy?

2/18/2007 11:09:17 AM

WAHOOWA:

since the WRT54G V5.0 and later all have the stripped down memory (2MB flash). they are not able to use the DD-WRT "standard" build or the "mini" build.

as Wolfrules already said, it is reported that V5.0, V5.1 and V6.0 are able to take the "micro" builds. it has also been reported that v7.0 can NOT run the DD-WRT micro firmware. I dont have any experience with these micro builds. and i dont have any personal experience with the V5.0 or later. I've only read what others said.

Ive only had the V1.1 and the WRT54GL.... both of them worked awesome after putting on the custom firmware.

Personally, if I had a V5.0 or later, i would probably leave it alone. Unless you're really determined to resolve that problem of it dropping the signal during high use. But be aware that you always run the risk of bricking the router if you dont follow their instructions to the letter. read through all the wiki forums before starting.

2/19/2007 1:45:26 AM

^i managed to do it last night using the microbuild. pretty easy actually especially for a non-techie like me. so far everything is fine. Signal hasnt dropped yet and I slightly increased the xmit power to increase the range. Is there any settings you think I should change that would help with keeping the signal? Thanks.

2/19/2007 9:04:40 AM

I've got a v5 WRT54G running dd-wrt micro, haven't had any problems at all in the 2 years I've had it

Quote :

"joe_schmoe: get the Linksys WRT54GL and then put on custom firmware i like DD-WRT http://www.dd-wrt.com/"

^ knows what he's talking about

2/19/2007 9:08:44 AM

I have a WRT54G, v2 running DD-WRT. Tons of features, most I'll never use. It's only crapped out once, randomly overnight, fixed by a reboot.

2/19/2007 10:43:16 AM

i have a WRT54G v4 and havent had any problems with p2p. should i just leave it or are there other reasons to upgrade?

2/19/2007 10:46:17 AM

I'll agree with all the positive WRT54G reviews. I have had a v2 for several years now, and won't switch to anything else. I originally used to have the Sveasoft firmware on there. Aside from all the ethic violations everyone hated them for, it was good firmware and was easier for me to get up and running than the openwrt it supposedly stole from.

About a year ago I tried out dd-wrt and absolutely love it. I don't use 90% of the features, but I'm glad to know they are there. Only once or twice have I had to reboot it, and the web interface is great and easy to use.

I really only use the port forwarding options and the static DHCP leases (something unique to non-Linksys firmwares I think).

2/19/2007 11:05:42 AM

Quote :

"you haven't owned a V5"

That's true. My experience with them comes from V1-V3 machines. Didn't realize at all they started stripping them down. Which is really fucked up because they have gotten more expensive.

What the hell happened to being able to get one at like 5 different places for 39.99? I ended up getting a Netgear 54G at Staples for 10 bucks, instead of another Linksys thanks to this thread.

I guess the moral of the story is: Get your WRT54G on ebay, and get a Pre v5.

2/19/2007 11:25:10 AM

^ well, the "GL" is readily available and is exactly like the V4.0

but, yeah, they used to be dirt cheap. now, not so much.

2/19/2007 11:39:20 AM

Quote :

"whats the model number and version. you probably have a version between 1.1 and 4.0. which means you have the full memory and linux-based OS which allowed that 3rd party firmware to be installed."

I knew the version was on the router itself, but at the time I was too lazy to go downstairs and look. I glanced at it this morning and it is v1.1.

[Edited on February 19, 2007 at 2:27 PM. Reason : s]

2/19/2007 2:27:13 PM

Quote :

"^you haven't owned a V5 This damn thing would fuck up all the time. Linksys dropped the amount of onboard ram and used some weird new software. Could not get custom firmware because of the limited amount of space on it."

bullshit...i have custom on my v5 right now

2/19/2007 2:34:47 PM

i have a belkin and i like it...
its worked great for me
my only beef is xbox live gets mad when my pc starts pulling tons of bandwidth.

2/19/2007 2:44:24 PM

WAHOOWA:

I'm glad it worked for you. I didn't want to tell you to do it because I have never used the micro personally, and I've read a few conflicting reports saying it wouldn't work correctly for some people. I guess they probably did something wrong during the upgrade. the upgrade process is really finicky, you cant even hardly breathe on the unit while its being upgraded.

so anyhow, now I think we can recommend the micro build for V5 and V6, at least. I would definitely prefer the full memory (V4.0 and prior, or the "GL" version) if i were to buy new, but I think the core hardware is solid regardless, and apparently the micro build can still use it effectively. Thanks for letting everyone know.

Personally, I don't know anything about the "micro" build, what it has or doesn't have. I know DD-WRT in general is pretty good for its default settings, with stability and power, as I guess you've seen. just read the forums and experiment if you're interested in tweaking. I doubt you can do anything from the menu (other than re-upgrade) that would break it.

2/19/2007 2:49:09 PM

Quote :

"i have a WRT54G v4 and havent had any problems with p2p. should i just leave it or are there other reasons to upgrade?"

if you upgrade your V4 to the latest DD-WRT, it will be stronger signal, better speed, and more stable, and give you a ton of high-end features that you will probably never need to use.

but you also run the risk of bricking your router if you don't do it correctly. you can usually recover a bricked router, but it will be a real pain in the ass.

advice: read all the instructions and relevant wiki forums. when you start the upgrade process, the best thing to do is leave the room for 20 minutes so youre not tempted to fuck with it at all. sometimes the router will say it's "done" but it's not actually done, and that's when you brick it by trying to mess with it while its still actually upgrading. That's from personal experience, if you can't tell

2/19/2007 2:58:22 PM

Decided it was time to update the firmware on my WRT54G V3.1 to DD-WRT. All is well except now I couldn't get MAC filtering to work. It turns out there is a bug in the MAC filtering settings. If you want to only allow acess to a list of MAC addresses, you must select "Prevent PCs listed from accessing the wireless network" NOT "Permit only PCs listed to access the wireless network." After about 2.5hrs of WTF I finally tried it as a last resort and all is well. NVM, it stopped working all of a sudden. I changed the setting to "Permit only..." and it is wokring for now.

[Edited on February 19, 2007 at 7:54 PM. Reason : ?]

2/19/2007 7:33:32 PM

Quote :

"bullshit...i have custom on my v5 right now"

Keyword "now" as in present day. I do not own one now because I went office space on the other one

[Edited on February 19, 2007 at 8:18 PM. Reason : about 6 months ago]

2/19/2007 8:18:20 PM

i have the GS and it works pretty good

2/19/2007 9:01:14 PM

Just don't get the WRT54GC, the compact one, it is horrible. The signal was weak and dropped very very often.

2/19/2007 9:51:59 PM

Quote :

"All is well except now I couldn't get MAC filtering to work."

i'd be really surprised if there were such an obvious bug in the firmware.

I'm not being condescending, but are you sure you you understand their filtering rules correctly? It's easy to make mistakes if you're not paying full attention.

2/20/2007 12:38:58 AM

MAC filtering works fine on mine: DD-WRT v23 SP2 (09/15/06) std.

2/20/2007 1:24:22 AM

I have a normal D-link router that I've had since 98 and still works like a charm. It's not wireless but is awesome, and I got for 40 bucks back then. I also have a netgear router with a console port with loads of admin features like low end cisco routers for small businesses, but isn't as easy to use or setup as the D-link.

I also have a belkin wireless b and a linksys wrt54g. I hate my linksys since it keeps going out every month and I'd have to reset, redo all the settings and profiles. The belkin is fairly good, but has piss poor coverage range. I get no coverage on one side of the house (why I have 2 wireless).

I was suppose to get the linksys free after rebate but they stiffed me on one of the 20MIR because I didn't have the upc code for it as I used it for a different MIR. The small fine print said it didn't require the original so I photo copied it... guess not. Definitely will not buy linksys again.

2/20/2007 11:29:26 AM