Don't use Linksys routers
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Don't use Linksys routers
1–10 of 150 posts
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#2I use Linksys routers, but not with default software (which we know is "limited"). I would recommend alternatives from here http://tomatousb.org/mods
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#3Or just put OpenWRT[1] on it. It's a real Linux distribution with a package manager and everything. You can even disable the webinterface, if you don't trust it, and use SSH.
EDIT: WRT54GL is pretty old and it won't run the default build of OpenWRT Attitude Adjustment (the newest release). It also probably won't have enough memory to operate the package manager or the webinterface.
But I do have one running a custom build. The only downside is that you need to decide which software to include upfront. Their build tool is rather friendly[2].
EDIT2: You can have a VPN server and any routing you like on OpenWRT, same with Samba, radvd, vnstat... There are even webUI pluings (luci-app-whatever) so you can control those from the webinterface for ease of access. It is a real Linux distro that just happens to run on routers.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#4I use Linksys routers, but not with default software (which we know is "limited"). I would recommend alternatives from here http://tomatousb.org/mods
Which makes it a bit odd that he mentions the "uber-popular Linksys WRT54GL router" specifically. The "L" stands for linux, and it was brought back because people specifically wanted to install third party software on it.
And the reason for it becoming popular in the first place was probably a security issue that allowed third party software to be installed.
The "L" version was introduced because newer routers didn't have this capability/vulnerability and people wanted something they could install third party software on. So when the "L" version (which I use) came it was just an older model, with even less memory than the original and a much heftier price. Unless you wanted to run third party software on it it was really bad value for your money.
Anyway, all of this truly sucks. But really, I don't expect more of any consumer router.
EDIT: Oh wow, the WRT54GL was introduced in 2005, nothing too fancy at the time and you can still buy it today - lots of stores have it in stock even.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#5I use Linksys routers, but not with default software (which we know is "limited"). I would recommend alternatives from here http://tomatousb.org/mods
Which makes it a bit odd that he mentions the "uber-popular Linksys WRT54GL router" specifically. The "L" stands for linux, and it was brought back because people specifically wanted to install third party software on it. And the reason for it becoming popular in the first place was probably a security issue that allowed third party software to be installed. The "L" version was introduced because newer routers didn't…
That's inexact. The WRT54GL was brought in as the (at the time) retail version of the WRT54G had much less RAM and flash because they switched from Linux to VXWORKS.
It's not that they didn't have the "security vulnerability" but they just weren't able to run Linux in a useful manner due to low hardware resources.
I also don't remember if the WRT54G became popular in the first place because of a security issue, I think it just enabled you to upload any firmware to it and that the original firmware eventually became open-source after they received GPL violation complaints. But my memory might be fuzzy, it was a while ago.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#6Linksys went from being the "iPhone of home networking" to being something I won't recommend. In Cisco's care the company has gone from being a market leader to a dud.
Now a lot of people might say "I doesn't matter who makes it, I'll just flash OpenWRT or DD-WRT onto it!" But I say to that, "then why buy a Linksys?"
Asus for one example are cheaper, they often have external antenna giving you more power and flexibility (both literally and figuratively) plus and most importantly they can be flashed with OpenWRT or DD-WRT at your pleasure.
Even without the security issues there is no good reason to buy a Linksys.
Right now I am using my ISP supplied "router" in cable-modem "mode" (i.e. just dumb pass-through to ethernet) and have a cheap MikroTik/RouterOS device sitting behind it which was cheaper than most retail grade routers but with the functionality of commercial grade equipment.
RouterOS might not be as easy to use as DD-WRT, but if you can use it then it is far more powerful as a web-based environment. Just for one example, want a VPN server? RouterOS supports IPSec/L2TP, PPtP/GRE, SSTP, and OpenVPN. Basically everything. The list of its network functionality is almost endless...
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which makes it a bit odd that he mentions the "uber-popular Linksys WRT54GL router" specifically. The "L" stands for linux, and it was brought back because people specifically wanted to install third party software on it. And the reason for it becoming popular in the first place was probably a security issue that allowed third party software to be installed. The "L" version was introduced because newer routers didn't…
That's inexact. The WRT54GL was brought in as the (at the time) retail version of the WRT54G had much less RAM and flash because they switched from Linux to VXWORKS. It's not that they didn't have the "security vulnerability" but they just weren't able to run Linux in a useful manner due to low hardware resources. I also don't remember if the WRT54G became popular in the first place because of a security issue, I thi…
Your memory is how I remember it too.
Basically the WRT54G with base firmware was better than anything else on the market at the time of release (within the same market segment - retail routers).
Just to put that into some perspective before the WRT54G, some of the functionality in the base firmware was being sold to small-medium businesses by companies like Cisco for thousands of dollars.
Word spread quickly and instead of your local coffee shop paying Cisco $20,000 to install their WiFi, they could spend $100 on a Linksys router. This meant companies could afford to give away WiFi for free because it cost them little or nothing to install the WiFi initially.
But what happened next is what turned the Linksys WRT54G from a "great" to a "legendary" product - people found out it ran on Linux. Now Linux is open source but more specifically it is under the GPL license.
What that meant is that legally Linksys were required to share the source code that made the WRT54G run. Which after some not-so-gentle prodding and legal threats they did.
People then made distro's (in the Linux sense) which updated the Linksys firmware to add new functionality, fix issues, and similar. This made the thing even more powerful than perhaps even Linksys wanted, and ate into Cisco's small-medium business space even more.
Word spread like wildfire and soon everyone and their brother owned a Linksys WRT54G. Linksys improved the base firmware only mildly while the third party firmware was steamrolling ahead.
Cisco eventually purchased Linksys and started cutting corners on all of their retail products. Using less powerful CPUs, less RAM, and stripping out functionality while not altering the cost. Linksys stagnated.
This was likely in no small part to try and get some of their small-medium customers back onto Cisco's books, but by then it was too late. The market that Linksys had created had spread to Linksys's competitors and soon everyone was "letting" their routers get firmware updates that turned a cheap little home router into something able to fend off medium-business level commercial equipment.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#8I use Linksys routers, but not with default software (which we know is "limited"). I would recommend alternatives from here http://tomatousb.org/mods
Which makes it a bit odd that he mentions the "uber-popular Linksys WRT54GL router" specifically. The "L" stands for linux, and it was brought back because people specifically wanted to install third party software on it. And the reason for it becoming popular in the first place was probably a security issue that allowed third party software to be installed. The "L" version was introduced because newer routers didn't…
The reason it became popular in the first place is because Linksys included GPL code in their stock firmware, and because of the terms of the license, they were forced to release the entire firmware source under the same license. Once the full source was available, modding and porting Linux became straightforward.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#9The modern equivalent of a Linksys WRT54GL is the ASUS RT-N16. It runs OpenWrt, DD-WRT, and Tomato variants really well, does 802.11n (only one frequency) and has plenty of memory and flash storage for extra hacking. The ASUS RT-N66U is frequently advised if you want 5GHz 802.11n as well.
The other router mentioned in this article, the Linksys EA2700, doesn't seem compatible with third party firmware. And apparently the Cisco firmware is buggy, no surprise there. It is an awfully cheap Dual-Band 802.11n router, but if you can't put working software on it it's useless.
I don't understand why some major router manufacturer doesn't just sell routers pre-installed with Tomato. It's easy to use, stable, and works way better than any crap the router companies cobble together. Flashing new firmware on a stock ASUS router is too complex for ordinary consumers.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#10Or just put OpenWRT[1] on it. It's a real Linux distribution with a package manager and everything. You can even disable the webinterface, if you don't trust it, and use SSH. EDIT: WRT54GL is pretty old and it won't run the default build of OpenWRT Attitude Adjustment (the newest release). It also probably won't have enough memory to operate the package manager or the webinterface. But I do have one running a custom…
> It also probably won't have enough memory to operate [...] the webinterface.
It does have enough memory for the web interface - at least for the one in KAMIKAZE (8.09.2, r18961), the version mine is running.