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Don't use Linksys routers
21–30 of 150 posts
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#22My Linksys router has had Tomato on it from the first day, it's the only sane thing to do (OpenWRT or DD-WRT would work too) when closed-source software is regularly exploited and not patched in a timely manner - and when noone knows what kind of government-friendly backdoors exist in such products (made by companies that earn significant revenue from government contracts).
Also, there's plenty of very cheap router hardware coming from China nowdays, from TP-Link you can get OpenWRT-capable routers for less than $15, so there's not much point in paying a lot more for Linksys products.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#23The 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…
Why? Control, keeping the advanced software features out of the low tier products and planned obsolescence.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#24Linksys 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 flexibil…
"being the "iPhone of home networking""
Howso? All I remember from their heyday was that they were good enough, cheap enough, and flashable. I don't remember them commanding a premium for any particular reason.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#25I highly recommend Mikrotik to anyone fed up with traditional consumer wifi routers/APs. I dont know how they compare to other vendor hw eg Asus + OpenWRT, but this little guy has been rock solid and a joy to use: http://routerboard.com/RB2011UAS-2HnD-IN
Thanks for the recommendation. I'm absolutely fed up with my D-Link DIR-655 always needing to be restarted when the wireless decides to stop working, and was looking for something exactly like this. I was beginning to dread having to build something like a Smoothwall/pfSense box; I did that around 2005 with an old desktop computer and it didn't work that well.
I've actually heard of Mikrotik before; about 10 years ago I was doing some work planning a 2.4GHz wireless ISP (WISP) and I think Mikrotik equipment was highly regarded then (especially in the 900MHz spectrum IIRC) so looking forward to this.
Here's a link to a distributor where it can be purchased: http://www.roc-noc.com/mikrotik/routerboard/RB2011UAS-2HnD-I...
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#26Let me just get this in before the cries of JUST INSTALL OPENWRT come raining down.
Your mother / father / grandmother / etc are not installing openWRT on their routers. Installing one of these CISCO home routers is pretty much hacking yourself. And, just update the firmware is not gonna work.
Try it one day, go up like 10 people and ask them what's a firmware. If the user isn't technical, you're going to get a 0/10 correct responses.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#27Linksys 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 flexibil…
"being the "iPhone of home networking"" Howso? All I remember from their heyday was that they were good enough, cheap enough, and flashable. I don't remember them commanding a premium for any particular reason.
I think they meant it not in terms of a premium price, but rather as the default product to buy. They were never that much more expensive (if at all), but back in the day it was the one most people bought.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#28I highly recommend Mikrotik to anyone fed up with traditional consumer wifi routers/APs. I dont know how they compare to other vendor hw eg Asus + OpenWRT, but this little guy has been rock solid and a joy to use: http://routerboard.com/RB2011UAS-2HnD-IN
Look well-made. I've never seen that brand in any US stores unfortunately. There were a few US distributors listed but most were tiny shops.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#29The 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…
I am the owner of an ASUS RT-N16. I purchased it when my Linksys WRT-54G died after 4 years. It really is a fantastic wifi router for the reasons you list. However, if you live in an apartment complex you might find the 2.4GHz spectrum very crowded. Especially if there are others with 2.4GHz 802.11n, which uses more channels than 802.11b/g. This might make it worthwhile to purchase a 5 Ghz 802.11n router.
Re: Don't use Linksys routers
#30The 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…
Thank you for the info - do you know if there's an ADSL modem that's good for DD-WRT these days? Last I looked (yeeeaaaars ago) there were only two models, long since out of production, and they didn't seem to be going in that direction anymore.
Still seems to be very little. You can get some boxes that convert adsl to ethernet (ATM over ethernet or whatever standard your country uses) that basically have no config and connect those to a router.