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Don't use Linksys routers

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Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#81

It should be pretty easy to upgrade vulnerable WRT54GL routers. Any volunteers to setup a page that POSTs a newer firmware like OpenWrt or Tomato?

What use is that? If people don't know enough to upload a file to their router, they definitely won't know enough to configure it after it's been done.

Embed the link in a joke/lolcat/puppy/political forward-email and spam it to all of our relatives/acquaintances who regularly do the same.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#84

Or 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…

The trouble with the WRT54G series (and most of these little routers) is that they have ~200MHz CPUs and ~16MB of RAM. This is, incidentally, why they often crash when you open a lot of simultaneous connections -- memory exhaustion. I find that if you're interested in experimenting with a Linux router, old PCs are a much better choice. You can get a PowerPC G3 or G4 or a late model Pentium III for practically zero mo…

While an old PC is certainly good hardware spec-wise, they aren't good in the noise, space, and power consumption areas. If you're going to buy something, get something that won't have it's caps blow in 6 months.

I recently got a PC Engines Alix [1]. It's not as cheap as a consumer router but it's got good specs and runs the latest OpenWRT with no problems. Most of all, it's as small, unobtrusive, and fan-less as a consumer router.

There's a mini-pci slot so you can add wireless, but I have an airport express and so I'm just using that in bridge mode for my wireless.

[1] http://www.pcengines.ch/alix2d13.htm

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trouble with the WRT54G series (and most of these little routers) is that they have ~200MHz CPUs and ~16MB of RAM. This is, incidentally, why they often crash when you open a lot of simultaneous connections -- memory exhaustion. I find that if you're interested in experimenting with a Linux router, old PCs are a much better choice. You can get a PowerPC G3 or G4 or a late model Pentium III for practically zero mo…

While an old PC is certainly good hardware spec-wise, they aren't good in the noise, space, and power consumption areas. If you're going to buy something, get something that won't have it's caps blow in 6 months. I recently got a PC Engines Alix [1]. It's not as cheap as a consumer router but it's got good specs and runs the latest OpenWRT with no problems. Most of all, it's as small, unobtrusive, and fan-less as a c…

seconding the Alix. They're AWESOME.

I got plain Ubuntu working on it, you just have to set it to serial boot.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#87
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, but wouldn't this indicate that open source code which allow iterators to close off their improvements would produce less vulnerable code overall?

If a vulnerability is found in open source code, people will try it on yours. So they won't be finding it directly in yours, but that is not protecting you. The real consequence is that how secure a product is depends more on the project than on whether it is open source. Apache and OpenBSD are two examples of very good open source code. Java and Rails are two examples of not so good open source code. Google's websit…

I get that there are different levels of quality regardless of the type of code. I was more interested in the security effects of hiding code after the open source community has had a chance to deal with vulnerabilities. None of the examples you gave were specific to code which has transitioned between open to closed.

What I've gotten from your answer so far is that it isn't an effect which is general, and it'll depend on the project in question. Am I on the mark?

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#88

The 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…

> It runs OpenWrt, DD-WRT, and Tomato variants really well

You're sure about that? I've had an rt-n16 sitting on a shelf for over a year waiting for OpenWrt support. Your message caused me to go check their website, and all it says is:

"The Asus RT-N16 has early support in Barrier Breaker (trunk) only!"

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#89
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might be shocked by the power bill for running one of those older beasts 24/7.

Idle power consumption, measured at the plug by a watt meter: Dell Optiplex (1.4GHz Pentium III): 32W ($5.76/month @ $0.25/KWh) Mac Mini (1.25GHz G4): 17W ($3.06/month @ $0.25/KWh) Even if a WRT54G uses zero watts, you're still talking about a year before you even recover the $50 cost of one, and in any event ~$50/year is not a very expensive hobby.

It's interesting the way you drew the opposite conclusion that I would. I look at that and think "$50 a year to route a few packets? To heck with that."

Part of that is surely that I don't see what makes having a very ordinary Linux box sitting around making noise a hobby. To each his own.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trouble with the WRT54G series (and most of these little routers) is that they have ~200MHz CPUs and ~16MB of RAM. This is, incidentally, why they often crash when you open a lot of simultaneous connections -- memory exhaustion. I find that if you're interested in experimenting with a Linux router, old PCs are a much better choice. You can get a PowerPC G3 or G4 or a late model Pentium III for practically zero mo…

What is it about these class of devices that makes them so expensive? They tend to have 500Mhz CPUs, approximately no RAM, unresponsive very basic web interfaces, and fall over at the touch of a light breeze. An el-cheapo Android tablet with 1.6Ghz dual core ARM processor, 1Gb RAM, WiFi, and a bunch of other technically hard stuff on top (IPS screen, battery) costs less than one of these style of WAP/switch/routers.…

I was always wondering that too. Seems like they should be $25-50 max. Decent hardware with Tomato seems like the way to go.
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