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Don't use Linksys routers

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Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#101

Post by ajb »

NelsonMinar wrote: post #9

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…

Consumer routers are a low margin product. Vendors want to do as little work as possible, so they ship mostly the software provided by the silicon vendor.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#102

Post by vacri »

uxp wrote: post #61
StavrosK wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how I did it, connected my WRT-54GL (Tomato) to a D-Link modem/router, works fantastically well.

Are you thinking of Bridged mode? I used to do this until something happened at my ISP and my router can no longer authenticate against my ISP's PPPoE server. Now I have my modem providing NAT and DHCP, and my router is just a dumb access point. The only problem is my modem has an externally accessible administration page running on port 4567, and telnet on port 1111 that I can't turn off, even when all remote manage…

UPnP is the one that gives me concern. User programs can punch holes in your firewall without you knowing about it. Now you have a port open on your firewall... pointed at someone's computer without your knowledge. UPnP goes off - if you want that port open, let's talk about it, little software thingy.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#103

Post by Freaky »

cdjk wrote: post #54

I'm a fan of pfsense [1] on an alix board [2]. The alix boards a little pricey for a router, but has a real amount of memory (256MB). The only downside is that pfsense, since it's based on FreeBSD, doesn't support any 802.11n cards, so you're either stuck with 802.11g, or using a separate access point like I do. Add in a managed switched and you have the start of a real network at home. [1] http://pfsense.org/ [2] ht…

FreeBSD supports some 802.11n cards, doesn't it? https://wiki.freebsd.org/WiFi80211n

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#104

Post by jwr »

NelsonMinar wrote: post #9

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…

Tomato works fine until you need QoS. Then it hangs sporadically. Verified with two different router types.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#105

Post by mbetter »

jwr wrote: post #104
NelsonMinar wrote: post #9

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…

Tomato works fine until you need QoS. Then it hangs sporadically. Verified with two different router types.

Not here.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#106

Post by dhughes »

pjmlp wrote: post #37
jseliger wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely. There appear to be more than 30 named networks within range of my iMac. That's one reason I've wired my iMac and my fiancee's iMac with cat6; as I wrote in another comment day: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5192837 : It's also amazing how prevalent Ethernet still is, even when wireless is a competitor. The other day I left this comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5052448 on HN, because in…

I do the same, because my building is so crowded the connection drops all the time, even if I am sitting next to the router. :(

If possible increase the transmit output milliwatts, to "shout over" the other signals on the same channel.

Increase the beacon period of your router/AP to the fastest it will go, usually 20 microseconds. I think this is the best solution of anything you could try.

Maybe play around with the DTIM interval but I'm not sure what a good number for that is; too low supposedly drains batteries of wireless devices and too high causes other problems.

Max out RTS/CTS but you may lose overall throughput but that's no loss if it suck already, in for a lamb in for a sheep.

There are other settings too most explained in the help section of the AP/router help menu. They can be obscure but fiddling with them can help your AP signal a lot.

That's my unofficial educated guess theory.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#107

Post by dhughes »

jwr wrote: post #104
NelsonMinar wrote: post #9

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…

Tomato works fine until you need QoS. Then it hangs sporadically. Verified with two different router types.

Every router I ever owned that I put Tomato firmware on I could never get any version of QoS to work correctly.

It's a free firmware and great other than QoS but who am I to complain :/

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#108

Post by 14113 »

jwr wrote: post #104
NelsonMinar wrote: post #9

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…

Tomato works fine until you need QoS. Then it hangs sporadically. Verified with two different router types.

I feel like it'd be cheaper for manufacturers to write better QoS drivers specifically for tomato, or wrt, than whole new firmwares, surely?

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#109

Post by hideo »

brooksbp wrote: post #15

I 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

Seconding this recommendation. In addition to being super powerful they have great potential as a research platform.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#110

Post by fsckin »

Google Cache of the site since it's having issues. [0]

I enjoy my Asus RT-AC66U. [1] Best commercial router I've seen, and Asus Merlin [2] firmware makes it better.

[0] http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JNu4Z9X...

[1] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320...

[2] https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin

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