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Don't use Linksys routers

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Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#111

Post by justin66 »

NelsonMinar wrote: post #100
justin66 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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!"

Actually, no, I don't know anything about running OpenWrt on an RT-N16 and shouldn't have included it in my list. Sorry for the mistake! As noted by other commenters apparently it's only supported in WIP versions, details at http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/asus/rt-n16

Thank you!

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#112

Post by NelsonMinar »

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.

Hmm, I've used QoS in Tomato for years. The early versions of Tomato had a very simple QoS build. The latest Toastman builds have some 30+ rules. All versions seem to work OK for me. But I'm sure it depends on traffic and would be hard to debug if it did fail.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#113

Post by MertsA »

fsckin wrote: post #110

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

The only problem with Asus Merlin is that it uses the older "stable" wifi drivers. I've been running the unreleased Russian build 3.0.0.4.321 for months now and it's stable as a rock.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#114

Post by MertsA »

rdl wrote: post #98
FollowSteph3 wrote: post #18

What recommendations do people here have for an entry level commercial router instead of a high consumer level router?

Juniper SRX100 ($500), with Ubiquiti APs (~$100).

That's a bit overkill don't you think? Do you really think a home user would have a need to run BGP?

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#115

Post by rdl »

MertsA wrote: post #114
rdl wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Juniper SRX100 ($500), with Ubiquiti APs (~$100).

That's a bit overkill don't you think? Do you really think a home user would have a need to run BGP?

Overkill for a random home, but maybe OK if you WFH and need to vpn/IT wants manage a bunch of devices centrally/etc. $1k in equipment vs. $300 in equipment isn't that big a difference for a few important home users if you're already using all the same equipment in your other offices.

(also a lot of startups have like 20 people working out of a home or condo, and they bump up against memory/crapiness/etc. limits of consumer routers and APs pretty hard.)

OP asked for "low end commercial router", though.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#116

Post by cdjk »

Freaky wrote: post #103
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

There are no drivers for 802.11n cards in pfsense 2.0 (current stable version), which is based on FreeBSD 8.1. Some b/g/n cards will work, but only in b/g modes:

http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Is_802.11n_wireless_support...

Drivers for 802.11n are in FreeBSD 9.0 and later, but that won't be the base for pfsense until 2.2:

http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_and_FreeBSD_Version...

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#117

Post by Hello71 »

vacri wrote: post #102
uxp wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

UPnP does not decrease security in a home/SMB environment.

There is a good reason why reverse shells exist.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#118

Post by ansible »

dhughes wrote: post #106
pjmlp wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I actually design wireless devices for a living and in my opinion, this is mostly bad advice.

The best bet it to switch to 5GHz, but that isn't practical for use with mobile devices.

Option B is to turn off the higher speed modes like 802.11n. Just try to stick with 11g. If you are still having connection problems, maybe switch down to 11b, but that will be real slow even when it works.

If you use an access point with detatchable antennas (which is actually most of them if you open the cover), then maybe replace the omni-directional antenna with a high-gain directional antenna (also known as a patch antenna). Then you'll need to point the antenna at where you sit.

Another (probably lousy) option to try (but very quick and cheap) is to move off of the commonly used WiFi channels (1, 6, 11). They are commonly used because they don't overlap with each other. So maybe try 4 or 9. The downside is that you will get interference from two commonly used channels, but the overall situation may be better than what you've got now.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#119

Post by yuhong »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #7
reefab wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ins…

AFAIK Cisco bought Linksys back in March 2003.

Re: Don't use Linksys routers

#120

Post by xmodem »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #53
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

I have a Mikrotik/RouterOS device. Positives: Cheap. Powerful. Stable. Negatives: Harder to use than OpenWRT/DD-WRT or similar. It is still a web-interface, but doesn't "baby" the user. If you aren't comfortable manually setting up interfaces and then setting up tunnels through those interfaces for example then skip this. I love it. But I won't kid myself, it isn't for everyone. The documentation isn't comprehensive…

Anyone who has ever set up a Cisco router to do anything even slightly complex should be able to pick up Mikrotik in a snap. The windows based GUI configuration tool (winbox) is simply incredible. (Runs fine in wine on OSX as well)
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