Is DD-WRT still relevant?

[infotime]

I ask because I'm thinking about using it and three Linksys WRT54GL routers for a little project. It's a small farmhouse. Nothing else around. Two stories. Office on first floor. Guests on second floor. DSL Internet.

My plan is to make two VLANs. One for the guests and have them access a secondary wireless network that doesn't have any connection to the office VLAN. The office VLAN would have it's own SSID and password as well as wired infrastructure.

1st router would connect to modem via PPPoE and have LAN ports assigned to VLANs.

2nd router would feed office and connect to VLAN1 and put out it's own SSID and password.

3rd router would connect to VLAN2 and have it's own SSID.

I know the Linksys routers are old and G only. But there's no other signal for a long way away. Is flashing these with DD-WRT a good way to go or should I bag that idea and use something else, maybe from Ubiquiti?

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
dd-wrt for WRT54 routers has been mature for long while.
If I were you, I'd go ahead use it. If you run into problem still you
can raise help from their forum.
Good luck.

 

[infotime]

Thanks Tony...

I guess I'm a little embarrassed using such old hardware. I think it's probably fine for this environment.

Also, maybe I'm making this too hard. Can't I just connect them all together and create two SSIDs. The first we be for the office and interact with the wired network. The other would be isolated and could only go to the Internet and not see other devices on the network. Some routers have this feature I think and it's called "wireless isolation" or something like that?

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
They are still being sold every where due to continuing demand I guess.
Check from the horse's mouth, the dd-wrt forum. Thing is start with a
set up and improve upon it I guess. Doing it first time RIGHT seldom
happens, LOL!

 

[speedingcheetah]

I never liked DD-WRT....its way over complicated. For those who actuly need all that, fine.

More complicated something is, more risk of something going wrong.

I just want pure routing performance, and prefer TomatoUSB (toastman builds) over DD-WRT or OpenWRT. But not all models support these.

 

[RogerSC]

I never liked DD-WRT....its way over complicated. For those who actuly need all that, fine.

More complicated something is, more risk of something going wrong.

I just want pure routing performance, and prefer TomatoUSB (toastman builds) over DD-WRT or OpenWRT. But not all models support these.

Keep in mind that anything that you don't configure in dd-wrt is off by default. So you only configure what you use. I agree somewhat with the risks of extra features, but if you're not using them, they're really not too risky. And if you decide to use them, or need them, then they're there.

For me, configuring dd-wrt on my R7000 takes about 1/4 of the time that it takes with stock Netgear firmware. A good part of that is due to the faster speed of the web admin GUI. Once you've gone through configuring it, it's not much different than any other firmware...you know what needs to be touched, and where those settings are.

One big advantage is that you have much better monitoring capability and more status information from dd-wrt than stock firmware. You have full syslog available if anything goes wrong. I haven't had to use the syslog for debugging yet, but it is interesting to see what's going on...just like anything else in dd-wrt, you don't have to look, but you can.

And you can even log into your router via telnet, which you can no longer do with Netgear stock firmware, or with the WRT1900AC stock firmware, either.

One last thing, if you're one of those people that has devices that don't have names, and are tired of names like "-" (stock Netgear) or "Network device" (stock Linksys), you can reserve DHCP addresses or static addresses in dd-wrt, and the names that you give those devices will actually appear in the attached client lists. I find this much more convenient than having to remember which MAC address goes with which device, that's just silly.

Anyways, I had the same feelings before I used dd-wrt. In the search for stability for my R7000, I tried dd-wrt, and have come to really appreciate it, as you can see *smile*. Give it a try if you're so inclined, and enjoy the differences.

And tomatoUSB firmware is coming for the R7000, next day or two it should be available.

 

[speedingcheetah]

Keep in mind that anything that you don't configure in dd-wrt is off by default. So you only configure what you use. I agree somewhat with the risks of extra features, but if you're not using them, they're really not too risky. And if you decide to use them, or need them, then they're there.

For me, configuring dd-wrt on my R7000 takes about 1/4 of the time that it takes with stock Netgear firmware. A good part of that is due to the faster speed of the web admin GUI. Once you've gone through configuring it, it's not much different than any other firmware...you know what needs to be touched, and where those settings are.

One big advantage is that you have much better monitoring capability and more status information from dd-wrt than stock firmware. You have full syslog available if anything goes wrong. I haven't had to use the syslog for debugging yet, but it is interesting to see what's going on...just like anything else in dd-wrt, you don't have to look, but you can.

And you can even log into your router via telnet, which you can no longer do with Netgear stock firmware, or with the WRT1900AC stock firmware, either.

One last thing, if you're one of those people that has devices that don't have names, and are tired of names like "-" (stock Netgear) or "Network device" (stock Linksys), you can reserve DHCP addresses or static addresses in dd-wrt, and the names that you give those devices will actually appear in the attached client lists. I find this much more convenient than having to remember which MAC address goes with which device, that's just silly.

Anyways, I had the same feelings before I used dd-wrt. In the search for stability for my R7000, I tried dd-wrt, and have come to really appreciate it, as you can see *smile*. Give it a try if you're so inclined, and enjoy the differences.

And tomatoUSB firmware is coming for the R7000, next day or two it should be available.

All those features u can do in Asus stock firmware...and Tomato too.

Anyway, to put it simple, I have had bad experience with DD-WRT...especially on Netgear products. I have had multiple routers bricked when trying to flash DD-WRT(only a few I was able to recover). I also have had many of the routers I have implemented for clients that had DD-WRT often fail or malfunction. Not a single router I have Tomato on has had a single issue...ever! (been at least 5yrs now)

 

[RogerSC]

All those features u can do in Asus stock firmware...and Tomato too.

Anyway, to put it simple, I have had bad experience with DD-WRT...especially on Netgear products. I have had multiple routers bricked when trying to flash DD-WRT(only a few I was able to recover). I also have had many of the routers I have implemented for clients that had DD-WRT often fail or malfunction. Not a single router I have Tomato on has had a single issue...ever! (been at least 5yrs now)

Hey, I'm not selling any firmware here, use what you want, of course *smile*. I was reacting to the "risky" part of what you said, since I don't find features that I don't use that risky. Sorry that you've had a bad experience with it...it saved my R7000 from being a problem child. I like tomato, too...as I said, coming real soon now for R7000.

 

[jlake]

I never had any problem with DD-WRT on WRT54G. Flashed them dozens (hundreds) of times with no brickings. Had 1 partial bricking over wireless due to my own pilot error. It took a quick google search and 5 minutes of my time to unbrick it.

The WRT54G is still a good router unless you're streaming a lot of HD video. But for normal routine web browsing and email etc..it's fine.

 

[speedingcheetah]

I never had any problem with DD-WRT on WRT54G. Flashed them dozens (hundreds) of times with no brickings. Had 1 partial bricking over wireless due to my own pilot error. It took a quick google search and 5 minutes of my time to unbrick it.

The WRT54G is still a good router unless you're streaming a lot of HD video. But for normal routine web browsing and email etc..it's fine.

That is older equipment and yes, DD-WRT works fine on the older G stuff. I guess I should clarified that I meant on newer N devices. I gave up G stuff long ago

 

[speedingcheetah]

Hey, I'm not selling any firmware here, use what you want, of course *smile*. I was reacting to the "risky" part of what you said, since I don't find features that I don't use that risky. Sorry that you've had a bad experience with it...it saved my R7000 from being a problem child. I like tomato, too...as I said, coming real soon now for R7000.

The code is still there..and you would be surprised how even inactive code and left over stuff can cause random issues. Features I don't use/want...I consider to be bloat...just as with my Android phone. Slim and lean, always better, in my experience.

Ultimately, I just fine the Ui of DD-WRT over complicated and a bit confusing.

 

[stevech]

The code is still there..and you would be surprised how even inactive code and can cause random issues. Features I don't use/want...I consider to be bloat...just as with my Android phone. Slim and lean, always better, in my experience.

I just put DD-WRT on a Linksys E1200 - to use as an AP. Better than re-purposed router factory code.

 

[jlake]

My advice is to check the linksys refurb site. My version WRT54G ver 3.0 with stock or DD-WRT just doesn't have the horsepower to stream a lot of HD video. Maybe the E2500 can run DDWRT and has a little more horsepower?

If you already have the WRT54GL's then go for it. But I wouldn't go out and buy 3 new ones.

http://store.linksys.com/Linksys-Outlet-Refurbished_stcVVcatId543906VVviewcat.htm

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

 

[speedingcheetah]

My advice is to check the linksys refurb site. My version WRT54G ver 3.0 with stock or DD-WRT just doesn't have the horsepower to stream a lot of HD video. Maybe the E2500 can run DDWRT and has a little more horsepower?

If you already have the WRT54GL's then go for it. But I wouldn't go out and buy 3 new ones.

http://store.linksys.com/Linksys-Outlet-Refurbished_stcVVcatId543906VVviewcat.htm

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

I still say the old Cisco E2000, E3000 were the best out there as far as newest gen of the older gen. I buy and sell those to clients and those are the ones(with TomtatoUSB) that I/they have never had a single issue with. And, they are easy to modify to add external antennas.

 

[sfx2000]

I still say the old Cisco E2000, E3000 were the best out there as far as newest gen of the older gen. I buy and sell those to clients and those are the ones(with TomtatoUSB) that I/they have never had a single issue with. And, they are easy to modify to add external antennas.

Cross-Model note - when Cisco brought out their Valet line, they also spun the model designations - so when searching, include the 320N and 610Nv2 in your searches.

E2000 - old WRT320N
E3000 - old WRT610Nv2

Adding this comment if someone is searching eBay/Craigslist - the 320N and 610Nv2 were pretty decent routers for their time (and still are) - they're dual-band with GigE and fairly solid - weak point for them was the power supplies/wall warts that were bundled, as they tended to burn out after a year or so, but that's an easy fix.

 

[coop4lyfe]

Speaking only for myself, I'm running screaming as far away from DD-WRT as fast as I can, having gotten back into the "set up small nets for neighbors and local businesses" thing. I'm hoping to standardize on OpenWRT as much as possible though it's not always possible with used/recycled gear. (I've also been using Linux since the mid-1990s so using a command line doesn't scare me, though I'm not up to date yet on complicated-ish networking in Linux on the CLI yet.)

My impression is that DD-WRT has the highest rate of "complications" and the lowest code quality. Most "support" is exclusively in forums, and although they have a Trac instance, a lot of bug reports and other such talk happens in forums. Forums are a HORRIBLE place for any kind of development discussion, as anyone who has been over to xda-developers or transmissionbt could tell you. I don't believe the project is well managed and the documentation is poor.

OpenWRT has much better managed code, support for more devices, and is essentially a Linux distro for networking hardware at this point. While I wish they'd not invented 'opkg' and used something like apt, I can't quibble when they're frequently working with devices with 4MB of flash. The documentation is still full of holes, but less straight-up incorrect than what I've found with DD-WRT.

Tomato is Tomato. The various flavors of Tomato are produced by various random dudes on the Internet. While I still run Tomato on my personal primary router, for now, and I like it, I prefer software with more development personpower behind it.

My choice: default to OpenWRT, fall back to Tomato if needed/possible.

 

[RMerlin]

Cross-Model note - when Cisco brought out their Valet line, they also spun the model designations - so when searching, include the 320N and 610Nv2 in your searches.

E2000 - old WRT320N
E3000 - old WRT610Nv2

I actually have a WRT320N here which was "converted" to an E2000 by flashing an E2000 CFE. I forgot the reason why I did it, but I vaguely remember there was an issue with the WRT320N CFE and DD-WRT.

It had enough flash space for DD-WRT to have a decently sized JFFS partition, which allowed me to install and configure IPv6 on it.

Aside from the fact this device runs quite hot and lacked concurrent dual band support, it never caused me any problem when I was using it.

 

[TonyH]

All those features u can do in Asus stock firmware...and Tomato too.

Anyway, to put it simple, I have had bad experience with DD-WRT...especially on Netgear products. I have had multiple routers bricked when trying to flash DD-WRT(only a few I was able to recover). I also have had many of the routers I have implemented for clients that had DD-WRT often fail or malfunction. Not a single router I have Tomato on has had a single issue...ever! (been at least 5yrs now)

Hi,
Never play with serial console, jTag stuff like that? It's like some one who knows how to operate a vehicle and how to drive it. I am a novice diriver
at least, LOL! Reviving friend's bricked door stop is exciting and rewarding.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
dd-wrt comes in mini or mega version too depending on model for one's needs.

 

[speedingcheetah]

Hi,
Never play with serial console, jTag stuff like that? It's like some one who knows how to operate a vehicle and how to drive it. I am a novice diriver
at least, LOL! Reviving friend's bricked door stop is exciting and rewarding.

I tried all of that advanced stuff trying to res-erect several Netgear routers...thinks it was the WND...or WNDR3000 or 35000...can't remember...either way, lost cause.