R7000 with Kong DD-WRT Problems and Questions

[starbux]

Hi everyone,

I upgraded my router today from my old Asus RT-N16 router running Toastman tomato firmware to the R7000. I've read a bunch of posts from people and it seems like Kong's DD-WRT firmware is the best for the R7000 in terms of stability and throughput.

I've always stayed away from DD-WRT because the interface seemed a lot more complex. I'm trying to learn but I can't figure out how to do several things/fix some problems. Here are my questions:

1) Is it possible to run 2 or more OpenVPN servers with Kong's DD-WRT firmware? Tomato allows you to run 2 OpenVPN servers at the same time. I was hoping to run both a TAP and TUN VPN server, but I can only seem to create one.


2) This is my first time using a 5GHz router. Are there problems if the SSID of the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz is the same? If they are different, and my computer has N, should I connect to the 2.4Ghz SSID or the 5 Ghz SSID?


3) Are there any recommended settings for the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz on the R7000 for Kong's DD-WRT? (power output, channels, channel width, upper upper or lower lower, etc)


4) How do you set up the privoxy adblocking software? Do I need to download an adlist blacklist somewhere? Where can i find those, and how do I load it?


5) What is the difference between setting up a Guest Wifi AP, and the hotspot software installed already with Kong's firmware?


6) This is a dumb dumb question, but how can I be sure I am running Kong's firmware vs the stock dd-wrt firmware? Under status, it doesn't say Kong DD-WRT so I'm not sure if the firmware installed correctly over the stock dd-wrt firmware.


7) I've setup the router web admin page to use https instead of http. Tomato gave me an option to change the port used for the https to something else. I plan on using the port 443 (SSL) for my VPN server so that if I need to connect to the openvpn on my r7000 from a hotel that blocks most ports, it is possible. Anyway to change the admin page https port from 443 to something else?


8) How do you tie a MAC address to a static DHCP IP address? I can't find the option to do that easily. Tomato had a really easy way to do it (just click on static with the list of computers connected).


9) How do I set up URL/searching web monitoring similar to that of Tomato?


10) Once the guest AP is set up, how do I restrict traffic usage?


If these questions are already answered by some article/post -- please point me toward them as I have had trouble finding the right answers.

 

[RogerSC]

Hi everyone,

I upgraded my router today from my old Asus RT-N16 router running Toastman tomato firmware to the R7000. I've read a bunch of posts from people and it seems like Kong's DD-WRT firmware is the best for the R7000 in terms of stability and throughput.

I've always stayed away from DD-WRT because the interface seemed a lot more complex. I'm trying to learn but I can't figure out how to do several things/fix some problems. Here are my questions:

1) Is it possible to run 2 or more OpenVPN servers with Kong's DD-WRT firmware? Tomato allows you to run 2 OpenVPN servers at the same time. I was hoping to run both a TAP and TUN VPN server, but I can only seem to create one.


2) This is my first time using a 5GHz router. Are there problems if the SSID of the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz is the same? If they are different, and my computer has N, should I connect to the 2.4Ghz SSID or the 5 Ghz SSID?

I use different SSID's simply so I can control which band devices that can connect to both band connect to. Have things sorted out like 2.4GHz. for casual web surfing, email, etc., such as mobile devices, and devices that don't support 5GHz. Then 5GHz. is used by devices that tend to do a lot or all media streaming.

3) Are there any recommended settings for the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz on the R7000 for Kong's DD-WRT? (power output, channels, channel width, upper upper or lower lower, etc)

Kong has a document for users just starting witj dd-wrt, which includes tips on setting up wireless:

http://tips.desipro.de/category/dd-wrt/

4) How do you set up the privoxy adblocking software? Do I need to download an adlist blacklist somewhere? Where can i find those, and how do I load it?

The first thing to try is just enable it, and select "Transparent Mode", and see if you like the results. If not you can get deeper into it and write your own stuff.

5) What is the difference between setting up a Guest Wifi AP, and the hotspot software installed already with Kong's firmware?


6) This is a dumb dumb question, but how can I be sure I am running Kong's firmware vs the stock dd-wrt firmware? Under status, it doesn't say Kong DD-WRT so I'm not sure if the firmware installed correctly over the stock dd-wrt firmware.

If the dd-wrt firmware that you flashed was from Kong's repository, and it has the correct build number in the status page, and it says that it's dd-wrt *smile*, then it's Kong's firmware.

7) I've setup the router web admin page to use https instead of http. Tomato gave me an option to change the port used for the https to something else. I plan on using the port 443 (SSL) for my VPN server so that if I need to connect to the openvpn on my r7000 from a hotel that blocks most ports, it is possible. Anyway to change the admin page https port from 443 to something else?


8) How do you tie a MAC address to a static DHCP IP address? I can't find the option to do that easily. Tomato had a really easy way to do it (just click on static with the list of computers connected).

There's a section under "Services" -> "Services" tab -> "DHCP Server" -> "Static Leases" in small print. Add as many entries as you need there and fill them in. If you want real static addresses, just leave the "Client Lease Time" column empty.

9) How do I set up URL/searching web monitoring similar to that of Tomato?


10) Once the guest AP is set up, how do I restrict traffic usage?


If these questions are already answered by some article/post -- please point me toward them as I have had trouble finding the right answers.

And, you can get more answers here:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=177443

I'm also curious if you've tried either of the early tomato releases for the R7000, Shibby's or Victek's? They take some patience to set up, but they've both got some firmware for the R7000 out there:

http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/tomato-for-arm-routers.69719/

 

[starbux]

Ah RogerSC! I was hoping you would respond since I've read several of your posts.

I'm aware of Shibby and Victek's firmware, but I've heard they are less developed than Kong's, and also that DD-WRT has the official broadcom licensed drivers whereas they use a open source driver which could result in different performance.

Also my Toastman firmware on the RT-N16 wasn't the most stable -- I've had to reflash the firmware about 3 or 4 times a year. Kind of makes me want to try DD-WRT.

Do you have answers to my other questions? (running 2 openvpns at the same time, etc)?

Thanks!

 

[RogerSC]

Ah RogerSC! I was hoping you would respond since I've read several of your posts.

I'm aware of Shibby and Victek's firmware, but I've heard they are less developed than Kong's, and also that DD-WRT has the official broadcom licensed drivers whereas they use a open source driver which could result in different performance.

Also my Toastman firmware on the RT-N16 wasn't the most stable -- I've had to reflash the firmware about 3 or 4 times a year. Kind of makes me want to try DD-WRT.

Do you have answers to my other questions? (running 2 openvpns at the same time, etc)?

Thanks!

There are some features that I don't currently use, like the VPN, which is why I didn't answer those. You can ask the ones that I didn't answer over at the dd-wrt forum *smile*.

 

[RMerlin]

Ah RogerSC! I was hoping you would respond since I've read several of your posts.

I'm aware of Shibby and Victek's firmware, but I've heard they are less developed than Kong's, and also that DD-WRT has the official broadcom licensed drivers whereas they use a open source driver which could result in different performance.

Also my Toastman firmware on the RT-N16 wasn't the most stable -- I've had to reflash the firmware about 3 or 4 times a year. Kind of makes me want to try DD-WRT.

Tomato uses an official (proprietary) driver from Broadcom, so performance should be just as good, if not better than DD-WRT. You are probably confusing Tomato with OpenWRT - that one is using a full open source driver which might not have optimal performance (I never really looked at it, so I could be wrong on the performance part).

Reflashing a firmware should never have any impact on performance or stability. If a router needs reflashing, then it's most likely an issue with its flash chip, not with the firmware code. I know Toastman has many RT-N16 routers deployed in the field, which will frequently reach multiple months of uptime without any reboot necessary.