27 June 2006

WRT54G Reclaimed for Linux

As a follow-up to my post below about a Real Router for $60, word comes that recent models of the popular Linksys WRT54G can now be converted to Linux like the older models.

The current, series 5 models of the WRT54G have come from Linksys with the VxWorks OS loaded, and were resistant to being flashed with alternate firmware. But...

Jeremy Collake, aka "db90h," appears to have created a "VxWorks Killer" flash image that overwrites the VxWorks bootloader on series 5 WRT54G routers with normal Broadcom CFE firmware. This then enables the device to be put into maintenance mode at startup, after which Linux firmware can be installed easily.

[via Linux Devices]

07 June 2006

A Real Router for $60

There have been alternative, Linux-based firmware upgrades for the Cisco/Linksys WRT54G series of wireless routers for some time now. But a new article on Lifehacker introduces this easy upgrade in a very approachable way.

After following the instructions and upgrading to the DD-WRT firmware, your cheap WRT54G can do cool, "real router" things like QoS (Quality of Sevice, a.k.a. traffic shaping), where you assign higher bandwidth to certain machines, or to critical apps like Skype, while still letting that Bittorrent D/L chug along in the background. You can also increase its wireless Xmit power from the default, and rather measly, 28 mW to something more useful - like 70 mW. Or set it up as a static DHCP server, where the individual MAC of a machine's NIC is always assigned the same IP addr with its DHCP lease. Endless, geeky network admin fun awaits...

[via boingboing]