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And now for some karma whoring^W^W^Wthe actual details:

The OpenWrt Release Team would like to announce the final Attitude Adjustment Release (12.09).

Highlights since Backfire 10.03.1:
Dropped support for legacy Broadcom target (brcm-2.4)
Switched to Kernel 3.3
Switched to uClibc 0.9.33.2
Switched x86 images from ext2 to ext4 filesystem
Improved parallel building support
New netifd implementation to replace the old script based network configuration system
Switched to shadow passwords
Support for external overlay filesystems in release images
Various firewall enhancements
Wireless driver updates and stability improvements
Experimential support for 5 and 10 MHz channels in ath5k and ath9k
Package updates and dependency fixes
New target support: ramips, bcm2708 (Raspberry Pi) and others
Support for further router models
Support for building with eglic instead of uClibc
Support for 6RD configuration
Support for bridge firewalling in release images

Known Issues:
Most open tickets at the time of the final builds
Lower end devices with only 16 MiB RAM will easily run out of Memory, for bcm47xx based devices is Backfire with brcm-2.4 recommended

More detailed information: https://dev.openwrt.org/query?status=closed&group=resolution&milestone=Attitude+Adjustment+12.09
Detailed core changelog at: https://dev.openwrt.org/log/branches/attitude_adjustment
Detailed packages changelog at: https://dev.openwrt.org/log/branches/packages_12.09
Binaries can be downloaded at http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/

And now for some karma whoring^W^W^Wthe actual details:

The OpenWrt Release Team would like to announce the final Attitude Adjustment Release (12.09).

Highlights since Backfire 10.03.1:
Dropped support for legacy Broadcom target (brcm-2.4)
Switched to Kernel 3.3
Switched to uClibc 0.9.33.2
Switched x86 images from ext2 to ext4 filesystem
Improved parallel building support
New netifd implementation to replace the old script based network configuration system
Switched to shadow passwords
Support for external overlay filesystems in release images
Various firewall enhancements
Wireless driver updates and stability improvements
Experimential support for 5 and 10 MHz channels in ath5k and ath9k
Package updates and dependency fixes
New target support: ramips, bcm2708 (Raspberry Pi) and others
Support for further router models
Support for building with eglic instead of uClibc
Support for 6RD configuration
Support for bridge firewalling in release images

Known Issues:
Most open tickets at the time of the final builds
Lower end devices with only 16 MiB RAM will easily run out of Memory, for bcm47xx based devices is Backfire with brcm-2.4 recommended

More detailed information: https://dev.openwrt.org/query?status=closed&group=resolution&milestone=Attitude+Adjustment+12.09
Detailed core changelog at: https://dev.openwrt.org/log/branches/attitude_adjustment
Detailed packages changelog at: https://dev.openwrt.org/log/branches/packages_12.09
Binaries can be downloaded at http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/

And now for some karma whoring^W^W^Wthe actual details:

The OpenWrt Release Team would like to announce the final Attitude Adjustment Release (12.09).

Highlights since Backfire 10.03.1:
Dropped support for legacy Broadcom target (brcm-2.4)
Switched to Kernel 3.3
Switched to uClibc 0.9.33.2
Switched x86 images from ext2 to ext4 filesystem
Improved parallel building support
New netifd implementation to replace the old script based network configuration system
Switched to shadow passwords
Support for external overlay filesystems in release images
Various firewall enhancements
Wireless driver updates and stability improvements
Experimential support for 5 and 10 MHz channels in ath5k and ath9k
Package updates and dependency fixes
New target support: ramips, bcm2708 (Raspberry Pi) and others
Support for further router models
Support for building with eglic instead of uClibc
Support for 6RD configuration
Support for bridge firewalling in release images

Known Issues:
Most open tickets at the time of the final builds
Lower end devices with only 16 MiB RAM will easily run out of Memory, for bcm47xx based devices is Backfire with brcm-2.4 recommended

More detailed information: https://dev.openwrt.org/query?status=closed&group=resolution&milestone=Attitude+Adjustment+12.09
Detailed core changelog at: https://dev.openwrt.org/log/branches/attitude_adjustment
Detailed packages changelog at: https://dev.openwrt.org/log/branches/packages_12.09
Binaries can be downloaded at http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/

And now for some karma whoring^W^W^Wthe actual details:

The OpenWrt Release Team would like to announce the final Attitude Adjustment Release (12.09).

Highlights since Backfire 10.03.1:
Dropped support for legacy Broadcom target (brcm-2.4)
Switched to Kernel 3.3
Switched to uClibc 0.9.33.2
Switched x86 images from ext2 to ext4 filesystem
Improved parallel building support
New netifd implementation to replace the old script based network configuration system
Switched to shadow passwords
Support for external overlay filesystems in release images
Various firewall enhancements
Wireless driver updates and stability improvements
Experimential support for 5 and 10 MHz channels in ath5k and ath9k
Package updates and dependency fixes
New target support: ramips, bcm2708 (Raspberry Pi) and others
Support for further router models
Support for building with eglic instead of uClibc
Support for 6RD configuration
Support for bridge firewalling in release images

Known Issues:
Most open tickets at the time of the final builds
Lower end devices with only 16 MiB RAM will easily run out of Memory, for bcm47xx based devices is Backfire with brcm-2.4 recommended

More detailed information: https://dev.openwrt.org/query?status=closed&group=resolution&milestone=Attitude+Adjustment+12.09
Detailed core changelog at: https://dev.openwrt.org/log/branches/attitude_adjustment
Detailed packages changelog at: https://dev.openwrt.org/log/branches/packages_12.09
Binaries can be downloaded at http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wdr4300 http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr743nd

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wdr4300 http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr743nd

If the avenue that the OP is planning on heading down involves tele-robotics with computer vision abilities, I would suggest looking into OpenWrt. I've had great success with upgrading the firmware on various routers and putting them to use in robots (usually streaming video and serial port data back to a PC). It is a very economical way of getting into embedded Linux, and highly recommended if you like to communicate to your robot via wifi. It is not too difficult to setup a cross compiler and develop your own programs to run on the router.

An alternative to hacking a router is something like a Raspberry Pi or a Beagleboard. I haven't used a RPi, but own a Beagleboard and would like to warn you that building an image and setting up a toolchain (using OpenEmbedded to build Angstrom) for a Beagleboard (or Gumstix) is quite a task. It's also pretty difficult to get a suitable usb wifi stick and driver to operate as an access point (something I was convinced I needed!).

As far as microcontroller and platforms go, I would suggest starting off with an Arduino. You could use Arduino's Wiring programming language, but it is just as easy to use WinAVR/avr-gcc/avr-g++, C/C++ and good old Makefiles! After conquering a simple to use microcontroller like an ATmega (used on the Arduino), I recommend you use something like a PIC32 or a STM32 if you need more horsepower. I've used the SAM7 quite a bit but am somewhat reluctantly to do on any new projects.

Repeat after me: http://www.openwrt.org/

Turns your router into a Linux box. That routes too. And more. And let you tinker with it, too. ;)

Oh, don't get me wrong, I think that the USB connector is definitely the best of the (mostly bad) options. The bottom of the market in wall warts is fairly dreadful no matter what shape the connector is, and even people without access to a geek's-giant-bin-of-parts at least probably have a few of this flavor.

The one really unfortunate side effect(although probably unavoidable at this price point) of going with USB is that it means +5v input(maybe a hair higher, quite often lower if the supply is drooping) for a device that is supposed to be providing +5v output. Because they start with no headroom, absolutely anything they do short of 'eh, just connect the USB rail straight to input power, I'm sure it's fine' increases the risk of browning out USB slave devices connected to the pi.

In a device like the dockstar, this problem is skipped by going with 12v input, followed by DC-DC conversion in the little cluster of magnetics below the barrel jack. Since they start with 12, only rather nasty undercurrent, or seriously ghastly input, prevents putting out +5 for the slave devices. Of course, the DC-DC converter section isn't free and the rPI was aiming quite hard for a price point, so I imagine that they didn't have that luxury(and just burning the excess with a dumb regulator would be brutally wasteful at 12v, even 9 would get fairly toasty).

I would if they'd actually support my router.

It's not new, it's been around for a while. ddwrt is the only version I found when I bought it years ago that would actually work on it.

obviously it may not be a good idea for people with caps, but there are many who don't, or simply don't have a use for so much.

here's how to do it with openwrt...

https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=34092

that's with the web interfaece, you can also do it with text file editing...

http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/guest-wlan

the guest network is alone from the internal wpa protected network.

wondershaper is available to limit the guests' bandwidth if necessary.

think about it, esp. in a crowded apartment building, everyone broadcasting a wifi signal will raise the noise floor, share your broadband may actually help you in the search for a better signal.

obviously it may not be a good idea for people with caps, but there are many who don't, or simply don't have a use for so much.

here's how to do it with openwrt...

https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=34092

that's with the web interfaece, you can also do it with text file editing...

http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/guest-wlan

the guest network is alone from the internal wpa protected network.

wondershaper is available to limit the guests' bandwidth if necessary.

think about it, esp. in a crowded apartment building, everyone broadcasting a wifi signal will raise the noise floor, share your broadband may actually help you in the search for a better signal.

Want a useful experiment? Take one of the old routers and install OpenWRT on it. See if it works better.

WR-703N does, though. it has double the flash and RAM. (4/32MB).

I ordered one from ebay the other day for $23 CAD shipped (I guess ~20 USD). It will be interesting to see how it works out.

openwrt wiki entry for WR-703N

I have a TP-Link MR3220 with openwrt. With wireless disconnected and external USB Flash plugged in, it draws 4 W (four watt). I installed openwrt in minutes, never had a problem. Very useful in my case for torrenting and having high ratio in private trackers.

It's much more difficult if you want to run a router with modern features like Gig-E, wireless N, multiband, jumbo frames etc...

TP-Link WR2543. Not sure about jumbo frames though.

Buy your router from this enormous list which covers a huge range of budgets:

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start

Re-Flash it and be done with these folk. This newer firmware is much friendlier than the original OpenWrt you may have tried years back, and if you don't like what it's doing, you get a command prompt and make it do exactly what you want.

Run OpenWRT on your router, then.

It's an ostrich problem.

It's nice that a handful of ISPs like Comcast have a clue (they even "get" open source), but 99% of others are too stupid to understand IPv4 is a sinking ship. Mine still does installations using bottom-dollar trash where the firmware's crippled by design -- it'll be in a landfill before it ever supports IPv6. They just wasted a fortune shipping those boxes out a year ago to every single one of their existing users.

As soon as people will start playing with TV firmwares, just like they did with smartphones and routers, we'll get better TVs.
Which in turn is not what manufacturers and broadcasters want.

I have also had good results with the TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router running OpenWrt and use them as network firewall/gateways, OpenVPN server/clients and small VLAN-capable switches.

The hardware specs are great for the price ($55-$65): 5 gigabit ports, 802.11n and the real winner is that OpenWrt has good support for the RTL8366RB switch chipset, including tagged VLANs. Getting a switch that has VLAN support for this price is not otherwise available, that I've found. The stock TP-LINK firmware does not expose the VLAN features but they are there and available if OpenWrt is used.

- Chipset is the Atheros AR9132 rev. 2 WISOC, which contains: Atheros 3×2 (3rx, 2 tx) MIMO wireless + MIPS 24Kc V7.4 CPU running at 400Mhz) – 266.24 BogoMIPS
- RAM: 32 MB
- FLASH NVRAM: 8 MB
- 801.11n/g/b 2.4 GHz
- 4+1 gigabit Ethernet ports (RTL8366RB chipset with 802.1Q VLAN support – see http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=18&PFid=15&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=197)
- 1 USB 2.0 (can put a small USB stick in and use it as swap space to run programs that otherwise wouldn't work given 32 MB of RAM, such as dansguardian)

The one main problem I've found is that some wireless clients have problems connecting using 802.11 -- see the bug "Backfire ar71xx error: ath: Failed to stop TX DMA!" at https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/9693 for examples. This has improved with -rc5 and -rc6.

-Tim Miller Dyck

DD-WRT isn't the only custom firmware supported, it can also run OpenWRT:

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/buffalo/wzr-hp-g300h

Or its newer variants. Loaded with OpenWRT, there's nothing you can't do with them. Newer variants have even more flash and RAM.

Except (some of?) the newer variants, particularly the Netgear WNDR-3700 version 3 with the Broadcom chipset, do not run OpenWRT. Yet.

I was thinking about buying Mikrotik, but the lack of OpenVPN UDP support combined with all the problems my friend is having with his & IPv6... I'll stick OpenWRT on one of these: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr1043nd

Meets all requirements from the OP.
runs openwrt and dd-wrt
4x gigE
wireless N (no 5GHZ tough)
USB port
CPU Atheros AR9132@400MHz
RAM 32MB
FLASH 8MB

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=TL-WR1043ND

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr1043nd

I'm using dd-wrt because it supports having multiple wireless lans on a single router, each with their own ssid and encryption. Last time I checked Tomato doesn't support that, but your post made me look at open-wrt and it does. Thank you.

Since when has dd-wrt been "Open Source?" It's very much closed-source. OpenWRT is actually open source, as in, you can download the code, modify, and compile it yourself. dd-wrt is closed, and often includes proprietary drivers.

the source IS AVAILABLE and has always been.

svn co svn://svn.dd-wrt.com/DD-WRT

http://svn.dd-wrt.com/browser

Just because you've checked binary blobs for wireless drivers into a source control system, and made access to the source control system public does NOT mean it is "Open Source." Good luck modifying a bcrm47xx driver in dd-wrt! Hope you like to edit in hex or binary.

In summary: Not Open Source.

Looks like it's not supported yet:

https://dev.openwrt.org/wiki/WantedHardware

Thanks. But my model# is WHR-HP-GN . The page to which you linked has openwrt firmware versions for:
Model Version Status Target(s) Platform CPU Speed (MHz) Flash (MB) RAM (MB) Wireless NIC Wireless Standard Wired Ports VLAN Config USB

WHR-G125 - 8.09 brcm-2.4 brcm47xx Broadcom 5354 240 4 16 BCM4318 (integrated) 11b/g 5 Yes No
WZR-HP-AG300H 1 trunk ar71xx Atheros AR7161 680 32 128 Atheros (integrated) AR9220+AR9223 11a/b/g/n 5 gigE Yes 1x 2.0
WZR-HP-G300NH v1 10.03 ar71xx Atheros AR9132 400 32 64 AR9103 11b/g/n 5 gigE Yes Yes
WZR-HP-G301NH v1 trunk ar71xx Atheros AR9132 400 32 64 AR9103 11b/g/n 5 gigE Yes Yes

Wikipedia says that model's specs are:

Model Hardware rev 1st seen on Market FCC ID Platform & Frequency [MHz] RAM [MB] Flash Memory [MB] Wireless NIC WLAN standard [802.11] mini PCI Serial port JTAG port Ethernet port count PoE Voltage Input [V/A]

WHR-HP-GN - ? FDI-09101567-0 Atheros 7240 @ 400 MHz 32 MB 4 MB Broadcom b/g/n - ? ? 4 LAN/1 WAN - 5V/2.3A

I can't tell which, if any, of the openwrt firmware versions is compatible with my Buffalo router.

I was just looking up the instructions for a G300NH and it looks easy:

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/buffalo/wzr-hp-g300h?s

That said, there's no incentive for me to upgrade from DD-WRT to OpenWRT. DD-WRT works flawlessly and has all the features I want so far, but if you want to do really advanced stufff OpenWRT looks like a better option.

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start#buffalo

Since when has dd-wrt been "Open Source?" It's very much closed-source. OpenWRT is actually open source, as in, you can download the code, modify, and compile it yourself. dd-wrt is closed, and often includes proprietary drivers.

the source IS AVAILABLE and has always been.

svn co svn://svn.dd-wrt.com/DD-WRT

http://svn.dd-wrt.com/browser

Since when has dd-wrt been "Open Source?" It's very much closed-source. OpenWRT is actually open source, as in, you can download the code, modify, and compile it yourself. dd-wrt is closed, and often includes proprietary drivers.

I recommend this router based on its 680Mhz CPU, 128MB RAM and 32MB flash storage. It's also dual band (802.11abgn), a gigabit switch and has a USB port so you can turn it into a NAS. It was only $89 shipped from Newegg and came with dd-wrt already on it. I put openwrt on it and have been enjoying it ever since. It comes with a 2 year warranty which I immediately voided by soldering on my own serial port. *note* if you choose to solder on your own serial port be aware this is a 3.3volt serial port so do not plug it into your PC directly as the PC's 5volt serial port will fry your hardware. Plugging it into an appropriate 3.3volt serial dongle or an arduino's serial line will work however. The latter is what I chose to do.

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/buffalo/wzr-hp-ag300h

I would re-check the numbers on that. Many routers being recommended in this discussion have clock speeds of over 600 MHz. I don't know how that compares to P3 MHz in terms of performance on router tasks, but I doubt your old P3 is orders of magnitude more powerful.

As far as little power goes, most consumer routers I've seen, including the ones I've owned, use just a few Watts for the entire system, including power supply inefficiencies. I doubt your P3 system gets that low.

So, while I don't disagree with rolling your own router so that you get all the flexibility you want, I am not convinced a P3 would be a big win in terms of processing power, and I am sure it would be a big loss in terms of electricity usage.

Sorry, I worded that sentence poorly, or possibly wrong, but you'll want to look at the Megahertz Myth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megahertz_myth

Granted, the comparison is something like (to use a car analogy) trying to compare the towing capacity of a large truck to a moped. The processors used in those routers are highly specialized and will actually perform a number of network related tasks at a very high rate, but unfortunately are dog slow at anything more generalized. For a simple NAT, it would probably be much faster, and would certainly be faster for basic routing. If you're using any more than the barest of features (QoS/VLANs/transparent proxy/complex logging/etc), a Pentium III with 2GB of RAM could be orders of magnitude* faster and more stable than whatever you find at Best Buy (assuming heavy workloads). It'll also be a fraction the performance of decent networking gear, but at a fraction the price. I'm assuming the poster was interested in extra features because he was asking about loading a custom firmware.

Really, I was just using the P3 as an example of something I scrounged together for zero cost that works okay. It isn't even a particularly good example. If the poster could spend a few hundred, he could get something many, many times more powerful than what I have, and consumed less power. My box pulls around 35W, which is quite a bit more than your typical consumer router, but I'm okay with eating the $40/year in electrical costs for the added ability.

Honestly, if he really wants to push a full 100Mbps AND do anything fancy, he's going to have to get a full system (or business grade networking gear). There really isn't any question about it.

* I really just like using the phrase "orders of magnitude". I could try to explain how I was using it correctly, but that would be pedantic, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter and no one cares.

I use an old Pentium III (old one that was just laying around) that pulls just a little power, and is orders of magnitude more powerful than any consumer router you could get.

I would re-check the numbers on that. Many routers being recommended in this discussion have clock speeds of over 600 MHz. I don't know how that compares to P3 MHz in terms of performance on router tasks, but I doubt your old P3 is orders of magnitude more powerful.

As far as little power goes, most consumer routers I've seen, including the ones I've owned, use just a few Watts for the entire system, including power supply inefficiencies. I doubt your P3 system gets that low.

So, while I don't disagree with rolling your own router so that you get all the flexibility you want, I am not convinced a P3 would be a big win in terms of processing power, and I am sure it would be a big loss in terms of electricity usage.

TP-Link WR1043ND where you can load also a choice of other firmwares.
And it's cheap!

really slashdot? Slow day?

Agreed. Aren't their better places to ask for the best gigabit 802.11n router supporting DD-WRT and OpenWRT? Not really "News for Nerds" or "Stuff that Matters". I'm sure any number of a hundred forums would be better, maybe the dd-wrt forum or openwrt forum would good places to start since you require a router that support both of those.

1) Buy two USB harddrives and two routers with USB from the "supported hardware" section of this list.
2) Find a geek and have them set it up for you
3) Profit?

Total cost: ~$150 - $400 in equipment, say $200 for a couple hours of labor. While this doesn't meet the "out of the box" requirement, affinity for tinkering is kind of a defining aspect of being a nerd. If that doesn't describe you, I think you asked on the wrong site. (Or maybe I'm wrong, I don't see the slogan "News for Nerds" anymore... Perhaps I'm still in denial about a focus shift.) But, it is inexpensive, uses hardware from well known companies, and such a setup isn't really complicated if you have any business setting up your own backup system in the first place. Personally, I wouldn't trust the reliability nor security of an end-user system I didn't setup and periodically verify, but that's me.

Indeed, any OpenWRT device with a USB port and external hard drive will do this job. Or even better: the Western Digital My Book Live NAS ships with Debian and you can enable ssh from a hidden admin menu.

This does require that you use a PC as the Internet gateway/NAT/VPN server.

Not necessarily. If your router is supported by OpenWRT you can install OpenVPN on it.

This does require that you use a PC as the Internet gateway/NAT/VPN server.

Not necessarily. If your router is supported by OpenWRT you can install OpenVPN on it.

Alternative firmware or BIOS would rarely be useful. Working, less buggy firmware and BIOS on the other hand would be really nice.

Au contraire. Several alternative firmwares were/are available for the WRT54G series of wifi routers that have basically allowed linux to be run on them.

I have no idea what consumer routers support IPv6

Very roughly speaking, none.

If you want to experiment with IPv6, I strongly recommend that you get yourself a router supported by OpenWRT and reflash it. This will also give you the ability to do all sorts of things that consumer routers usually don't do, such as traffic shaping, arbitrary subnetting, dynamic routing, or simply basic router functionality with fewer bugs.

--jch

I don't even understand why any self-respecting geek would buy a router that couldn't run OpenWRT, Tomato or DD-WRT. The stock firmware of commercial routers is always just rubbish compared to the open source (ish, in the case of DD-WRT) replacements.

For setting up bandwidth limiting for OpenWRT, well, OpenWRT is for real men (or real women), as this wiki page should make clear. Losta commandline and config files; there are web frontends but I'm unsure if any let you fiddle with these kinds of powers. But if you're looking for fine-tuned control, OpenWRT is pretty much a distro in its own right so the possibilities are pretty vast.

For Tomato (which I use 'cause the graphs are pretty), unlike what SighKoPath has said here, you don't have to set up specific rules for each MAC or IP; just set up the classifications for your own devices, then in QoS -> Basic Settings set the Default Class to something like, say, Class E. Now you can set the bandwidth limits for random strangers in Class E and any device or type of traffic that you don't have an overriding rule for gets categorized in Class E, so any new random neighbor devices will fall into that class. Simple.

As far as routers go, a lot of existing routers (as long as you didn't buy a really bad one with too little memory to even install anything to) are supported by at least one of the three main firmwares. Tomato is far more restricted in terms of choice, but if you can't find a spare WRT-54Gv1-4 lying around, Linksys deliberately sells the WRT-54GL for the sake of folks who'd like to install Linux-based alternate firmwares. For OpenWRT you can check their Table of Hardware, random pick, the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH is good bang-for-your-buck. DD-WRT's equivalent table is here; you can actually get some routers, like Buffalo's WHR-HP-G54-DD, which come with DD-WRT pre-installed. Never actually tried DD-WRT myself . . . I'm a bit of an open-source zealot, and DD-WRT has had a somewhat sketchy record. Plus, have I mentioned Tomato has pretty graphs?

I don't even understand why any self-respecting geek would buy a router that couldn't run OpenWRT, Tomato or DD-WRT. The stock firmware of commercial routers is always just rubbish compared to the open source (ish, in the case of DD-WRT) replacements.

For setting up bandwidth limiting for OpenWRT, well, OpenWRT is for real men (or real women), as this wiki page should make clear. Losta commandline and config files; there are web frontends but I'm unsure if any let you fiddle with these kinds of powers. But if you're looking for fine-tuned control, OpenWRT is pretty much a distro in its own right so the possibilities are pretty vast.

For Tomato (which I use 'cause the graphs are pretty), unlike what SighKoPath has said here, you don't have to set up specific rules for each MAC or IP; just set up the classifications for your own devices, then in QoS -> Basic Settings set the Default Class to something like, say, Class E. Now you can set the bandwidth limits for random strangers in Class E and any device or type of traffic that you don't have an overriding rule for gets categorized in Class E, so any new random neighbor devices will fall into that class. Simple.

As far as routers go, a lot of existing routers (as long as you didn't buy a really bad one with too little memory to even install anything to) are supported by at least one of the three main firmwares. Tomato is far more restricted in terms of choice, but if you can't find a spare WRT-54Gv1-4 lying around, Linksys deliberately sells the WRT-54GL for the sake of folks who'd like to install Linux-based alternate firmwares. For OpenWRT you can check their Table of Hardware, random pick, the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH is good bang-for-your-buck. DD-WRT's equivalent table is here; you can actually get some routers, like Buffalo's WHR-HP-G54-DD, which come with DD-WRT pre-installed. Never actually tried DD-WRT myself . . . I'm a bit of an open-source zealot, and DD-WRT has had a somewhat sketchy record. Plus, have I mentioned Tomato has pretty graphs?

A router should support both modes simultaneously, offering itself as two access points. Encrypted links should have higher packet priority over nonencrypted links, so that guest access can't starve out authorized users.

You can also do this without having two access points.
I would use OpenWRT on a cheap consumer-grade router.If you want to provide a guest network as well as a secure, encrypted network for yourself, you could install a VPN solution on the router, e.g. OpenVPN. You would then connect to your unencrypted WiFi but then tunnel all your traffic over the VPN. The guest user can just connect normally. That also allows you to restrict guest users to some services, as well as using different QoS and traffic shaping (bandwith throttling) settings. Some info on traffic shaping on Linux routers can be found here, as well as here (specific to openwrt)..

There is a nice table of hardware supported by OpenWRT here.
I wouldn't say that is an easy way the average consumer could do though. It requires some knowledge of Linux as well as Networking.

A router should support both modes simultaneously, offering itself as two access points. Encrypted links should have higher packet priority over nonencrypted links, so that guest access can't starve out authorized users.

You can also do this without having two access points.
I would use OpenWRT on a cheap consumer-grade router.If you want to provide a guest network as well as a secure, encrypted network for yourself, you could install a VPN solution on the router, e.g. OpenVPN. You would then connect to your unencrypted WiFi but then tunnel all your traffic over the VPN. The guest user can just connect normally. That also allows you to restrict guest users to some services, as well as using different QoS and traffic shaping (bandwith throttling) settings. Some info on traffic shaping on Linux routers can be found here, as well as here (specific to openwrt)..

There is a nice table of hardware supported by OpenWRT here.
I wouldn't say that is an easy way the average consumer could do though. It requires some knowledge of Linux as well as Networking.

Forget being a nice guy, and in this case, the EFF's recommendations. Aside from the issues you raise yourself, this story should be all it takes to convince you of the foolishness of such a policy these days.

To answer your question directly, yes, some consumer AP / Routers can shape traffic like you're asking. You will need to divide your network into multiple VLANs, I would suggest three: One wireless and wide open, one wireless and secure for your use, and one for the wired side. Then, bandwidth limit the free wireless, route appropriately, and apply a security policy to protect yourself. You might also consider logging all that "free" traffic so when the Feds show up with a warrant, you have some kind of audit trail to get yourself out of jail.

I'm not aware of any consumer grade equipment that will do this out of the box. On the other hand, there are several free / open firmware projects that replace the factory firmware that are linux based, and may be able to meet your needs. A couple (by no means all) of these projects are http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index> dd-wrt and https://openwrt.org/> Open-wrt .

Beware though, that not all of the consumer hardware is created equally internally. Research carefully the hardware / replacement firmware combinations to make sure you can get where you want to be before spending money. You'll also be stressing the hardware far beyond it's original design, so opt for more RAM and a faster embedded processor.

Gee, this sounds like a PITA.....

Hope this helps, and that you don't get arrested.

--Red

Because wireless cannot provide the bandwidth... should give you an idea how far away from reality thoughts that wired is expired and wireless is the way to go are

Sounds like you are saying wireless can not provide the bandwidth...which I totally agree with,

... however than you say wireless is the way to go or at least it seemed to me. I must disagree with that...which is it?.

Not that it matters as anything other than Fiber To The Home (FTTH) is a ponzi scheme, false promises, waste of time and money. Only FTTH offers us a viable future! Why should Americans continue to settle for less? Japan had 100Mb/100Mb in 2000 and 1Gb/1Gb in 2006, its 2011...hello, 768Kbps is broadband, really? NOT!

The current NON-synchronous Internet providers are NOT providing you the bandwidth you are paying for? Instead of “up to” some lie, how about a money back guarantee if your upstream bandwidth falls below the FCC definition? Even that is over 11 years out of date and way too slow. There is no way in heck they are going to provide more bandwidth via wireless, it does not matter how many Gs they promise you. Everyone knows that wired infrastructure, specifically Fiber To The Home (FTTH) is far, far superior to wireless 3G, 4G, 10G anything.

I bet I can serve more clients on a wired synchronous FTTH home network with a DD-WRT, OpenWRT or tomato firmware enabled firewall/router than the cellular company can serve via any level of G wireless...but that is not the point, even if it is not entirely accurate. At least I would know with 100% certainty exactly what my broadband bandwidth really is 24X7X365 thanks to the bandwidth monitors in those firmwares! Speed Tests lie!

Any technology other than Fiber all the way into the Home (FTTH) (not GPON, FTTC, DOCSIS, 3G, 4G,...10G, etc...) is simply a waste of time and a very poor attempt by your provider to extend the bandwidth scarcity myth. They use lies, like bandwidth scarcity to extort higher and higher monthly fees from you (going up yearly) forever. Or until you can no longer afford it and they dump you.

If any market was honestly FREE, prices would fluctuate both up and down, unless of course the market is NOT FREE or the provider is severely incompetent. I know what I believe and somewhat know to be true....WAKE UP.

... if its all evenly distributed... that means you would need 800 Gig's per square mile of wireless bandwidth.. We are talking data capacity... Realistically your not going to go for the wired equivalent... capacity of one of the points of aggregation/concentration...

But any way you look at it... To do a project like what Google is envisioning is not feasibly done because neither the spectrum availability is there nor equipment that could provide this type of point to multi-point network...

Back in 2006, people way smarter than you and I managed to take a single strand of Fiber and multiplex it (increase the bandwidth) from 1X bandwidth to 1024X bandwidth. This was over 4 years ago. So to say we do NOT have the technology to provide it is not accurate either. Virtually unlimited bandwidth if you are smart and run Fiber, un-interrupted by inferior technologies, all the way into the subscribers home. Not just to their neighborhood.

As for not being feasible, tell the over 20 communities with synchronous FTTH listed on this map...they all did it, therefore your hypothesis is very, very wrong. It most certainly can be done. It has been done. Hopefully you are not a shill for the industry, but if you are, be