Slashdot Mirror
Open Source Router To Replace WRT54GL?
jeremyz writes "With the inclusion of 802.11n in more and more Wi-Fi devices, the WRT54GL is losing its usefulness, even though it's still the de-facto standard for open source, Linux-running wireless routers. I've been looking around for a 802.11n router to replace the WRT54GL, but haven't really found anything besides the Netgear's WNR3500L. At first look, the WNR3500L looked great, but after some further investigation, I found that Netgear hasn't released all of the source, as they should have to comply with the GPL. Are there any good 802.11n routers to replace my aging WRT54GL?"
PC Engines' ALIX routers are my favorite: http://www.pcengines.ch/alix.htm
(no I don't work for them, I'm not even from Europe)
They have all kind of configuration options, removable storage, lots of case options, they're reliable and they're pretty fast. They run a few distros, including OpenWRT, so you can choose what your favorite Linux or BSD router distro is and have at it.
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
DDWRT Supported Devices
CTRL+F
"b/g/n"
Conversation over.
I was in the same situation... WRT45GL just wasn't cutting it anymore.
So I bought a small ITX board that supports PCI-E, at least 1GB of RAM, a dual-interface PCI-E network card, a case that could house it and a good gigabit switch. I currently run pfSense 1.2.3 off a 1GB USB flash drive.
I deal only with wired clients in my network so this doesn't address the Wifi portion of the question.
I'm not listing any hardware because it changes all too often.
This is the expensive route to go but I felt it was worth it for my needs.
More than likely you won't need the PCI-E dual-interface network card and an onboard dual-nic ITX board would suffice. I just happened to have mine from a previous project.
I built mine before the Intel Atom craze hit the streets. I don't know if they are powerful enough from experience although I'm sure you'd be fine.
As always with hardware and networking, YMMV.
You realize it's a router, not a switch, right? This is going to be hooking up to your ISP... which probably isn't anywhere near fast ethernet, let alone gigabit. If you want gigabit, hook it up to a gigabit switch. If your network edge is gigabit, get real networking hardware because nothing netgear (or PC Engines) sells is going to handle that extremely well.
As far as wifi, it's mini-pci, so you can choose whatever hardware you want. Want a really nice high watt atheros N card? You can use it and you can easily use any antenna you want as well.
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
The ASUS RT-N16 is the best consumer product I've found for dd-wrt so far. 128Mb RAM and 480mHz processor, 802.11n and 2 usb ports.
I'm very happy with the unit for the following reasons:
1) crack it open and you can remove the wireless card and replace it with your own.
2) will run with openwrt
3) I'm shocked at the amount of abuse mine took. The wireless card had been glued to the router board using some kind of foam. I think the combination of the glue used and the heat from the device made it stick together strongly. I ended up using a pair of scissors to pry them apart and I thought for certain I had ruined either the card of the router board. Much to my surprise when I unbent the clips for the card it started working fine (I was prepared to trash the router in order to try and get the card out).
4) I've flashed the unit several times between the stock and various other images. The thing always comes back from the dead if you take your time and understand what you're doing. I guess it's firmware has some issue in how it addresses the interfaces which causes a conflict when trying to run something like FON (or so I'm told. Not certain how this applies if you're running openwrt). I bought mine a few years ago now when the N standard wasn't on a lot of hardware at the time. I haven't tested it's functionality in that regard.
I'm planning on buying a decent Atheros based card for it and use it in Sept. Hope this was helpful in some way.
Cheers, S.
The ASUS RT-N16, Linksys WRT610N, and Netgear WNR3500L look promising. They're all supported by dd-wrt and in theory could work with openwrt. The Asus is some nice hardware for $90.
It's news to me too, but that 250 Mbps you're talking about indeed does require gigabit ethernet.
Truth arises more readily from error than from confusion. -Francis Bacon
The Linksys Refurbished WRT610N-RM for $110 free shipping in the US. The router might not be "open source" but you can and should load dd-wrt onto it. http://homestore.cisco.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=83108078&categoryId=85185 http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_WRT610N
RouterStation Pro has everything:
:))
-gigE
-mini pci slot for wifi cards
-enough ram for pretty much anything
(some assembly required
I do not work for them, and am not payed by them, just a happy user
i read your email
You're absolutely right. Several years ago, we were looking at firewall solutions for our GigE pipes. Lots of people had GigE copper inputs, but when we pushed for details it always came down to the simple fact that their hardware couldn't push that kind of traffic.
We looked at building our own PC based boxes to do it. It all came down to the fact that the cards couldn't really push the speeds.
The only solution for GigE that can achieve full line speed is the proper hardware, and you're going to pay a premium for that. You want to route or switch GigE speeds, you're going to put in something like a Cisco Catalyst 6500 series switch (or better). You can pick up a 6500 fairly cheap these days on eBay. Well, cheap in relative terms. It won't be anywhere near the cost of a Linksys AP. :)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
Look here . . . http://www.linksysinfo.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=160
It's a Lynksys forum, but the Tomato subforum is what you are looking for.
A bullet may have your name on it, but artillery is addressed to " Whom It May concern"
Real 100mbps do require gigabit. If a router is rated for 100mbps, that's its theoretical limit. It won't actually support constant 100mbps.
Not everyone is from the US, you insentivide clod. We have fiber to home up to 1Gbps.
200mbps + 116 HD channels + Phone w/ unlimited calls = 100E/month.
Dilbert RSS feed
One of my local ISPs in Portugal is offering a home connection of 1gpbs (up and down), plus HD TV for 250E / month. Yes, it's expensive, but it's not a 5 figure, not by a long shot.
Dilbert RSS feed
The ASUS RT-N16 is an awesome router that is supported by DD-WRT and has been reported to work with Tomato. The stock firmware is pretty good too. It has some impressive specifications:
You should be able to find one for about $100.
Keep your WRT54G, and just upgrade the wireless to 802.11n. I did it with an AirPort Express connected to one of the ethernet ports in bridge mode. In the real world, 802.11n rarely saturates the 100baseT ethernet, so you get almost all the speed, without having to reconfigure everything from scratch. As a bonus, you can still host a separate 802.11b/g network on the old router to support legacy devices without jamming up your N network.
"Where can you get a gig-e connection at home?"
Sweden, where an old lady has a 40Gbps connection.
You must be new here.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Cablevision's Optimum Ultra is rated at 101mbps. And they recommend a Gig-e router to get close to the rated speed. Docsis 3 standard is good for up to 171/343 mbps depending on the number of allocated channels so it's conceivable that most cable providers will be able to pass the 100 mbps barrier in the near future. So if one buys a router these days, it's a good idea to future proof it and get one that has gig-e ports.
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
I'm also from Portugal.
Although you are technically correct, if you are referring to ZON's service, I should say that I highly doubt they'll deliver the 1Gbps they claim (given all my previous experiences with this ISP).
Also, given the arbitrary download limits they have, I'm not so sure a 1Gbps pipe from ZON is a good idea (i.e. in the contractual fine print, they say you have unlimited data transfers up to "reasonable levels of consumption" but NOWHERE does it specify an actual objective limit; if you do transfer data above what they consider "reasonable", they _will_ phone you and attempt to harass you, as I've seen being done before, NEVER actually telling you what the "reasonability threshold" really is).
Caveat emptor.