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Ask Slashdot: Life Beyond the WRT54G Series?

Posted by timothy on from the blue-pill-that-stacks-neatly dept.

First time accepted submitter jarmund (2752233) writes "I first got a WRT54GL in 2007. Now, 7 years later, it's still churning along, despite only having one of its antennae left after an encounter with a toddler. As it is simply not up to date to today's standards (802.11N for example), what is a worthy successor? I enjoyed the freedom to choose the firmware myself (I've run Tomato on it since 2008), in addition to its robustness. A replacement will be considered second-rate unless it catered for the same freedom as its predecessor." Is there a canonical best household router nowadays?

22 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. +1 for this Post by haknick · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Been looking for another router for almost a year now, and still haven't been convinced of a better one than my WRT54GL

    1. Re:+1 for this Post by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Informative

      I have a Linksys E900 I've been running DD-WRT on for a while, and never had a lick of trouble with it until this week, when the WAN port fried thanks to a power surge (caused by some dumbass with a drill...).

      That's the router I'd recommend, as it's 802.11n, has enough space in flash to support a pretty feature-rich build of DD-WRT, and can be had for less than $50.

      Product Page

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    2. Re:+1 for this Post by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Informative

      Linksys hardware is crappy, unfortunately. Also, it is debatable if any hardware made by a US company can be trusted, especially since Linksys is a subsidiary of Cisco who are the NSA's bitch.

      I recommend Buffalo. Their hardware is made for the Japanese market where symmetrical gigabit internet connections are not uncommon, and thus they are capable of routing close to 1000Mb/sec over the WAN interface. Massive overkill for western internet connections, but once you add in some filtering and traffic shaping you start to see why that kind of processing power and memory is needed.

      Buffalo hardware is generally bulletproof and lasts. Some models come with DD-WRT pre-installed, many others fully support it. They are not too expensive either, and support all the latest stuff like 802.11ac and most importantly 5GHz.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:+1 for this Post by LVSlushdat · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm using an Asus RT-N12, which runs any of the DD-WRT (or DD-WRT-ish clones), and since it has 8MB of flash, it runs the "max" version of Shibby's version of Tomato. This version has everything but the kitchensink, like OpenVPN, ipv6 support, including 4to6 tunnels. Since I'm on Cox, who doesn't seem to have any plan to roll out ipv6, its the only way for me to use ipv6 currently. It also has vlan support, virtual "guest" wifi support, and believe it or not, even has Tor node support.. I had been using a venerable WRT54GL for the last 7 years or so, but really wanted the vlan/guest wifi support and of course, ipv6 thru a tunnelbroker tunnel, and there was no way to shoehorn that into the measley 4mb of flash on the WRT54GL.. I read a few reviews on the RT-N12, and was pleasantly suprised, so I found one on eBay for a nice price, and waited for it to arrive. It was at that point I discovered the fact there are two distinct "versions" of the RT-N12. one a flat white box with the two antennas, which only has 4mb of flash... and then theres the black wedge-shaped version, which has the 8mb of flash... Guess which one I bought on eBay.. So, now I have a spare router around in case I need something quick. I proceeded to order the right one from another vendor, and flashed Tomato, and am happy as a clam with it... The old WRT54GL is still running as a wifi bridge on an older version of Tomato, being used to provide a cabled connection to the wife's computer in the living room. Previously I'd had a PCI wifi card in the system, but wanted to get rid of that.. Now with the WRT54GL there, I can plug my laptop in on the desk also without using wifi...

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    4. Re:+1 for this Post by NoMaster · · Score: 4, Informative

      ... especially since Linksys is a subsidiary of Cisco who are the NSA's bitch.

      No they're not. Cisco flogged Linksys off a year or more ago to Belkin - which, granted, is an even bigger reason to avoid them.

      --
      What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
    5. Re:+1 for this Post by Zebai · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm using a netgear WNDR3800 with gargoyle branded vs of openwrt. Works absolutely perfect, its an older model now but I don't need AC support and it's above average cpu and memory for a router even under heavy usage its barely peaks over 20% capacity and I've never noticed a single time where it has dropped my connection or need to be reset at all in the past 4 years

      Memory Usage:17.7MB / 123.7MB (14.3%)
      Connections:337/4096
      CPU Load Averages:0.07 / 0.03 / 0.05 (1/5/15 minutes)

    6. Re:+1 for this Post by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, I'll probaby catch flak for this but I've been using Apple Airport Extreme for years now and they are very good products. I've now got a recent but not newest model (N not AC), always had one of the best signals in my neighborhood, and I'm only running 1/2 power. I am very impressed with the design and quality. I have every reason to like them... except one.

      Unless something changes, I will never buy another Apple router. Why? Because they crippled the software.

      Apple's Airport Utility (the router's setup and diagnostics software) was always very nice, despite the amount of automation. For example, if this setting was not compatible with that other setting, you can't choose it but that was done in an intelligent way, not capriciously. All the essentials were there in Airport Utility 5.6: upstream config, downstream config, security, guest network, channels (manual or auto), wide or narrow, ACL, NAT, proxy, IPv6, port mapping yada yada yada.

      But Airport Utility 6.0 changed all that. Now it's all dumbed down. I guess dumb airhead customers don't have any need to look at logs or see who's connected for example. Meh.

      Apple's new AC Airport Extreme router is really nice. Yet again, the physical layout and electronics are very well designed. 3 MIMO 5GHz antennas, 3 MIMO 2.4 GHz antennas, beamforming, the whole schmear.

      But the router I now own is the latest one that is compatible with Airport Utility 5.6. Unless I can find software that is a hell of a lot closer to the hardware than Apple's latest Airport Utility, AFAIAC all that good design is wasted, because it's a product I don't want. And Apple is not very bright by chasing away loyal customers because it wants to "simplify" things too much. I've said this for years about apple: adding and even changing functionality are good if done for good reasons. But remove features, and you piss off your loyal customers. Which is a very bad idea.

      End rant.

  2. Buffalo by Jaysyn · · Score: 4, Informative

    Personally I love my Buffalo routers running DD-WRT. I'm pretty sure you can run Tomato on them too, but I thought it wasn't maintained anymore.

    --
    There is a war going on for your mind.
    1. Re:Buffalo by Nimey · · Score: 5, Informative

      Tomato itself is no longer maintained, but there are several mods out there. I use Shibby's mod for my Asus RT-N16.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    2. Re:Buffalo by rahvin112 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Be careful with Buffalo, they have switched major components before with just a version number that sometimes didn't even appear on the box. There are versions of the same router that aren't supported by OpenWRT and DD-WRT because they swapped in a cheaper component that wasn't Linux compatible. People opened the box and found nasty surprises. I'd always wait a while after Buffalo releases a product then watch the reviews before you purchase to make sure they haven't pulled a WZR-HP-AG300NH again.

      I say this as an owner of the router I quoted but I got lucky and got the right version but I was only a month away from being one of the people that got burned.

  3. Re:Comcast Xfinity Wireless Router by apraetor · · Score: 4, Funny

    And, like any STI, it's guaranteed you'll never get rid of Comcast, too!

  4. Everyone: please be specific! by mrchaotica · · Score: 5, Informative

    Every time I've tried to figure out this question for myself, I've run into a maze of "router [foo 600] works but [foo 601] doesn't, unless you have [foo 601 revision 2, 3, or 5] with firmware version X but not firmware Y." If you just tell us a brand name or something, your post is fucking useless!

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  5. Mikrotik by Cigamit · · Score: 5, Informative

    I use Mikrotiks for just about everything nowadays. I haven't really found any situation that it couldn't do the function I required, even when it was something as complex as L7 regexing on a URL to force specific requests into a different priority queue.

    http://routerboard.com/RB951G-...

  6. I've moved to Mikrotik by mysqlbytes · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've moved over to a Mikrotik RB2011 series device and I have to say I'm loving it. Has all the features I need, and even though the hardware is 3 years old at this stage, it's still alot faster than the older WRT devices. Interface and command line are a little whacky, and hard to get used to, but once you do, you'll never go back. http://routerboard.com/RB2011U...

  7. Just follow the steps... by ElBeano · · Score: 4, Informative

    1. Pick your favorite firmware 2. Check the lists to see which routers are supported 3. Check forums and reviews on the equipment, with the firmware in question (many perform better with dd-wrt than stock) 4. Make your choice

  8. Re:Option: Linksys WRT1900ac by sinij · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If it lasts for 7+ years like WRT54GL, cost of ownership wouldn't be that high, just upfront costs.

  9. They used to call me paranoid... by chaoskitty · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have long advocated for separating everything - the cable modem / DSL modem should JUST be an interface to the upstream provider, with no NAT and DEFINITELY with no wireless. See the issues with Xfinity and other providers who are now piggybacking their "free" Wifi on customers' connections - I bet it'll be shown in the near future that the already existing NAT table size issues, which already cause many consumer devices to be problematic, are being exacerbated by trying to maintain state entries for the "free" wireless, too.

    So you have a cable / DSL modem which is in bridge mode. Then you have some sort of NAT device. If you like running your own OS, a Raspberry Pi or some other tiny StrongARM device is cheap and can run whatever GNU/Linux or BSD you like. Heck, you can even still use your WRT54GL if the CPU in it isn't limiting the speed of your upstream connection.

    Then, you have your wireless device. Again, I strongly recommend something that just does bridging - you have the simplest setup because you're not using the wireless device for NAT or any other "features". With all the stories about consumer devices having poor security and intentional back doors, the less exposure, the better. Personally, I pay extra for Apple because the 802.11ac Airport Extreme does wonders with existing 802.11n clients.

    The great thing about this is that you can have as many segments as you want without needing a switch which does VLANs. You can plug two USB-ethernets into a Raspberry Pi, for instance, and keep your wireless and wired networks on completely different segments. Or three, and you can have your old device provide a completely separate guest network.

    The best thing about this setup is that if one device fails or is shown to be insecure and the manufacturers won't fix it, you can just replace that one device.

  10. ASUS RT-AC68U, Stock Firmware 3.0.0.4.376.1663 by highvista63 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I very recently replaced my faithful WRT54G with an ASUS RT-AC68U router. Over several weeks, it has never had an issue. I am running a mix of 802.11ac/g/n clients. Range and performance are fine. I live in an apartment with a very crowded 2.4GHz band and it still blasts through fine. The 5GHz band isn't as crowded and is great for the N and AC clients--wish the Chromecast had support for N on 5GHz. And if you want a slightly-tweaked custom firmware, a hobbyist developer maintains the Merlin firmware that is widely admired and used.

  11. ASUS RT-N16 by Cthefuture · · Score: 4, Informative

    Follow the herd: RT-N16 running Tomato or similar firmware. Gigabit, 802.11N, USB, open-source.

    One of the most popular routers ever made and the natural successor to the WRT54.

    --
    The ratio of people to cake is too big
    1. Re:ASUS RT-N16 by DeathByLlama · · Score: 4, Informative

      I would have to second this: The ASUS RT-N16 (or even the Asus RT-N66) is the 802.11N successor

      If you're looking for the latest tech (802.11AC), I would say the go-to would probably the Asus RT-AC66U or Asus RT-AC68U (or for internal antennae, the Asus RT-AC56U) with the close runner up being the Netgear AC1900

      As you can see, Asus has really taken hold of the "open source router" market (you can install Tomato/DD-WRT on these), much as the WRT-54G did back in the day.

  12. Real router hardware is the next step. by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Informative

    I abandoned the toy routers a while ago, bought a used Firebox X700 on ebay for dirt and installed pfSense. Is it fast enough to route a 10,000Base T internet II connection? nope, but it's fast enough for anything that Comcast can throw at it, plus there is a metric buttload of add-on's plus you get epic street cred with your digital posse'.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  13. Re: The canonical best household router is by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you use a PC as a router though you can do far more with that spare power though, It can also be your DNS server, your home VPN server, SSH, server, Radius server, firewall, tor access point, FTP server, OpenID Server, ...
    That extra power gives a lot of flexibility.

    --
    ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.