Take a plain, ordinary (read: boring, with limited functionality) $60 wireless router and supercharge it with cool features and lots more functionality, control, and diagnostics. There's much more under the hood of these devices than is accessible with the vendor's default firmware versions. Even the updates from the vendor's support website unlock only a fraction of the router's capabilities.Third-party developers have made firmware upgrades available that unleash a lot more functionality.' What is this 'firmware' of which you speak?' Well, that router is really just a fancy pile of switches waiting to be told what to do; that's the hardware. The firmware consists of the start-up instructions that make those switches actually do things.
It's called firmware because it's not in the form of traditional 'software' - it's not on a moving disk. It is stored on a non-volatile memory (NVRAM) chip. The good news is: the vendors allow changes to that chip, so if they produce new versions of firmware, you - the end-user - can copy another version into NVRAM, letting your old device do new tricks. It also means that the chip can hold other code - code written by someone other than the original vendor. Note: I'm working on an updated version of this '-able' using firmware release v.24 SP1.
1) the version of the router, to know what the technical details are for your specific model 2) Download the from Linksys. This is a TFTP utility needed for upgrading to any DD-WRT firmware type except 'generic' 3) Download latest firmware from DD-WRT page: 3.1) Download the Mini firmware for your specific router model. Mini flash is required for all upgrades, as an interim stage between Linksys firmware and the final DD-WRT firmware configuration. 3.2) The Standard, VPN & VOIP versions have different feature sets, but all share the same core extended functionality.
3.3) If zip files are downloaded, there are different file versions within for the different router models, so be careful which file you select when upgrading. 4) Reset the router to. The router's default configuration should now be the following: 4.1) IP address: 192.168.1.1 4.2) Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 4.3) Username: admin 4.4) Password: admin. 1) Assign the Ethernet port on your laptop/desktop a static address that matches the default factory subnet of the router. Follow these steps to assign a address.
(It's possible to perform the upgrade with a DHCP address, but a static address is more reliable.) 2) Use an Ethernet cable to connect to the router through a 10/100 port for performing the flash upgrade. (It's possible to flash the router via a wireless interface, but it's much more reliable to use a wired connection.) Use a web browser to connect to the router's administration interface using the above credentials. The result should look something like this. Perform a hard reset on the router. It should then restart with the DD-WRT 'mini' firmware successfully applied. The DD-WRT firmware has different login credentials, and the mini firmware upgrade sets the following values: 1. IP address: 192.168.1.1 2.
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 3. Username: root 4. Password: admin The default web page displays an overview system information page without requiring a login (Note the current active version in the upper-right of the router's web interface, and the new default router name). Sometimes a flash upgrade attempt gone awry can disable some components - such as the 10/100 ports - and leave other services functional. It may be necessary to configure a static IP address on the default IP subnet to communicate via the 10/100 ports, instead of relying on receiving a DHCP-assigned address.
Note: even though all warnings say never flash the router across a wireless interface, it is possible to do so successfully. I have found that in some cases a bad flash attempt disables the LAN ports; the only option in this instance is to connect to the 'bricked' router trough the wireless interface. Unbricking a WRT54G router. Nino: a v1.0 router.
DD-WRT: from a bad firmware flash. on how to recover from a bad flash upgrade, from the Linksys Knowledgebase. Here are just some of the features that this DD-WRT firmware makes available that transform this router into something far cooler than the vendor firmware provides:. Adjust transmit power - boost the wireless transmitter up to a whopping 251mW.
Note: Please keep in mind that FCC regulations restrict wireless transmit levels for devices like these. Turn up the power incrementally until you get the level of service you need; you do not want to get noticed by the Fed. You could also 'drown out' other wireless signals that use the same channel. A lot depends on the antenna configuration used and other factors, so just be careful. If you want more range, check out WDS below. Afterburner - WRT54GS routers support technology, and with wireless clients that support this feature, wireless performance can be increased significantly.
QoS - Use to prioritize types of network traffic. Let some applications have more bandwidth than ohers!. Dynamic DNS - Even without a static IP address from your service provider, you can access your router with a DNS name. Provides a free service to associate a DNS name with your router (There are other DDNS providers, as well).
If you need to get to your router from the outside world, dynamic DNS lets you have a consistent name that stays the same, even when its dynamic address changes (which it will, frequently). Advanced routing features - Configure your router as a border router using BGP or OSPF. VLANs!
- establish virtual network segments using IDs and create more sophisticated network configurations. WDS - allows your router to talk to other routers as access points. This means you can extend the range of your network by letting routers talk with each other as bridges, resulting in wider network coverage. WEP, WPA and WPA2 methods. RADIUS authentication - provide for strong network authentication by accessing an external server to verify credentials. Virtual Private Network access - reach your internal network resources from the outside world using a secure tunnel.
(This requires the VPN firmware version). UPnP - allows applications to automatically setup port forwardings. Command shell - Add specific startup and/or firewall commands to be run when the router starts up to create even more customized configurationsThere are many other features that this firmware supports. I have just highlighted what I think might be of interest to some users. The help functionality built into the firmware is great, so poke around and don't be afraid to try things.
Linksys Wrt54gc Ver 2.0 Firmware Update Windows 10
Oh yeah, make sure you back up your configuration before trying new features, just in case. Just remember, your mileage may vary. Finally, here are some additional resources that may help with the upgrade process:. utility, from Linksys. Actually a TFTP utility, it's a very useful tool for upgrading Linksys router firmware. An outstanding utility, it includes a TFTP server daemon and client. It also has DHCP, SNTP and SYSLOG server functionality.
The 'Ask LinkSys' link under Support Tools on the website. Choose 'Technical Support' under the Support tab. The 'Ask LinkSys' option is on the left. The Tech Support page is helpful for walking through lots of different issues and finding support documents quickly. This is how i have my network set up so i can tell you for curtain that this works. Upstairs = DD-WRT router connected to cable modem and providing hard wire connections to a Network Accessible storage and a printer.
This router also provides a wireless net work to the up stairs residents / guests Downstairs = DD-WRT router connected to the upstairs router (wireless). This router provides hard wire connections to my MythTV back end server and to a desktop PC. This router also provides a second wireless network to provide a strong wireless signal for the downstairs residents / guests. All equipment can be accessed or restricted by the system architect / administrator. DD-WRT is extremely powerful and reliable.
I have been using it for years. And yes, other access points have no trouble extending this network even further. You've got a ver.
5.0 WRT54G router. They don't recommend using this router, as it has less memory than older versions and uses a 3rd-party Linux firmware.
4.0 and below have 16MB of RAM and 4MB flash built in, but 5.0 and above have only 8MB/2MB. (Ver 7.0 has Atheros hardware and is not supported at all with the DD-WRT firmware upgrade.) Ver. 5 & 6 use the 3rd-party a Linux firmware and require a special extra utility to deal with that VXWorks firmware build.If you do plan to try flashing this router, only use the Micro DD-WRT upgrade (because of smaller RAM/flash capacity) and get the VXworks utility. I've never used it, so until I stumble across a v.5 or 6 router to try this on, you're on your own.Serial numbers starting with CDF0 - CDFA are ver.
1.0 through 4.0 and should all work with the standard DD-WRT firmware. They're available pretty cheap if you look around.I hope this helps!- Geoff. I'm going to make a bunch of assumptions here, so please correct me if I don't have all the information quite right. This is a business with DSL as their single Internet access pipe.
They have both wired and wireless for their business users, and they want to be able to offer wireless to customers that is restricted to internet access only, no customer visibility onto the business network. The business wants to use a single Linksys DSL router to do this. Is this correct? I'm thinking that this is beyond the ability of this device/firmware. In this scenario, you would really want 2 separate SSIDs and force the customer SSID direct to the WAN interface using static routing.
The idea is to make customer access simple, providing an open, wireless SSID that wireless users could just attach to easily. Don't have them go through any manual config contortions, then the business stumbles into the business of providing wireless internet access in addition to their primary business. Also, you would likely want some way to throttle the amount of bandwidth used by customers, so someone in the waiting are doesn't soak up all your bandwidth with a monster download. (We're now entering the part of the discussion where I'm going to make some suggestions, but having never tried them with this device, they're only possible ideas.) There are a bunch of ways to handle this.
One could be to get another Linksys router, configure it with a different SSID, and set up static routing under 'Setup.Advanced Routing' and force traffic to the WAN port. Another would be to get a more capable router, something with access list capability.
Or possibly a layer-3 switch using VLANs could also address this issue. Help me understand the scenario more, but I think what is desired here is beyond the capability of this inexpensive router, even after being flashed with DD-WRT firmware. Ultimately, this discussion is way beyond the scope of this Instructable.
It might make more sense to check out the website for support and user forums. Someone there would likely have a whole lot more information than I have on this particular topic. Good walkthrough. And DD-WRT is the best alternative firmware unless you're hardcore enough to go Open-WRT. One thing though, I've witnessed this personally on high end analysis equipment, but boosting the transmit power doesn't boost it as you'd expect. You do get a boost, but not nearly 251mW eqv, more like 70mW eqv and the peak is more of a plateau covering adjacent channels with nearly equal strength.
Also, Linksyses tend to run warm as it is and this makes it worse. Heat will kill routers, a case fan sitting on top can't hurt. The total energy output may be 251mW, but it gets really inefficient. For the record I keep mine at 84mW, its a comprimise. My understanding of the power setting is this: The router should permit a power setting that high, and it should not have any negative impact on the router itself.
The impact could be on other devices using the same or similar frequencies. A power setting this high could 'drown out' signals from other devices by overpowering those devices with its own very strong signal. The question is one of diminishing returns.
A power setting of 200mw is not twice as good as 100mw, it's only marginally better.For example, a high power setting on your router could impact a neighbor's router and render their wireless service useless, because you may be using the same channel assignment. I think this is why the consumer devices have low upper limits, because the possibility of 'stepping on' another device is much greater in an environment where they are likely to be used (read: residential, non-commercial, non-governmental, etc.).This is where I need to say that I don't recommend going above the pre-modded limits, except for testing purposes.
You never know who you might be making angry by boosting your power too high. You could have an FCC engineer living in the next apartment, and when s/he discovers you're transmitting above 'normal' levels you might get a knock at the door from some folks you don't want to be talking to, inquiring about some sort of 'hacking' that may be going on in your vicinity.Simply put, play nice. Be smart about modding, and use your head when experimenting with any setting that may stray outside the normal range.Have fun! I hope this instructable is helpful.- Geoff. Unfortunately, the version of the firmware used in this Instructable does not support the WAP54G. (I posted the list of supported hardware in an earlier reply, below.) I would guess it could work, because it seems the WAP54G is simply a WRT54G without the additional wired ports, but I have never actually laid hands on a WAP54G, let alone open one up and poke around.I'm not sure it's worth experimenting with this particular firmware version, unless you can confirm that the hardware configuration matches one of the supported routers in the supported list.
Take a look at the DD-WRT website to see if they have any firmware versions that support this device. It might also be worth posting a message on one of their forums to see if it's supported or if they have plans to support it.Let me know how you make out; I'd be happy to post an update with details about the WAP54G, as well.
There doesn't appear to be JTAG, but there is a solderpad area. I'll test it for serial, but for now is classified as 'unknown'.
Pin 11 seems to have some plusing output by the piezo buzzer test. I'll dig up some MAX233's and see what it says.Pictures and more information available on my website:.I really like this device: it's small and uses only 3.3v. I'd really love to get OpenWrt on it, possibly for a future version of my. The router is quite cheap at $39 (i got it for $29 on Black Friday), but at that price, most users would opt for other, fully supported, routers.Little test:chtitux@localhost /src $ nmap 192.168.2.1 -p 80 -AStarting Nmap 4.01 ( ) at 2006-06-10 19:15 CESTInteresting ports on 192.168.2.1:PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION80/tcp open http?1 service unrecognized despite returning data.
If you know the service/version, please submit the following fingerprint at:SF-Port80-TCP:V=4.01%I=7%D=6/10%Time=448AFE26%P=i686-pc-linux-gnu%r(GetReqSF:uest,8A,'HTTP/1.0x20401x20UnauthorizedrnServer:x20IPSHARERx20WESF:Bx201.0rnWWW-Authenticate:x20Basicx20realm='WRT54GC'rnContentSF:-type:x20text/htmlrnrn401x20Unauthorized');Is it linux-based? Probably not. It's returning part of your User-Agent message, or some other message that identifies the host OS type of the originating message.
All it tells us is that your computer is i686-pc-linux-gnu, but tells us nothing of the router. At 1MB FLASH, my money's on VxDoesntWorks.The WRT54GC is based on the Sercomm IP806SM reference design, which is same platform as the Airlink101 AR315W, Alloy WRT2454AP, and Hawking HWR54G (Rev. M).The unit comes with an internal antenna. It's possible to add an external antenna via the R-SMA plug.
There seems to be a mechanical switch that gets (de-)activated when you open the tap of the external antenna port.