[Cialug] Wi-fi recommendations

Mon Mar 10 13:45:18 CDT 2014

Does anyone have thoughts about security of DD-WRT? I know they had an
issue a couple years back or something. I must say, their development
process seems opaque, and the last build I find listed on their website for
my router was nearly a year ago. Can that possibly be secure?

(Though, I run it because of the same reason everyone else here proclaims:
it's stable as you can get on a good, supported router.

-Kenny

On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 1:37 PM, Brian Broughton
<brian-broughton at mchsi.com>wrote:

> Agreed, I have a ~$20 Linksys router, first thing I did was to reflash it
> with dd-wrt and it has been rock steady even with large file up and
> downloads.
>
> Plus the addition of features not included in the stock firmware in my
> opinion make this a must do for any router I purchase. You can make your
> config as simple or as complicated as you like or anything in between.  So
> why not get all the features that are available on your router?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On
> Behalf Of jim kraai
> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 1:20 PM
> To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Cialug] Wi-fi recommendations
>
> David,
>
> That would make a great Area515 workshop!
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 1:13 PM, David Champion <dchamp1337 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Again, if you take that cheap Linksys and replace the stock firmware
> > with DD-WRT, OpenWRT or Tomato, it will probaby run much better. I've
> > done this for friends that had the WRT-160n's for instance, they
> > didn't work worth anything with the stock firmware. Installed DD-WRT,
> > it's been running for over a year with no problems.
> >
> > They almost all use a similar processor chip, they may have smaller
> > amounts of RAM on the cheap versions so you need to install a version
> > of DD-WRT with a smaller footprint, but that's not a problem unless
> > you're trying to run extra stuff like Asterisk on it.
> >
> > If you'd like, we can do a DD-WRT demo at an upcoming LUG meeting. We
> > did one in the past, showed how to set it up as a router, wap or wifi
> bridge.
> >
> > -dc
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 12:33 PM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I will toss out one more point to consider... buying the cheapest
> > > router
> > in
> > > the line of whatever brand you pick is probably going to lead to
> > > frustration. For example, I had an old d-link router that worked for
> > > most basic stuff, but if I started using BitTorrent sometime between
> > > an hour
> > or
> > > 24 hours later the router would crash. Turns out that some routers
> > > get stressed out by activities that open many network sessions. They
> > > get hot and eventually need a reboot.
> > >
> > > Going up a notch or two in the price point usually gets you a device
> > > with more RAM and a better CPU and they are going to hold up to a
> > > variety of network activities, including those that aren't on our
> > > radar this year
> > but
> > > next year will be all the rage.
> > >
> > > I suspect this is why people will say, "I hate Linksys, love D-link"
> > > and then the next person says "I hate D-link, love Linksys" etc.
> > > There was a dark-age of router development probably 2008-2009-ish
> > > where cheaper was better and they cut a lot of corners on the
> > > hardware. A lot of brands
> > were
> > > using drastically different hardware even in the same models.
> > >
> > > It's probably still happening on the low-end products, so I'll just
> > > say I won't buy a $50 router again except for very special cases
> > > (i.e. a travel router).
> > >
> > >
> > > On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 12:08 PM, jim kraai <jimgkraai at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > > scott, that's a lotta bang for $25
> > > >
> > > > /me googling dd-wrt support for that router ...
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 11:53 AM, Scott Yates
> > > > <Scott at yatesframe.com>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > I have one further point to make in all these comparisons.
> > > > >
> > > > > Stability has been spotty among a LOT of the different brands I
> > > > > have
> > > > tried.
> > > > >  Typically d-link, belkin, and a LOT of linksys routers require
> > > periodic
> > > > > power cycling.
> > > > >
> > > > > I will say that netgear appears to be an exception, along with
> > > > > Cisco,
> > > > and a
> > > > > company called tp-link.  I am sure there are others, but as you
> > noted,
> > > > most
> > > > > people expect their devices to run without thinking about it
> > > > > after
> > the
> > > > > initial config.
> > > > >
> > > > > Here is a link to the TP-LINK router I bought and have been VERY
> > happy
> > > > with
> > > > > in case you want to check it out.
> > > > >
> > > > > http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UBU8IE
> > > > >
> > > > > If you don't want to buy a more expensive Cisco, and are uneasy
> > > > > with TP-Link (I had not heard of them myself, but DO like their
> > > > > gear),
> > then
> > > I
> > > > > would recommend doing your best to find a router that supports
> > DD-WRT,
> > > as
> > > > > it is probably the most likely to be stable, run on more
> > > > > inexpensive hardware and has a large community.
> > > > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Matthew Nuzum
> > > newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin and twitter
> > >
> > > ♫ You're never fully dressed without a smile! ♫
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> Kenneth Younger III
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