BUFFALO WHR-G54S wireless router $25 AR free shipping

[Marm]

With DD-WRT used for the firmware how much can you extedn the range? I know on the old WRT54G Linksys you could turn up the power from 28mw to over 200mw and I was looking to enxtend the range for cheap if possible.

Thanks

 

[highwire]

Originally posted by: Matt L
Well I did get mine, as I thought the store had 2 in stock and I grabbed one. I was able to do the on line order / in store pickup this morning.

The unit was a little strange to set up for me, I've been using a 5 year old SMC Barricade wireless, knew the settings there inside and out. Stumbled my way through changing the address ( my zippered TiVo has it's address permanently set...) and Changed and hid the SSID.

So, what should I know about other firmware? Is it something a non-power user needs to consider?

Glad you were finally able to get one.

A 5 year old Barricade? Me too. I know it like a book. It has been so good for so long, I hesitate to replace it.

I saw no reference to QoS in the Buffalo manual, so that means doing the firmware install to get it, prob Tomato. Wonder if IT will go trouble-free for 5 years?

 

[giantjoebot]

Originally posted by: Marm
With DD-WRT used for the firmware how much can you extedn the range? I know on the old WRT54G Linksys you could turn up the power from 28mw to over 200mw and I was looking to enxtend the range for cheap if possible.

Thanks

With the third DD-WRT you can turn it up to 200mw, but from what I understand you should only go up to 84mw, and anything more may cause damage.

 

[b0mbrman]

Well, that was convenient. Thank OP

 

[ATLien247]

Damnit! I just bought one of these from CC on 4/10 for $39.99 plus tax. I thought it was a good deal then, but now?

Meh... At least I don't have to hassle with MIRs.

 

[aldente]

Can I use my existing Dlink wireless adapters DWL-G520 REVB and DWL-G650 REVB5 using Atheros 5.0.0.107 drivers with this Buffalo router?

 

[1Cheap2Crazy]

Thanks OP.

 

[Spineshank]

If anyone is interested I found that if you change the Tomato firmware from a trx file to a bin file and then try to flash it via the gui of dd-wrt, it will work. And Tomato seems to be working a lot better for me.

 

[etrin]

Ok in for one.

Tomato is this a mac extension on the file or ??
Will use Windoze to install I guess....file work with factory flash software?


I noticed on the Tomato site there are links to several versions of the hacked firmware.

Are all basically the same?

Someone said Tomato interface looks better
Looks as in easier setup or better submenus or more help or ????

....anything else?

 

[RagingBITCH]

I liked DD-WRT over Tomato on my G54S. To be honest - the Buffalo w/out DD-WRT was a total POS...signal kept dropping out, etc. Amazing how much of a difference DD made.

 

[Spineshank]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
I liked DD-WRT over Tomato on my G54S. To be honest - the Buffalo w/out DD-WRT was a total POS...signal kept dropping out, etc. Amazing how much of a difference DD made.

See I have to totally disagree i had the exact issues with DD-WRT loaded. Ive seen quite a few people say tomato works better on this one.

 

[uallas5]

Thanks OP, picked up one yesterday. Quick and easy flash with DD-WRT after reading the directions and its been running well so far. Was able to get signal across the street from my apt., just to see if I could.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Is the rebate applicable to in store purchase? The site won't show any results for in store pickup...

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Is the rebate applicable to in store purchase? The site won't show any results for in store pickup...

yes...it was in the sales circular for this week..

 

[Ensign]

Originally posted by: giantjoebot

Originally posted by: Marm
With DD-WRT used for the firmware how much can you extedn the range? I know on the old WRT54G Linksys you could turn up the power from 28mw to over 200mw and I was looking to enxtend the range for cheap if possible.

Thanks

With the third DD-WRT you can turn it up to 200mw, but from what I understand you should only go up to 84mw, and anything more may cause damage.

Anyone know of a good source of information for how to extend the range? I've got a Netgear WGR614v4 that works well, but has crappy range from basement to first level of house. I'm hoping I can get better range/signal with this Buffalo doo-hickey.

Thanks!

 

[ncage]

well thanks op for the deal. I am giving this router another try but i will never go with dd-wrt again. I will go with tomato. From what ive heard its supposed to be the "debian" of the firmware world (they go for stability over features) so hopefully im happy. My x-550 kicked the bucket wheni stried to flash it to 1.6.

Ncage

 

[ncage]

Well received it today and flashed the newest version of tomato with no problem. So far tomato is awesome. While it does not have as many features as dd-wrt it has a lot more features than most stock firmwares out there. The QOS section was a little confusing for me at first but i think i got it figured out now. I tested using my phone while running a speed test on dslreports and everything thing sounded clear with no hiccups. I will definitely take stability over a features especially when you can brick your router by just adjusting settings. I just can't tell you how mad that made me. It was about 6 months ago and at the time i was using the most recent release version of dd-wrt. Anyways i did not test the wireless part of the router because at this point i really don't need it. We will see the router stands the test of time. My x-550 would start out great and then over time would get flaky. Sometimes i will not pick up callerid, some times incoming calls would not even make my phone ring (directly to voice mail). Turning off streamengine would help the router last longer before flaky problems started but they would always start still. Turning streamengine off also had the downside that some of my calls would be choppy. Well i will report back to this thread in a couple of weeks to see what happens. So far i'm a happy camper.

Ncage

 

[Matt L]

I dumped the original software the other day, it's really crappy. I installed Tomato because it's the easiest to install with the.bat program, and it works MUCH better. If you don't reflash these things I'd stay away. Might give DD-wrt a try at some point.

 

[frankqfrank]

i got one of these from buy.com with the gco coupon a while ago and have been using dd-wrt but after reading this thread i tried tomato and I like it more. Just remember when upgrading from dd-wrt to tomato you need to telnet into the router BEFORE installing the tomato firmware to get your dd-wrt password as it's stored internally in some form that isn't the same as the password itself, for instance your password for dd-wrt might be "ilovebeer" but in order to log into tomato after an upgrade you will have had to used telnet with the instructions on the tomato website to get the password which would be some random letters/numbers like 3dD4G72hiG4 which will get you into tomato.

 

[etrin]

I dl the tomato and the dd-wrt flashes and have a question before proceeding.
I want to go tomato but does it have signal strength adjustment like dd-wrt has?

 

[Pens1566]

Is this a better option for a 3rd party firmware than the Linksys 54G?

 

[lebe0024]

Great Router. Great deal. Flashed with Tomato (all the options you'd want from DD-WRT, with a fantastic interface).

 

[lebe0024]

Actually, what makes this router awesome is its ability (when flashed with Tomato or DDWRT) to act as a wireless client. I have a desktop computer which uses this router to connect to my wireless network. I connect the computer to the router with an ethernet cable. So it treats it just like a wired network. Simple, robust, perfect. And I avoid the hassle of getting wireless drivers to work in linux and windows.

 

[hydroponik]

tag, might pick this up in store today.

 

[OctaneZ]

It's in stock and $29.99 after rebate now, not quite $25, but still better than I have seen other places.