HOT. Linksys WRT54GL (Linux hackable) Wireless Router $41 AR Shipped

[skisteven1]

I've handled much more than 50 concurrent connections (something like 400) with my linksys and DD-WRT. There is a problem however with one of the common "hacks" to DD-WRT. They tell you to change certain timings in order to get better performance on P2P, but it turns out that the most common settings that are floating around will actually mess up programs like AIM (boot you off every so often). The trick is to make the TCP timeout MORE than 120sec. Maybe like 4-8 minutes or something.

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: ivan2
I have one of these with DD-WRT v23sp2. As long as you only have up to about 50 concurrent connections you are fine. But when I play Battlefield 2142 on it, the router crashes at server refresh.

After I was sick of all the bad performance I tried to downgrade it to v21, and bricked it.

As a router, it has very crappy hardware. It won't do DD-WRT justice. I brought the Dlink 4300 later on and am very happy with that.

That's a configuration problem. Put this in your startup script:

echo 4096 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_max
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses
echo 512 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/neigh/default/gc_thresh1
echo 2048 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/neigh/default/gc_thresh2
echo 4096 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/neigh/default/gc_thresh3
echo "600 1800 120 60 120 120 10 60 30 120" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_tcp_timeouts

This is a bit redundant and contradictory, but I also enter this in the Administration-->Management page, under the IP Filter Settings (adjust these for P2P) section:

Maximum Ports: 4096
TCP Timeout (in seconds): 300
UDP Timeout (in seconds): 300



Explanation: Google it if you want a better answer. In simple terms, the default settings overload the router during heavy loads, such as P2P usage. These settings keep the router from getting overloaded by clearing out unused TCP/UDP connections much sooner.

 

[Fox5]

I'm running Tomato WRT on my Buffalo high power, and every few hours I lose Internet connection. The computer thinks it's still connected and so does the router, but nothing actually works.

 

[EKKC]

Originally posted by: skisteven1
I've handled much more than 50 concurrent connections (something like 400) with my linksys and DD-WRT. There is a problem however with one of the common "hacks" to DD-WRT. They tell you to change certain timings in order to get better performance on P2P, but it turns out that the most common settings that are floating around will actually mess up programs like AIM (boot you off every so often). The trick is to make the TCP timeout MORE than 120sec. Maybe like 4-8 minutes or something.

yeah its not really a huge problem

i set it to be 2048 TCP connections
time out at 600 (10 minutes)

work like a champ even with many BT connections

 

[docinthebox]

The Buffalo WHR-G54S is a better deal than the WRT54GL. Both has the same Broadcom 5352@200MHz processor, 4MB flash, 16MB ram, but the Buffalo comes with a 4dBi antenna so it has much better range than the WRT54GL which has the average 2dBi antenna. Also, the Buffalo sells for $40 shipped at Newegg - no rebate hassle.

If you have a big house/office, you may want to consider spending another $12 to get the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 at buy.com for $62 - $10 GCO = $52 AC. This router comes with a built-in amplifier so you get both better range and transmission.

Besides dd-wrt, you may want to consider the new Tomato firmware also. I've heard a lot of good things about it. From the Tomato website,

"Tomato is a small, lean and simple replacement firmware for Linksys' WRT54G/GL/GS and Buffalo WHR-G54S/WHR-HP-G54 routers. It features a new easy to use GUI, a new bandwidth usage monitor, more advanced QOS and access restrictions, enables new wireless features such as WDS and wireless client modes, raises the limits on maximum connections for P2P, allows you to run your custom scripts or telnet/ssh in and do all sorts of things like re-program the SES/AOSS button, adds wireless site survey to see your wifi neighbors, and more."

http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato

As for a gigabit router that works with open source firmware, you can get the Linksys WRT350N which has gigabit ethernet and also pre-N wireless. In fact, I'm using one right now with dd-wrt v24 beta. It runs pretty well, very stable, except the storage link doesn't work yet, but they're working on it. If you cannot wait for the storage link to work, you can pay $20/year to get the Sveasoft firmware which has the storage link working already. This router also comes with a much faster processor (BCM4705) than the WRT54G/S/L so if you do CPU intensive tasks like VPN, this would be a good choice.

 

[docinthebox]

Buy.com just raised the price of the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 to $69.99 so now it's $60 after $10 GCO discount, which is the same price as everywhere else (Newegg, Amazon, Frys).

 

[EKKC]

tomato looks cool with their bandwidth monitor