WRT54GL viability today

[Bob.]

The N66 is almost the reference platform for Tomato, which Asus has actually adopted as the base for their own stock firmware. Also there's Merlin's fw, which is modified/enhanced Asus stock.

Thanks. Nice to know there are options. Maybe I'll pickup one for myself and play around with it for a bit.

Again, thanks to all for the comments .

 

[Bob.]

Just wanted to post back with an update. I picked up the RT-N66U, and it definitely made a significant difference performance-wise. Generally about 10mbps faster and I could definitely tell the difference in Crysis 3 MP. My connection is 50mbps. With my wrt54GL, speedtest.net would generally average around 42-45mbps. With the RT-N66U, I average about 53-56mbps. Not bad.

However, this is one finicky router. Almost impossible to brick, it would seem, but definitely unusual.

Initially, I flashed Shibby Tomato. It took 2 days. The first day, I flashed several times between factory and Tomato and just could not get it to come up again. Most of this was using the Firmware Restoration utility. The 2nd day, I flashed again to tomato and let it sit overnight (as suggested in many posts around the internet). Finally, Tomato came up. But I wasn't too impressed and couldn't get the vlans working (although configured properly). I also tried to flash dd-wrt, but no go.

I liked the Asus fw and interface, so I flashed the latest, then flashed Merlin and stayed there. I accomplished my isolated subnets with additional routers instead of vlans and it works fine.

Now, however, after a week of running fine, it won't stay connected. So I've RMA'ed it to Amazon. It's also a pain to reset if power fails, etc. Unplug everything, plug back in, get into setup, setup tells you to unplug the modem again, then plug it back in, it finds the modem, connects, then runs through a few setup items (including verifying settings for wireless), then reboot PCs. A 10 minute process. My wrt's only require power cycling the modem to work again.

My replacement will arrive Mon., but it's definitely been an experience with nice performance gains to compensate. Just wanted to convey my appreciation for the advice and share my experience. Thanks!

 

[rpanic]

I have been using the same faithful wrt54gl for 10-12 years and now. TW is bumping my speed from 20m to 100m. I hate replacing it because it has never had an issue but it just can't handle the new bandwidth. I just want to get new one that's as trouble free that I don't have to screw with all the time. I am running about a dozen things wirelessly and 3 through cable.

 

[Bob.]

I have been using the same faithful wrt54gl for 10-12 years and now. TW is bumping my speed from 20m to 100m. I hate replacing it because it has never had an issue but it just can't handle the new bandwidth. I just want to get new one that's as trouble free that I don't have to screw with all the time. I am running about a dozen things wirelessly and 3 through cable.

Whatever router you get, hang on to that wrt. All kinds of uses can be found for it, not the least of which is a spare for potential troubles. Popping the wrt back into the mix is quick and easy and reliable. They're also great for creating subnets (where gigbit transfers across the nw aren't necessary).

By most accounts, the RT-N66U is a great router, but does have some reliability issues. Amazon has close to 3000 user reviews you can read and a 4.5 star avg rating.

Also, if you plan on flashing any 3rd party fw, do your homework. That said, this router is fast!

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

As long as you don't need 5Ghz, those $20 WNR2000 (preferably v2 revision, as those are Broadcom, and can take DD-WRT) routers will push 85Mbits WAN to LAN.

+1
I do still have two WRT54GLs around as backups / secondary routers