DD-WRT - Open source firmware for routers

E

Elaai

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Messages
16
Reaction score
2
The definition on the site is the following:

"DD-WRT is a third party developed firmware released under the terms of the GPL for many ieee802.11a/b/g/h/n wireless routers based on a Broadcom or Atheros chip reference design."

This includes your Linksys (Cisco), TP-Link, D-Link etc routers.

I read through the a lot of the posts on their site and its not a trivial exercise but might be worth the effort. (https://secure.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)

Has anyone tried this and how safe is it to use Third party software for something as crucial as your routers firmware?
 
Safe ?

Do you mean reliable ?

Yes, the stable versions are very good.

Safe as in do they contain backdoors for hackers ?

They are safer then the stock images.

or do you mean is it risky to flash your hardware ?

It is very risky if you do it wrong.... thats the truth.
 
I saw that its VERY easy to "brick" your router if you do it wrong so yes I am aware of the risks of doing this . My concern is more with the chance of backdoors etc etc. My Linksys EA2700 stock firmware is pretty crappy and I was thinking of flashing with the DD-WRT firmware.
 
Elaai said:
The definition on the site is the following:

"DD-WRT is a third party developed firmware released under the terms of the GPL for many ieee802.11a/b/g/h/n wireless routers based on a Broadcom or Atheros chip reference design."

This includes your Linksys (Cisco), TP-Link, D-Link etc routers.

I read through the a lot of the posts on their site and its not a trivial exercise but might be worth the effort. (https://secure.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)

Has anyone tried this and how safe is it to use Third party software for something as crucial as your routers firmware?
Click to expand...

I loaded DD-WRT on one of my old Linksys routers, just to see if i could.
Followed the instructions on their site, and worked like a charm. I'm not a pro (but not a noob either) when it comes to this stuff, but i managed.

It actually gave the router a lot of new features that were not standard, you just have to do a lot of reading and follow the guides.
 
Luckily the instructions are very clear and precise. Was just wondering if the 30/30/30 hard reset is necessary moving from the stock firmware? Or is this if you are already on DD-WRT and moving to a different version?
 
Elaai said:
Luckily the instructions are very clear and precise. Was just wondering if the 30/30/30 hard reset is necessary moving from the stock firmware? Or is this if you are already on DD-WRT and moving to a different version?
Click to expand...

If you are a noob you're better off going with something like Gargoyle for a router OS. It's a nicely skinned version / fork of Open-WRT and is easy to flash provided your hardware is supported.

http://www.gargoyle-router.com/

PLUS its Open-WRT underneath so you can go crazy and customize as needed!
 
Hi All :-)

I have an old Telkom 5102G Wireless Router, and would like to install the firmware. Have any of you installed it on a telkom router.If so, what firmware do i download,as i dont see it under the supported routers page?
 
mahdi said:
Hi All :-)

I have an old Telkom 5102G Wireless Router, and would like to install the firmware. Have any of you installed it on a telkom router.If so, what firmware do i download,as i dont see it under the supported routers page?
Click to expand...

To put it bluntly - you can't polish a turd.

Dump that crap and get a proper router. The one you're trying to use most likely has a crappy chipset and probably no RAM to do anything with...
 
I tried it on an old Telkom router that I got for nothing. One thing I can now do with it that would not work before is to put it into AP mode so it can be used as a repeater
 
Elaai said:
Luckily the instructions are very clear and precise. Was just wondering if the 30/30/30 hard reset is necessary moving from the stock firmware? Or is this if you are already on DD-WRT and moving to a different version?
Click to expand...

It is.

I read the full explanation once. Just do it.
 
jsheed_sa said:
To put it bluntly - you can't polish a turd.

Dump that crap and get a proper router. The one you're trying to use most likely has a crappy chipset and probably no RAM to do anything with...
Click to expand...

I was thinking of using the Telkom router as a sort of guinea-pig, before i attempted it with my TP-Link,but i see your point:-)
 
chrisc4290 said:
I tried it on an old Telkom router that I got for nothing. One thing I can now do with it that would not work before is to put it into AP mode so it can be used as a repeater
Click to expand...

Can you remember what firmware you dowloaded// was compatible?
 
Well, the turd I tried it with has since dried out and no longer smells, and actually can now do something useful
 
Nerfherder said:
It is.

I read the full explanation once. Just do it.
Click to expand...

Finally had enough courage to upgrade - all went quite smoothly and I am now using version 24160. The amount of extra features available to you are definitely worth the effort eg guest access and wireless bridging. Can really recommend this!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X