Well my new router is on its way after returning my old netgear which was really buggy. so whats the best 1st or 3rd party firmware for this router? i heard things about dd-wrt and read reviews that said it was a nice firmware.

HyperWRT + Thibor 15c - Hands down. I've been running this for 3 weeks straight on my WRT54GL v1.1 with no problems whatsoever. From the stats page, I've transferred over 400GB of data through the router in that time and there have been no lockups, wireless dropouts, or anything of the sort. It's got more options than you can shake a stick at to!

Thibor's HyperWRT Page

Another vote for Thibor. It rocks!

linksysinfo has a great firmware comparison. I would provide a direct link but am having trouble reaching the site from my current location.

ahh i see. i should be getting my router on july 27th so i hope i dont brick my router. what did you do to get it to install successfully? such as which browser, used IE or firefox, any instructions you followed, etc.

thanks.

Edited July 27, 200620 yr by BombaTwist

hmm how about wag54g? seems to be develping a problem lately where if i reboot the router, after i switch it back on sometimes it doesnt detect that the network cables are plugged in,same with wireless connection, after many times switching it on and off it then detects the cables are plugged in ok..... maybe firmware update could help?

my vote goes to

DD-WRT

I love it

Edited July 27, 200620 yr by rendrag

maybe firmware update could help?

Definitely worth a shot. Don't forget to load the default values after you flash the device.

what did you do to get it to install successfully? such as which browser, used IE or firefox, any instructions you followed, etc.

I've actually used every single browser out there to upgrade the firmware. The process is pretty much browser independent. Upgrading to Thibor is pretty much bullet proof. Just clear the settings to factory defaults, upgrade, clear settings, and then work from there. You can never really go wrong with that method.

hmm how about wag54g? seems to be develping a problem lately where if i reboot the router, after i switch it back on sometimes it doesnt detect that the network cables are plugged in,same with wireless connection, after many times switching it on and off it then detects the cables are plugged in ok..... maybe firmware update could help?

Just a warning - Thibor does NOT support the WAG54G. Upgrading the firmware to the latest revision from Linksys might help though. If not - it's probably a faulty device and should be RMA'd.

so i just got my router and installed the stock firmware to get it going. i don't seem to have any problems with it so far. so what are the pros and cons of thibor and dd-wrt? then i will probably make my decision from there. =].

The one reason why I advise people not to use DD-WRT is because the web interface is completey different than the default. Thibor keeps the same kind of layout, while adding many new features.

The best way for you to find out - try them both!

k ill try out the thibor, is there any instructions for flashing this firmware? i don't want to skip a step and brick my router. =| i don't want to have to buy another one >.<.

i use DD-WRT, and havent had a single problem since. theres only been once bug so far, and its setting up teh wan port as a lan port through the gui, but it can be done by telneting in.

ok i got the thibor installed. and everything looks fine. how do i boost the wireless range and performance of the router? or was it already boosted after the install?

Edited July 28, 200620 yr by BombaTwist

Wireless range - got to the Wireless -> Advanced Wireless Settings page, and change the Transmit Power to whatever you want. Just a word of warning - you do push the hardware more when you boost this, so do it in small steps until you've got a level of performance that you're happy with. Having the largest signal isn't always the best, since over 100mW or so, the singals start to get a lot of noise, and you can actually get more dropouts.

If you find that you need even more than what the router can give you, go and buy a couple of 7 dBi antennae. I've got them on my router at home, and they're nothing short of fantastic. At my old place, with these and the signal boosted to max, I was able to get my wireless signal 4 houses down.

If you've only got one or two wireless clients, you can enable Frame Burst. If you've got a lot of different wireless traffic, turn it off.

Other than that - there isn't really that much more to it. Enjoy!

@sven - why would you want to do that? Make it a 5 port router with no internet? Or is that option to make it a 5 port wireless client?

i only have 1 wireless client which is my moms laptop, and sometimes i use my DS to play on DS Wi-Fi so i don't know if that counts lol. also what does frame burst do?