Linksys WRT54GL & Tomato

I just installed a new Linksys WRT54GL v1.1 Router in my Home Network. I replaced an old (>5 years) Belkin G Wireless Router. The Belkin Router was starting to require an occasional reboot, so I decided that it was time to get a new Router.

On the new Linksys Router, I changed the password from the default and Disabled the Wireless since I do not have wireless devices at this time and have no plan for them in the future.

Questions:

1. Is the Linksys Firmware Secure enough "as is" or should I flash the Router with one of the other firmwares such as Tomato? I see no need at this time for many of the Advanced features of other firmwares. I just want good basic security without wireless.

2. Will other firmwares such as Tomato give a significant improvement in download speeds over the Linksys firmware?

Thanks in Advance.

 

Get Tomato 1.23 or 1.24 overthere ,they add syn protection and Vegas ,anyway its a much better firmware than the Linksys one.
Follow the procedure for correct flashing when switching from factory to Tomato.I think you need to first flash to latest Linksys one and then to Tomato ,if i remember corectly.
Before and after any flash do the 30-30-30 hw reset.

 

The Linksys Router kept frequently freezing up. So I decided to go with Tomato anyway. I reset the Linksys Router to the Default Configuration and successfully performed the flash the latest version of Tomato. Things seem to be running smooth now. Maybe it was a faulty firmware flash at the factory or just buggy factory firmware.

 

What is a 30-30-30 hardware reset?

 

The router is powered ,you press the reset button for 30 seconds ,then keeping the reset buton pressed you remove the power cord from the router for 30 seconds ,then keeping the reset power pressed you replug the power to the router for 30 more seconds.

After the last 30 seconds you let the router settle in ,the leds will show you the normal working state beeing ready for you to set it up.

This is the way they say you should reset in hardware a WRT 54 GL (look on DD WRT wiki ).By the way DD WRT was less stable on that router ,i had some DD WRT versions installed on my 54 GL and it was quite problematic for me .I sold mine with Tomato 1.23 in though ,the best firmware i ve used and the actual owner seems to be happy with it too.If it runs smooth with Tomato dont look back or sideways ,simply use the router.

You can aditionally reset it in software from Tomato interface too ,from now on ,if you wish.

 

The Router is also periodically freezing with Tomato but it does not seem to be as frequent as with the Linksys firmware. If I login to the router and do a release/renew the freeze-up problem goes away for a while. Should I use the 30-30-30 rule and flash the Router again?

I am thinking about flashing back to a newer Linksys firmware than the one that came with the Router and seeing if I still have the problem. After that maybe flashing back to Tomato. Any ideas on what may be causing the freeze-ups?

Thanks in Advance.

 

I encoutered router resets with some DD WRT builds or connection loss when the number of connections was set to high in the settings ,never saw freezing though .
Try and disable the loging feature and see how it goes.
You can try the hardware reset ,then log to the router do the software reset from the interface and then reflash.Use 1.23 version to be on the safe side ,this version worked for me.
Anyway you must not exclude a hardware problem with your router.If it s new and under warranty flash back the Linksys firmware and ask for RMA with the store where you bought it or with them.

 

I gave up.

I flashed back to the latest Linksys firmware and the problem is still there. I am assuming that it is faulty hardware. I plan to get a RMA and return it.

I think that I may make my own Router (Unified Threat Management) even though it costs more (hardware) and use either Untangle or Astaro as the Operating System.

 

There's pretty much no difference in security, NAT is NAT. DD-WRT and Tomato give you a few other features...VPN features, added wireless features, some very basic somewhat effective QoS, increased stability. You don't get added security and you may get a sliiiiiightly faster router...not much though..it's still the same humble CPU and minimal RAM under the hood, no firmware can change that.

 

Also keep in mind that Tomato and DD-WRT are both built off Linksys firmware. They have just changed the interface and enabled some features, But %99.5 is still the ORIGINAL firmware.

 

After flashing, the 30s(powered on) / 30s(powered off) / 30s(powered on) reset is required to keep the router from acting flaky. Pressing the reset button down and using a power strip (and bare feet ) is an easy way to do this (especially if you have to "unbrick" one).

I have flashed many Linksys routers in my day and the #1 mistake that I have made was skipping the 30/30/30 reset procedure after flashing.

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Although it may be possible that you have faulty hardware, I thought you might like to know that skipping this step in the flashing process can cause any of the Linksys routers to act weird.