WRT54G(S) (was Re: [plug] Wireless Linux + A good linux book!)

[Matt Kemner]

Hi Chris

> I haven't yet tried running the WRT54g with OpenWRT but from my
> experience with the default firmware this router is crap. Is it the
> hardware or the default firmware that is the problem?
>
> That is does it actually run quite well with OpenWRT?

I have a couple of them myself, and have helped set up over a dozen of
them (all with OpenWRT), and found they are GREAT little linux boxen, so
long as you bear in mind the CPU is not a workhorse.

Mine run Quagga (BGP - dynamic routing) and Frottle for my links to the
WaFreeNet.

I even managed to get asterisk compiled and running on it, which works -
so long as you're not transcoding.

They also have serial headers onboard, so with a little bit of hacking you
can run a serial port on them.  I helped install two of them that are
piping serial data (at 4800 baud) to each other between two buildings.

One of the best features is that it comes with a vlan-capable switch,
which means you are able to address each of the ports individually - use
them to segregate networks etc, and basically end up with a 5-port router,
plus wireless.

Again you need to bear in mind the limitations of the CPU, routing speed
maxes out at around 20Mbit/s, but for my purposes that's fast enough.

 - Matt