For those of you who have a Linksys WRT54G and have pondered installing one of the open source linux firmware packages, here are a few tidbits that might help you out if you decide to actually go ahead.
For starters, you will have to see what version your WRT54G is (take a look under your router). My initial plan to install OpenWRT was foiled when I discovered that the version of my router (v. 5) ran a proprietary version of Linux called VXWorks. VXWorks is installed on versions 5 to 8 of the WRT54G and some other models. All prior versions are supported by OpenWRT.
Thankfully, another popular open source firmware replacement, DD-WRT provides a method of flashing the VXWorks firmware to allow DD-WRT to be installed. It took me all of 15 minutes following these instructions to get the new firmware up and running (this included a 5 minute period where I mistakenly thought that I had bricked my router).
My primary impetus for going with one of these alternate firmwares was so that I could properly route multiple public facing IP addresses. This was easily accomplished using DD-WRT with the aid of some instructions found here: http://www.wrtrouters.com/guides/multipleips/. Additional iptable rules can be added through the DD-WRT GUI by navigating to Administration -> Commands.
Resources:
- OpenWRT – http://openwrt.org/
- DD-WRT – http://www.dd-wrt.com/
- Supported Hardware – http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices
- Supported Hardware (OpenWRT) – http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware
- Flashing WRT54G v5/6 for DD-WRT – http://www.bitsum.com/openwiking/owbase/ow.asp?WRT54G5_CFE
- Routing multiple IPs – http://www.wrtrouters.com/guides/multipleips/
Filed under: Hardware
