Old handle, new blade, hacks great!

Covered in this review: product history, installation, features, security, comparison and review of third-party firmware, etc.

[History of the axe]

The WRT54GL is the re-release of LinkSys' older WRT54G router. The WRT54G was originally released back in 2003. It was a product incorporating the following functionalities in one hardware unit:
1) Router of IP (InterNet Protocol) connections, allowing multiple PC's and other client devices to share one IP address.
2) Wireless access point, allowing PC's to connect to the InterNet, and to each other, using wireless NIC's (network interface cards) compatible with the 802.11 a, b and g standards.
3) 4-port wired EtherNet switch, which allows 4 wired client devices with EtherNet NIC's to connect to the InterNet. Of course, client devices with wired and wireless NIC's can talk to each other as well, sharing files, printers, etc., by connecting through this router.

The claim to fame of the original WRT54G was that its firmware was based on a scaled-down Linux operating system kernel. By basing the firmware on Linux, LinkSys was obligated under the terms of the GNU public license to release the source code of the firmware to whoever purchased this product. Once savvy end-users got ahold of the source code, they were able to modify the firmware and significantly expand its capabilities, beyond what LinkSys had originally implemented for this product.

After releasing hardware revisions 1 through 4 of the WRT54G, LinkSys decided eventually to reduce the amount of volatile and non-volatile memory in the 5th hardware revision of this product, such that the pre-existing firmware could no longer be installed on the latest WRT54G models. Also, they discontinued the use of Linux as part of the firmware, and thereafter were no longer obligated (or willing) to distribute the source code for the firmware of these later revisions.

Demand for the 4 older hardware revisions never abated though; they retained their resale value very well, and apparently large numbers of used WRT54G's were sold through online auction and second-hand sites. Probably seeing a business opportunity that was best embraced rather than wasted, LinkSys decided in 2005 to reincarnate the WRT54G in the new WRT54GL (the L standing for "Linux"), restoring thereto the capability of running third-party firmware.

More detailed information about this product can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrt54gl


[Untying the tool sack]

The retail box I purchased for $40 contained:
1) WRT54GL main unit
2) Power supply (AC/DC adapter)
3) EtherNet cable
4) Software CD
5) User's manual

I was happy to see a printed manual, not just a PDF file buried in the software CD.


[Pulling out the handle]

Hardware installation is not note-worthy: you connect the router to your DOCSIS or DSL modem using the supplied EtherNet cable, plug EtherNet cables from any wired NIC's into the switch ports of this router, connect the power supply, plug it in, and you're ready to move on to router configuration.


[Setting the basic blade on the handle]

The main unit arrived with firmware version 4.30.7 installed, with all configuration settings in their default values as described in the manual.

There are 2 ways to initially configure the WRT54GL:
1) Use the setup wizard software on the CD, enter your settings, and the software sends them to the router.
2) Connect to the router using a web browser. The router presents all the configuration settings as web pages (HTML forms); you then enter the desired settings into those forms.

Having had installed many routers in previous years, I completely eschewed the configuration utilities in the CD, and proceeded to set up this router via HTTP, which should work regardless of the operating system running on your PC.

One problem I noticed initially was that the HTML forms all required "InterNet Explorer" (versions 5 or 6, the ones that come with Windows NT 5.0 and 5.1 respectively). Opening those forms using Mozilla 1.7.13 resulted in parts of those forms appearing malformed, or disappearing altogether! Since my PC running NT 5.0 had both web browsers installed, this was just a minor annoyance of switching browsers.

Manually setting up this router turned out to be quite easy:
1) You choose how the router gets its IP address from your ISP: DHCP, PPPoE, static address, or L2TP.
2) You enter your user name, domain and password if you chose PPPoE (for some DSL users)
3) Give the router a few seconds to let the settings take effect, then go to the status page to check that you have successfully connected to the InterNet.

Once the basic router functionality is configured, there are two ways to configure connectivity with wireless devices:
1) "SecureEasySetup"
2) Manual setup

My wireless NIC's did not support the SecureEasySetup mode, so here too I had to do manual setup:
1) Choose a SSID for your wireless local area network (WLAN)
2) Select a WLAN channel
3) Choose a security mode and password: non-secure, WPE, WPA personal, or WPA enterprise.
4) At the client device with the wireless NIC, scan for the same channel and SSID, enter the password you set up.


[Fastening the blade]

The above steps were just the essential ones to get your InterNet connection up and running, and to let your PC's see each other through the router's network switch. It is extremely important that you immediately configure the security settings of the router, so that you will not experience attacks by worms, viruses and spammers, and intrusions by people or devices that should not be accessing your network. For the WRT54GL in particular, the following should be taken into consideration:

1) The obvious: if you set up a wireless network, you really should enable encryption security. WEP is barely secure (reportedly not too hard to break), WPA personal is much better for most home users.
2) Change the password in the administration tab of the HTML setup form. Don't leave it at its default value. The login id. is ignored by the router, only the password matters.
3) Do you frequently allow untrusted guests/customers on your LAN? If so, you probably should restrict router configuration to HTTPS. This way, entering the administrative password, and all configuration actions will remain secure.
4) Also, you should consider restricting router configuration to wired clients, to ward off intrusion from wireless NIC's outside your house/establishment.

The availability of all these options and security modes makes the WRT54GL a very secure product if configured properly.


[Chopping some wood]

I found this router to be rock-solid for wired connectivity, and extremely stable as a wireless access point. I think I noticed only one momentary connection drop over 3 months of heavy usage (and it may have been the NIC's fault).

I tried to measure wireless performance as follows: FTP file transfer of 700 MB worth of files, from a wired EtherNet PC, to a wireless Atheros 802.11g NIC on a laptop. Wireless NIC was situated 8 meters way from router, in a different floor with no line of sight. The connection sustained 2.4 MB/s (19.2 Mb/s) continuously. It is far below the theoretical 54 Mb/s of 802.11g, but I suspect there was some other bottleneck, perhaps the slow hard disk on the laptop. I will have to do more experiments to determine how fast this router really is.

Another test was to check firmware stability when many (i.e. over 128) IP connections are established simultaneously, using some contrived test code: multiple threads are launched, each connecting to a remote site with server threads, and the server begins transmitting junk data over UDP. The router managed to stay at 170 KB/s total download throughput, occasionally peaking at 220 KB/s, and none of the connections got dropped. (These numbers reflect the upload bandwidth of the remote site, not the download bandwidth of the local internet connection.)

Also tested were the more esoteric features of port forwarding, and port triggering. Multiple instances of X-Windows servers ran fine, each displaying client applications running on different remote machines. NetMeeting, notoriously difficult to pass through NAT routers, was able to make outbound calls (with audio and video conferencing) without problem by triggering ports 1720 and 1731 to open the firewall.

Overall, I am impressed with the bug-free operation of the stck firmware 4.30.7, in great contrast to problems seen in older routers by LinkSys (and other brands).


[Choosing a bigger blade]

Once I was satisfied that the hardware of my router was trouble-free, I decided it was time to void the remaining 50 weeks of warranty, and set out to do what this router was purchased for: to run the latest, most advanced third-party firmware.

I considered 4 available candidates, each providing its own set of benefits beyond those of the stock firmware:

1) DD-WRT: adds the Kai gaming console network daemon (lets users of popular game consoles play against each other), and supports RADIUS (an authentication and billing protocol for expanded wireless networks).

2) HyperWRT: more fields for advanced settings such as port triggering and forwarding, port redirection, scripting, static DHCP, additional filters, site survey (to check what other wireless networks are nearby, great for troubleshooting!). The variant released by Thibor seems to be the most feature-rich.

3) Open-WRT: takes a modular approach, where you install the firmware piece by piece, adding only the features you want. There is an intimidating list of packages, and I did not have time to examine what functionality each one added.

4) Sveasoft: adds a PPTP VPN server and client (most useful for people working from home to securely connect to workplace network), downloadable packages, and support for IPv6.

All the above third-party firmware implementations support:
1) Advanced quality of service management
2) Ability to adjust transmission power of wireless access point (increases wireless signal range)
3) Command-line shell for router configuration
4) Wireless distribution system (WDS), expands geographical area of wireless network by bridging access points
5) Broadcom "AfterBurner" technology, claiming to boost transmission speeds by 30-45%
6) Additional wireless channels (12 through 14, although their use may be in violation of FCC regulations)

Again, more information can be found by following the corresponding links starting at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrt54gl


[The big HACK]

Of all the above firmware releases, I chose HyperWRT by Thibor. While each release had its own particular merits and benefits, HyperWRT was the best fit for my particular needs:
1) I liked the extra fields to set up port forwarding for a wide variety of applications I run.
2) It retains the HTTPS interface provided by LinkSys and remains easy to configure.
3) Lets you block URLs that serve you annoying ads.

Installation of HyperWRT was extremely easy:
1) Went to http://www.thibor.co.uk/
2) Downloaded version "Thibor15c"
3) Went to the router's HTTPS interface; I selected the file with the new firmware, and clicked on "firmware upgrade".

The new firmware got transferred to the router in a few seconds. The router rebooted, and was up and running in about 1 minute with all the newer features.


[Chopping thick sequoias now]

Upon installing HyperWRT, I had an initial negative experience. The original firmware distributed by LinkSys served HTML forms that appeared malformed under Mozilla, but were fully functional with IE 5.0. HyperWRT's forms however would not display correctly even with IE 5.0, and are so malformed when viewed with Mozilla that they are completely unusable. There was no choice but to use IE 6.0. It is ironic that GPL firmware based on Linux ends up being tied to a closed-source web browser, I might add.

Once beyond the initial hurdle, I became quite impressed with HyperWRT. The HTML configuration forms retained the look and feel designed by LinkSys, and HyperWRT added plenty of information in the help pages to explain what all the extra features and options are for. HyperWRT offered all the "advertised" features, and more.

For one thing, it will periodically update DNS servers at DynDNS.com, TZO.com and ZoneEdit. Basically, I can give my home computer a domain name such as "MyPC.DynDNS.com", register it with DynDNS, and people can connect to it without having to remember the numerical IP address. When the IP address (assigned by your ISP) changes, the router will inform DynDNS of the change, so that your domain name will then point to your new IP address. This makes it very easy to set up a server or web site on your home PC, and lets your visitors find your site easily. Best of all, this service from DynDNS is free.

HyperWRT claims it fixed some bugs existing in the original LinkSys firmware, but I could not verify this. Router throughput performance and stability remained the same. At the very least, I can be confident that HyperWRT implemented all the additional features without compromising the reliability of this product.


[Tiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmber !!!]

The WRT54GL is already an excellent product coming right out of its box: extremely stable, good set of features, and easy to configure. Then there is the ability to install third-party firmware with even more advanced features, which increases the versatility of this product by an order of magnitude over the competition. Finally, since most firmware implementations are distributed under the GNU public license, you can obtain the source code and modify the firmware to suit your even more advanced needs.

It is very rare for a computer product to retain its resale value and distinction 3 years after it was initially launched. The WRT54GL is one of those rare gems that power users would choose, casting aside far newer products that fall short in terms of stability and versatility.


[Revision history]

2006-10-04 Written by and copyright Tow Wang 2006.