Travel Technology - Home Router recommendation WRT54GS or GL - VoIP Asterik server, VPN, etc

Well I am going to bite the bullet and spend the money on a Linksys router and start playing with opensource, QOS, etc.

I've looked at wiki etc but can't seem to tell if there are any differences between the GL and GS. Any opinions on stability or preference? Price is about the same.

I'd go with a Buffalo instead, several of them can also be upgraded to DD-WRT or one of the other open source versions.

I have the "high power" Buffalo router and love it!

I've looked at wiki etc but can't seem to tell if there are any differences between the GL and GS. Any opinions on stability or preference? Price is about the same.

IIRC, the GS is the 108Mb/s "Speedbooster" model, and the GL is the 54Mb/s model that still runs Linux (for easy flashing to dd-wrt or whatever).

I agree with Scott... go with the Buffalo WHR-G54 or WHR-HP-G54 and throw dd-wrt on there. You won't regret it.

My exp is limited to netgear and linksys.

so buffalo is all good? no interop issues?

I like Netgear (been very reliable for 3+ years for one app),
but you can't do things that you can with buffalo and linksys...
Between Buffalo and Linksys... I'd recommend Buffalo.
Had my ups-downs with Linksys..

If you want to use dd-wrt, go with buffalo. Its been pretty good.

I'm going to have to suggest another route (pun mildly intended). Have you considered building your own router? There are several free linux or BSD based solutions that blow the socks off those little plastic boxes that Linksys sells.

With any old clunker (talking windows 98 level here) computer or something in the $70 range off e-bay you can slap in an extra network card or two and try out IPcop or my personal fav PFsense. Both are free and open source. There is also Astaro which is free for non-comerical use, but its not open source.

All of the options will give you superior QoS and VPN options and actually do a better job as routers (much larger state tables, etc).

I wasn't quite sure from your post, are you planning on loading dd-wrt or some other open source replacement on the Linksys? If thats the case, check out their websites carefully. Some of the new linksys boxes have slashed the ammount of ram in 1/2 making those open source options a little tight to install.

I have the WRT54gL and find it a very capable router/firewall/wap. I purchased specifically because it runs Linux and is easily "upgraded" via 3rd party/opensource tools. I am running v4.71.1, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor15c.

It has been functioning flawlessly. If you have other Linksys gear the SES (Secure Easy Setup) works.

I would prefer a separate router and WAP, but the WRT54gL with the Hyperwrt does work quite well. I purchased it from Buy.com using the Google Payment $20 credit so the price couldn't have been better.

I like the simplicity of an appliance...and I like small formfactors, hence no PC from ebay.

Thanks for the tip on the memory. I have checked the dd-wrt FAQ and making sure the memory is good for the 4Mb images.

I like the simplicity of an appliance...and I like small formfactors, hence no PC from ebay.

Thanks for the tip on the memory. I have checked the dd-wrt FAQ and making sure the memory is good for the 4Mb images.

You still may want to consider Astaro then...they are based (I think) on Smoothwall and they sell an appliance that is the same form factor as linksys.
Come to think of it, there are vendors who sell PFsense on embedded hardware that is the same size too...

both still get my vote over dd-wrt any day... I find dd-wrt to be cumbersome (UI) and the hardware it self is too underpowered to do any serious QoS or VPN...and you get forget VoIP running right on box (which is probably a bad idea anyway).

With respect to the WRT54GS (and G), they have been neutered since V5 and are now V6. The only DD-WRT that works is the 'micro' version.

Make sure that you follow this if you intend to play around.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Version_5_And_6_Router_Information

I, myself, would not even bother with these 1/2 RAM POS's and would try and find an older model somewhere.

Well ok....I bought the Buffalo High Power Airstation.

It does rock!

--

Then I bought the USR Wireless MAXg Range Extender. It does do WDS and WPA

but it turns out the Buffalo only does WDS and WEP...and I am having a @!($#$%U#@%U&$@% time with configuration.

so...

Has anyone configured DD-WRT to work with both WDS and WPA? and with it working with both 802.11b and g?

I still need b for my Palm T|x and an old IBM T23 (well not really the IBM since it is wire connected 99.5% of the time)

I'm going to have to suggest another route (pun mildly intended). Have you considered building your own router? There are several free linux or BSD based solutions that blow the socks off those little plastic boxes that Linksys sells.

I would agree. It's a bit more expensive than just a garden variety Linksys WRT, but some friends of mine make a mean general purpose router/Asterisk gateway/VPN/Firewall box.
Check them out at Metrix.Net (http://www.metrix.net)

Well I got it working and probably will stick with it. The signal seems to be ok for now.

WEP + MAC filtering it is...

Well I got it working and probably will stick with it. The signal seems to be ok for now.

WEP + MAC filtering it is...

I harp on this one a lot...and I'm sorry to sound so negative....
I just want to point out that MAC filtering is not security, it just a deterrent (at best) to keep people off the AP. WEP is seriously flawed and can be broken by anyone with a laptop and 5 mins to spare. Its quite honestly the digital equivalent of locking the door but leaving the windows open...sure someone probably won't climb in, but its it worth the risk?

I'm a little confused as to why a new AP cannot do WPA... are you dropping to WEP b/c you have devices that cannot support WPA? If so there is an easy cheap fix... just get another $40 AP and stick it in front of your new AP. If its that you are doing WDS then make sure both SSIDs are the exact same...copy and paste them... thats the only way to get wpa to work.

Internet --> cable/dsl modem --> AP 1 (WEP or nothing) [192.168.1.1] --> AP 2 (WPA) [192.168.2.1] --> any hardwired devices

I really dont mean to sound so nagging about this topic all the time but I feel strongly about it. I just want to make sure people understand wifi security enough to make informed decisions. If you are cool with WEP, then thats cool with me :).

Let's see...

I was using WPA.

I am dropping to WEP + MAC filtering as the Buffalo station cannot do
WPA and WDS.

I understand that WEP is broken, but I thought that MAC filtering would mitigate that issue or at least cause someone to just decide it wasn't worth the effort and move on.

I may move to DD-WRT if I can do WDS and support both b and g. I haven't decided yet.

All of my client devices support WPA, its WPA and WDS and b/g that I don't quite understand yet