The WRT54GL: A 54Mbps Router From 2005 Still Makes Millions For Linksys 180
Jon Brodkin, reporting for Ars Technica:In a time when consumers routinely replace gadgets with new models after just two or three years, some products stand out for being built to last. Witness the Linksys WRT54GL, the famous wireless router that came out in 2005 and is still for sale. At first glance, there seems to be little reason to buy the WRT54GL in the year 2016. It uses the 802.11g Wi-Fi standard, which has been surpassed by 802.11n and 802.11ac. It delivers data over the crowded 2.4GHz frequency band and is limited to speeds of 54Mbps. You can buy a new router -- for less money -- and get the benefit of modern standards, expansion into the 5GHz band, and data rates more than 20 times higher. Despite all that, people still buy the WRT54GL in large enough numbers that Linksys continues to earn millions of dollars per year selling an 11-year-old product without ever changing its specs or design.
Because (Score:5, Insightful)
Because people have these setup in commercial/industrial settings due the popularity of DD-WRT.
If you're looking to replace a failed one or extend your range, you buy the exact same model and drop the exact same config on it.
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Exactly right.
It doesn't have to last a long time or be physically resilient if you can by 4 for 1/4 the price of a dedicated firewall device.
Just swap out the old one if it starts to flake out on you.
The feature set you get with dd-wrt is just plain impressive even today. It turns your commodity hardware into something that has feature parity with a $1000 firewall device.
Re:Because (Score:5, Insightful)
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I was having to reboot the router at least once a week because it wasn't emptying its cache
How did you figure this out with stock firmware? I've still got one of these in use that I never bothered to replace the firmware on, though that's the reason I bought it.
Re:Because (Score:4, Interesting)
>"Because people have these setup in commercial/industrial settings due the popularity of DD-WRT."
Bingo.
We have 26 of them in use for several years and I just bought several more a few months ago. I was shocked I could still buy them. We load Tomato Toastman Linux firmware on them and they are solid as a rock! It took a lot of testing and experimentation to get what we wanted (placement, range, mountings, wiring, firmware, settings, testing) and that was a good investment, but also significant in time and effort. It doesn't matter that they are not "N" or "AC" or dual band- we don't need any of that for basic WiFi. These work.
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It surprises me that some companies don't want to make the "next gen" WRT style router. There are a few that are supposed to be this but ends up with too high a price. I suspect the market is just a bit too small, the product is profitable but mostly because of its age and low margins. Most users of it these days don't even care about the wireless stuff they just want the ethernet ports to make a firewall or something like that.
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And most businesses choose reliability over resiliency.
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Every manufacturing plant I've done wireless for had to go 5G because the 2.4 interference given off by the equipment. It's allowed to spew 2.4 (under incorrect reading of the ISM rules that are largely unenforced), so someone must have taken that as a challenge.
I've actually only seen that in a couple of US/MX plants, and it was usually due to older equipment, especially USW.
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But it still does ethernet pretty well, just turn off the wifi if there are problems. That's the thing, you buy a wifi-router only for the ethernet routing because no one else makes a decent ethernet router that's affordable with customizable firmware. Don't even think about getting a price quote from Cisco if you value your money or time.
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Range is rarely the only consideration. Nobody cares what the range of an AP is. They only care about coverage. Yes those are different. If y
Damn Shame (Score:2)
Not a shame at all (Score:4, Insightful)
It's a damn shame other manufacturers don't follow this model.. In fact all makers of all items don't follow this model. It's an old one... If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
Why would a company continue to produce a product if there is no way to make any money doing so? The ONLY reason this router is still made is because people are willing to buy it at a price higher than it costs to make it. Has nothing to do with it being broken or not.
Don't confuse broken with obsolete. Sometimes people find economic utility in something that isn't state of the art. My company uses some presses that are older than I am and they will probably still be working after I'm dead. They aren't state of the art but they work fine for specific uses. But they also cannot be sold as new profitably because they lack features that customers want and new presses have and there is a large secondary market for them so used ones can be bought cheaply. It's not broken - it's obsolete. No company could make money making new ones.
People still buy the old WRT router because it still has some utility and because it can be made cheaply enough to still make a profit. Eventually that will go away but there is a modest market in the mean time. The tail might be long but it won't last forever.
Re:Damn Shame (Score:5, Informative)
Linksys did "fix" the WRT54G many, many times.
Have a look at all the asinine models and hardware revisions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
The WRT54GL came about years later because people got pissed when they bought a WRT54G that wasn't the same as the other WRT54G routers on the market. Linksys crippled the memory and RAM and switched to a different OS, which made it impossible to use DD-WRT. The WRT54GL was a re-release of an earlier WRT54G revision - the one people wanted - with a $5 or $10 price increase.
If you got stuck with some other flavor of the router you had to hope it was compatible with DD-WRT, figure out if you could use the full version or the micro version, figure out if you could kill off the built-in VxShit OS, learn the ridiculously convoluted reset procedure to allow flashing, etc.
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You have to pay a premium to get a product that isn't fucked up by design. Kind of brilliant if you think about it. Of course it only works because all the other consumer level routers are broken by design as well. I finally upgraded to a newer Asus router because I have so many new wifi devices in the house now that it was just too much for the hardware to keep up with. I have to say the new Asus router seems to be working fine. I'm surprised by the fact I've had zero problems with it. I used that ol
Re: Damn Shame (Score:3, Interesting)
Better analogy is keep making Toyota hilux break pads. Someone will definitely buy them.
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There's a big difference between making genuine improvements to a product and making superficial/minor/useless changes every year as a marketing/planned obsolescence ploy. Keeping a product in production long term, especially if you have worked the bugs out if it, allows for a much cheaper & reliable product. You wouldn't have nearly as many recalls on cars for example if a majority of them used a standardized, well vetted, well engineered components instead of redesigning cable harnesses, engineering
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I saw what you did there.
Linksys should send DD-WRT folks a check (Score:2)
Because it's probably the only reason this router still exists :D
Re: Linksys should send DD-WRT folks a check (Score:2)
Meh. Shibby's Tomato USB for me, FTW.
DD-WRT always seemed ao disappointingly fragmented, though it does work with more hardware.
Great. Want 5,000 of them? (Score:5, Interesting)
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...I guess I don't see how the Linksys WRT54GL merits this attention as compared to (chills!) Okidata Microline dot matrix printers. I'd trade all our Linksys WRT54GL for a solid Oki 520.
You're struggling to understand why a wireless router that still communicates with almost every wireless device on the planet outshines in popularity to a fucking dot matrix printer?
I would have at least said HP LaserJet 4 to save on the obvious embarrassment.
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Carbon sheets are as antiquated as dot matrix printers. Laser and inkjet printers just print multiple copies. The paper is cheaper because it's COTS, the printer is cheaper because it's COTS, the toner is cheaper because it's COTS, and if we're talking laser the printing is faster because the whole page prints at once.
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Oh, I just love old dot matrix printers. There's a 12~14mm smooth rod and a powerful NEMA 23 stepper in those!
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No, it goes in the 3D prin.... oh, I see what you did there.
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and the PS1 IBM "clicky" keyboards sell for hundreds of dollars
God I loved those...
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There are 3 WRT54GL's here in use one of them handles the static dhcp config then we have a variety of other much faster routers throughout the building providing wifi as well. I think there are still a couple new in box that we bought for spare years ago somewhere.
Although AFAIK there is no homebrew firmware still being updated for it.
We also have a microline 186 that's used every day and a 185 and a second 186 in back for spare.
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>I'm surprised to see it lauded since they don't sell all that well on ebay
What you have are probably not WRT54GL, by the way.... The "L" is the one most coveted.
You can still buy them NEW for a reasonable price.
https://www.cdw.com/shop/produ... [cdw.com]
I would rather buy a new one for 6 times the price than deal with getting some old, battered one that MIGHT work and MIGHT be the exact model I asked for...
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I love my old IBM kb's. I wish I had several more, they are tough and just seem to chug along. I did some upgrades for a company that had many of them and wanted them out for a 'better' newer KB. I kept a dozen or so and have hoarded them since then. Great tactile feedback, tough construction, I just wish they'd had more of the mini version.
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Can't remember the specific problems I had with it, but yeah, I owned one.
IME that whole "family" of devices (some of which are pretty different from one another) is flaky and requires frequent cold boots (more than weekly) for reliable operation whether I use the wall wart that comes with them, or some other one that should do the job at least as well. I now have a WRT1200AC and it's better... I only have to reboot it every couple of weeks or so, and I can do a soft boot and all is well.
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Cheer up. Storing (collecting, stacking, housing, guarding, insuring) 5000 terminals for 15 years would probably cost more than $25,000 per year, which with interest would negate your $500,000 in today's value.
*People* in their homes can make use of "unused storage area" in their basements (until the basement is a horror) to keep around something that'll be maybe useful way down the line, but corporations can't afford to. Save that you could keep a few bits of equipment stashed in your own office area, li
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They have an updated one (Score:2)
It is not the same one from 2005. The new one is also hackable and open and can even do vlans
Speed is meaningless (Score:5, Insightful)
Now that average consumers are buying wireless routers, we have meaningless speed fixation and corresponding price inflation. Take a look at some of the absolutely horrible advice offered on consumer-grade router reviews, by doing a google search for "wireless router ratings."
Exhibit 1: Forbes: Choosing the best wireless router [forbes.com]
The page is one big chart showing theoretical speeds, and recommending getting 802.11ac. 802.11a is the 5Ghz standard that was discarded for dead since it doesn't penetrate through walls. Whoops! That's why for 10 years, hardly any router or NIC supported it. It's kinda useless in most homes. For a while, 5Ghz was billed as a way to do high-speed over short distances. Since people may have multiple network devices in one room or cubicle, you could put a 5Ghz router in each one. The range is so short they won't interfere with each other. But that was too expensive, and the moderate speed boost wasn't worth it.
But it's faster, so "oooooh shiny" now it is back!
Exhibit 2: Wireless routers at Newegg [newegg.com]
An observant shopper soon learns that routers are speed rated: N150, N300, AC1750, AC1900, AC2600, AC5300, etc. By this system, a G54 router is ancient. They make it look like buying a 100Mhz CPU in 2.6Ghz era. But if you ask "Why would I need a 5300Mbps router when my internet is 50Mbps?" The only reason to buy a router with such a high rating is that you will probably get a fraction of that actual speed. But even that number doesn't correlate because the number in AC5300 refers to the "A" speed that most devices don't even support. So the number is doubly meaningless.
This stupid system is so prevalent that people sometimes think that AC1750 is the model number. They get confused and buy the wrong router, or can't figure out why there are 5 routers all called the BrandName AC1750.
Exhibit 3: PC magazine recommends the most expensive consumer routers ever [pcmag.com]
PC Magazine's recommended routers: $300, $250, $174, and $17. Wow, that's quite a price difference. Unless you have lots and lots of people using the wireless network, and some kind of crazy university-sized internet pipe, and devices that support the 5Ghz band, that $17 router will do just as well as the $300 router.
What these review sites need to do is actually measure wireless performance at various ranges and in different rooms. Unless they do that, the speed ratings are meaningless.
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On the other hand, a WRT54GL cannot even route 50Mbps between the WAN port and the LAN or the wireless LAN, not even without NAT. Even if you don't need fast wireless, that antiquity will very noticeably slow down a modern internet connection. Routers which can handle 100Mbps between WAN and LAN and are supported by OpenWRT can be had for less than $20. Other than "we have 20 of these things and one just broke, I'll get an exact replacement", there is no sane reason for buying WRT54G(L)s anymore.
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Because the stock firmware sucks for most uses except for simplistic home routing. You don't need the WRT54G to get that, though if you do get a router supporting DD-WRT/OpenWRT/TomatoUSB then you can get better firmware to put on it. My router got *better* performance after replacing the firmware!
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Personally I think the naming and numbering nomenclature is INTENIONALLY designed to confuse customers.
I had to upgrade the router last year, the ol WRT54 (a sucky v8, not a GL) couldn't keep up with a 50/5 connection. The router I wanted was a WRT1900, which is properly BLUE and has the proper form factor, but it is srsly expensive. I wanted an AC dual band router with a USB port to plug storage in.
I had to settle for an Linksys EA6500 v2, most other routers with the features I wanted were overpriced (d
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I doubt that it is intentionally misleading. It's systematic, and the numbering does reflect the increase in speed. From an engineering + marketing stand point it is not a bad system. The problem is that the review sites seem to blindly recommend an AC5200 over an AC1750 based on name alone. It's not so different from a review site recommending an i7 over an i5 because hey, it's +2 better.
The ol WRT54 (a sucky v8, not a GL) couldn't keep up with a 50/5 connection.
Ugh, I have one of those. I didn't realize that. Hmmmmm....
You point out that those pricier routers have a lot of
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But if you ask "Why would I need a 5300Mbps router when my internet is 50Mbps?" The only reason to buy a router with such a high rating is that you will probably get a fraction of that actual speed.
Sure, if you're only going to use the router to access the Internet (and you don't have one of the fancy 1Gbps residential internet plans offered in some markets). On the other hand, if you're using your WiFi to stream data from a local file server then every Mbps counts. DLNA, Steam(TM) remote streaming, high-resolution WiFi security cameras... there are plenty of plausible use cases for a fast local network regardless of the speed of your internet link.
Also, don't forget that in dense urban areas with mor
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Those are all good points, and reasons a power user might buy an AC1750 over an N600. I just want the review sites to take those things into account. I suppose you are right that 5Ghz lack of penetration might be a benefit in a dense area where you don't want your neighbor's signal to reach you.
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The A in AC refers to AC, not A. AC is the newest version of wifi, soon to be replaced by AD. It Goes A,B,G,N,AC for the various wireless standards.
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True. I conflated "5Ghz support with "A" which is technically wrong, but it reflects the history of how it came to be. It seems that they named it "AC" since it extends "A" and "B" where A = the original 5Ghz standard and B = the original 2.4Ghz standard. It's the next generation which is a mix of both. I suppose they could also have called it "AO" since it extends "A" and "N"
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1. Beamforming and spacial multiplexing. Read up on the differences between 802.11ac and 802.11a/b/g/n.
2. There's a sucker born every minute... no, that's not what I meant to say. I mean, this is Slashdot: We have LANs. We transfer data across out LANs. We would rather transfer data more quickly across our LANs (and associated WLANs) than we would like to so less quickly.
In other words, I don't want to plug my laptop into the network just to move some big files around and do a backup.
Who cares how fa
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But if you ask "Why would I need a 5300Mbps router when my internet is 50Mbps?"
Okay stop. Firstly not everyone has such a slow internet connection, and not everyone pushes everything over the internet. You're critising the increase in speeds over 54mbps to a world where 1gbps is the standard port speed of a motherboard, and for good reason. Screw trying to transfer a file on 802.11g. We're finally in a stage where we don't need to go digging through a box looking for an ethernet cable to do a backup.
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What about fast wirelesss LAN for speeds?
A Bit Surprised (Score:3)
I have bought half a dozen of the WRT54GL since they came out--two for me and the others to help other people. They were great, and I'm surprised to see them still for sale. I've loaded DD-WRT and Tomato on this model and was very happy in general. My last one bit the dust and I've moved on.
There are plenty of routers out there now that work with DD-WRT. After doing a bit of research, I settled on the TP-LINK TL-WDR4300. I did not get a newer model, however, because DD-WRT didn't support the newest radios. Take a look before you buy, these firmware projects are always updating.
After having run the new hardware, I would recommend going this way. The processors are so much better that it's a dream to run the custom firmware compared to the WRT54GL.
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TP-Link now firmware locks their routers to comply with the FCC requirement that power levels not be altered.
DSL and ethernet (Score:3)
If I have to transfer lots of data between computers, I would use Ethernet.
Behind the WiFi of my Router is a 'relatively' slow DSL line.
I would not know why I would need a Router with more than 54MBit WiFi bandwidth.
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I would not know why I would need a Router with more than 54MBit WiFi bandwidth.
You may not. Behind my router is a 500:50 line. You'd be hard pressed hitting the upload on that bandwidth. Also don't you have a fileserver at home, multiple tablets, laptops, wireless thingies everywhere? When did you last renew your geek card? Ethernet is great and all, but if you don't like cables in the living room and aren't allowed to run cables through your house your choice comes down to putting serious effort into sourcing something 10 years old, or just going down to the shops and slapping a $10
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Geeks don't need gadgets. A true geek would look at a tablet and shun it with disdain as something only useful for teenagers on social media.
Best router ever made... IMO (Score:2)
Here about 2 years ago, I finally retired my 54GL that I'd been running as my edge router for close to 10 years. Of course it had Tomato f/w on it, and never gave me a bit of trouble. The only reason I retired it was the fact I wanted a router that had more available space than the measly 4mb that the 54GL had, and support for ipv6. I went with an Asus RT-N12 with 8mb and put Tomato 1.28Mega on it, and moved the 54GL out to provide a wifi bridge for some computers in the living room that don't have wifi...
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Similarly, I replaced my WRTSL54GS with an Asus RT-N16 (both running Tomato) because I wanted gigabit ethernet. Two years later, the Asus died, and the Linksys took its place once again. So hold on to your 54GL as a backup!
Since then I upgraded again to a Mikrotik RouterBoard RB951G-2HnD. I like it a lot because it's solidly built and the wireless signal seems to be better than both the Linksys and the Asus.
Sold (Score:2)
I am pretty sure there are plenty of products that have been sold for a lot longer than 11 years without changing their specs or design.
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Asthetics (Score:2)
While we computer geeks might not put loads of care into the looks of most of our hardware, the visual design of all other routers is just astonishingly atrocious. Just really bad copies of Apple. Shiny, single colours, and all curves. Meanwhile the WRT looks amazing. Add to that, that is is the only famous router that exists, and it is sort of the default for the fantastic open source firmware projects. Sure, I would love N, but I will wait until the WRT gets a worthy successor.
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Try Asus's RT-AC56U. I think it its a very good looking design (specially if it will be sitting on your living room), has great specs at a great price, and it is fully supported by DD-WRT.
Reminds me of the HP-12C (Score:2)
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Bah (Score:3)
Could never understand the appeal of the original WRT54G router. I think I actually have one sitting in storage that I haven't used in years (just in case). There are literally hundreds of modern routers with much higher speeds and more memory that support the same DD-WRT firmware:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/ind... [dd-wrt.com]
I'm using one right now, and it has 802.11ac and 5 Gigabit ports. Has been rock solid ever since I updated the stock firmware to DD-WRT.
Not really that surprising (Score:2)
WRT54G (Score:2)
Had one of these since 2008. Awesome router, never had any problems with it.
Just replaced mine (Score:2)
54G 4 Lyfe (Score:2)
I have one. The last one met its maker in a thunderstorm. I have had bad experiences with any other wireless router, and I saw the current one at a thrift store... so I bought it and replaced the overloaded garbage I was using.
I also have the non-wireless version of this router, just in case. My main computer is wired anyway, so the only things affected by the speed limitations are my phone, tablet, and a old computer I don't use much. Even then, 54 Mbps? That's not too bad. It's only annoying for big tra
Still using mine (Score:2)
We've got an ADSL modem with integrated wireless router, but our WRT45G (purchased second-hand about 10 years ago) is still in use as a bridge from wireless to wired for our web server (with no wireless card).
I'm still keeping the WRT45G around, just in case we change to a cable or fibre modem, and have further need for a separate router.
i have one still (Score:2)
Don't buy these--they WERE wonderful (Score:5, Informative)
At the time, the WRT54G(L) was a great router. I've still got two of them on the desk next to me. Don't buy them now.
They were wonderful routers, but it's time. Unless you're just doing it for the nostalgia, do yourself a favor and get something that uses the improvements that have been made in the last 14 years.
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I'm speaking as the author of one of the top-rated reviews on Amazon for the WRT-54GL soon after it came out. My review cited the availability of open-source firmware for the device as the main reason for buying it, and its compatibility with the earlier WRT-54G v2-v4 devices that had enough available memory bringing on firmware with greater features than the design had with the stock software.
However, that review was written December 2, 2005, and more than ten years have passed. Now, if you want a low-cost
Not surprised. Just retired mine after 7 years... (Score:2)
...and only because i was running into troubles with active IP limits on a very busy home network - it is very memory limited by todays standards, and lacks gigabit ethernet. If it weren't for that i'd probably wouldn't even carel; flashed that device with DD-WRT back in its day and never, ever had a single issue with it.
I'm now replacing it with a RT-AC56U which is also very well supported by DD-WRT.
You can replace it with something new (Score:2)
I just replaced my wrt54gl with a Linksys WRT1900AC. It runs DDWRT, it's blue, and it's fast!
http://www.linksys.com/us/p/P-... [linksys.com]
Isn't the processor in this thing kind of weak now (Score:2)
Regardless of features, I thought DD kind of struggled on that thing and it's why it was ported to many other devices?
11 year old hardware, considering the bandwidth people have nowadays, amount of devices connected, seems like they might just be better off buying a more modern router which can run DD?
Re:Well duh, it's hackable (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, a lot of them still are hackable. The challenge being in WRT54G land, it was *the* definitive hackable router. While several are hackable, it's more confusing and frankly with projects named things like 'openwrt' or 'ddwrt', the very name of the ecosystem is still rooted in that product line. So people who want to load up a custom distro but aren't *that* informed have a hard time knowing what is and isn't and which download to pair with which product.
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Many routers are not designed to be hackable. The vendors don't really want them to be open. Every new router model requires people trying to figure it out before it can be used with open source firmware. Vendor assistance is very rare. Nobody really makes the dream router for use with Linux based firmware, they've all got flaws, or too little memory, or some clumsy workaround, etc.
WRT54G(L) gets used as a default router for some people because it's the safe choice, they know it's going to work without
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It comes at a severe price, if that's what you're expecting. The WRT54G is obsolete enough that most aftermarket firmware have not supported it in years.
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You can put two usb 1.1 ports on them mmc through gpio. I considered buying one the other day for a progect but went with a 600Mbs netgear instead.
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Yea, millions of dollars a year because it can be hacked.
If I wanted to hack a device I would get one used off of eBay for less. There is no real point on getting equipment new just to hack it.
Chances are it is because they had good experience with that router. Being most broadband is still under 50mbs there isn't that much need to upgrade.
Granted I haven't used one in years and I am happy with the Trendnet that I have now. However I never had any bad feelings towards linksys
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Then you know many idiots. I despised Vista but Windows 7 is one OS that M$ got right
Re: No Wonder (Score:2)
Never estimate the fear of change? Go research any XP story from 2014 here?
+5 WindowsXp BEST OS BEATS linux... 7 looks funny etc.
My favorite was about security being better on XP.
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You're damn right! Always measure the fear of change in quantifiable units!
Confused (Score:2)
How do you quantify a unit?
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How do you quantify a unit?
In terms of Plank units of course.
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How do you quantify a unit?
In terms of Plank units of course.
Oak Planks or Cedar?
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Using bags of beans, of course!
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That is hilarious, especially considering that prior to SP2, it was possible and even common for new XP machines that were connected to the internet to get remotely hacked while installing updates.
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What "useful features" did Vista have that got removed in 7?
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A working UVC driver.
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Or maybe your 17+ devices are all crap.
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My N/AC router is crap. TP-Link Archer D5. Locks up almost once a day now. Newest firmware on, no open options (DSL router, and WRT options avoid the DSL routers,
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...5 GHz, which has better range and performance (yes, I know 2.4 has better signal range, but the higher interference leads to a higher usable range in 5GHz in many real-world applications.
No it doesn't. 5GHz has trouble going through simple walls, it's almost line of sight only.
Do a site survey and you'll learn this pretty quick.
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"No it doesn't. 5GHz has trouble going through simple walls, it's almost line of sight only."
I won't say it's THAT bad, but I agree with your sentiment.
I have a router that does both. It basically has 4 ssids (two each frequency, 1 home, 1 guest). I have 5ghz for home media stuff and it is fantastic. However, it doesn't do well when it has to penetrate more than a single wall. For the further away rooms, we jump on the 2.4. Streaming high-end video off my local server is sketchy across 2.4+distance --
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Yeah, that's why I had to upgrade. My DirecTV DVR sucked every tiny bit of bandwidth on it every time my wife hit up on demand for a show she'd missed. After a decade it was just too slow to keep up.
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I can confirm, WRT54's are pretty much limited to 20mbps. If your connection is faster, a WRT54 won't be able to keep up. Found that out when we got a 50/5 connection (for the higher cap).
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>"54 mbps is only the raw link speed of 802.11g. The actual data transfer rate maxes out at just over 20 mbps."
That is true. And when you start getting further away in distance, the rate drops more and more. But the key is that it is FAST ENOUGH for most applications- like POS, regular web browsing, simple file transfer, etc. And lots of people don't have Internet speeds higher than 20Mbps, anyway. Just depends on what you need.
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You don't always need wireless though. This will do great if the only thing you use wifi for is your phone or tablet, because your tv and computer are on ethernet. Then you use the WRT54G to be your firewall, adblocker, guest AP, etc.
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I bought a WRT54G when they were first released and used it for years. I think it's ended up back in service three times after replacements have died over the years., and it's still carefully wrapped up in the closet for the day when my current one dies. Actually, my current one (a Linksys-Cisco E2500) also runs ddwrt and does fairly well. It's outlasted a couple replacements itself, most recently an ASUS N66U that decided to stop broadcasting wireless one day.