Last night I was able to get a newly purchased Buffalo WHR-G300N wifi router ($35 from Newegg.com) to accept a firmware install DD-WRT, the Linux-based open source firmware package for wireless routers.
Why even attempt this perversity? It gives you a very cheap wifi router with the kinds of interface features you might only see built into either commercial or premium units.
Quick notes:
- This wasn’t really what I’d consider a straightforward or user-friendly process. I definitely thought at one point that I’d bricked the unit. Eventually I got it working, but I’m not sure I could say with 100% certainty I could do it again without bricking a unit.
- Before you start, read the DD-WRT wiki page for this router, and the threads linked to it. (I did not.) It will save you some tears, although it won’t make it completely easy.
- All I can say about setup is, keep trying. I finally succeeded by pushing the firmware from my Mac using tftp during the router’s boot sequence, which takes advantage of the device’s built-in recovery method. Once the “put” had finished, it took a while, but the wifi light went on and things were good from there.
- The WHR-G300N only does 2.4Ghz, not 5Ghz. Given that it costs about $35, half the price of a retail 802.11g router, it’s not a huge disappointment.
- The DD-WRT interface is leaps and bounds better than Buffalo’s original software. They should just bite the bullet and sell these routers with DD-WRT pre-installed.
- I’ve had the best results by setting wireless security to WPA2 and TKIP+AES
- Despite some early problems, my iPhone now connects to the router just fine
To give a few examples, the DD-WRT software has built-in support for about a half-dozen dynamic DNS services, QoS management, and you can SSH directly into it if you want a command line. The interface is much more useful and informative than Buffalo’s own firmware, or most routers.
Network performance has generally been great. My MacBook backs up every hour to a USB drive connected to my Mac Mini Media Center, and ever since I upgraded from my old G router to this one, that process is fast and reliable.
It certainly doesn’t give my favorite router - the Apple Airport with its great management interface, Time Machine support and gigabit ethernet - a run for the money. But it’s also about 1/4th the price.
So, it’s a little hairy - but if you can get past the setup trials, it’s a good deal.
Hey hows it going i too just bought a WHR - G300N but am having problems just making it a client bridge. I read through the tutorials used AES as my security but it still wont connect. it will join my router but then when i test it with status >> wireles under the wireless nodes my router disappears. I am using DD-WRT tried the latest build 10/10/09 and didnt work now I'm using the 7/21/09 build. I've also noticed that under modes client bridge does not appear just client. If you could send or post the steps you did to make it work I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks
I haven't tried setting it up as a bridge / client and can't really as it's my primary router. I would really recommend using the latest build with this router though - it's a relatively recent addition to DD-WRT in terms of chipset support.