Older Linksys Routers

Post new topic   Reply to topic    DD-WRT Forum Index -> General Questions
Author Message
scottkeeg
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 28 Mar 2011
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:34    Post subject: Older Linksys Routers Reply with quote
I have two older routers by Linksys, wrt54gs ver. 6 and a wrt54g-tm. I have had them for 10 years plus. is it worth updating the firmware? I have found the connection to be weak recently. I use these two as a repeater set up. I am not very knowledgeable at this, but somehow had managed to get them to work. Wrt54g-tm is hardwired to modem, and the wrt54gs, is upstairs to extend the signal, and to be used for devices like android box and satellite via hardwiring. I tried reading to upgrade firmware and found it very confusing.Suggestions are greatly appreciated. If worth upgrading how, if not, should I just buy new routers, which may be way better than these old suckers.
Sponsor
Alozaros
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Posts: 6410
Location: UK, London, just across the river..

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 4:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
hmmmm yes and no...
if its working dont touch it, after update those old farts may not be the same...especially if you dont know what you are doing..
the best choice is get a new units as those are archaic
look for something from Netgear range and depends on your budget
look for Netgear R6400 or R7000 or R7800 all those have great DD-WRT support and they are quite stable and best value/performance factor...

_________________
Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55179 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55303 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 55363 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/SmartDNS/DoH,AD-Block,Firewall,Forced DNS,x3VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913
scottkeeg
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 28 Mar 2011
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 13:12    Post subject: Reply with quote
Alozaros, thanks for the response. good to know. Yes, it is a bit stressful, when you don't know what I am doing. My budget would be like a $100. Also my package is very cheap. see below.

Download Speed Up To: 6 Mbps Upload Speed Up To: 256 Kbps

I will be upgrading to a better package down the road, but for now, it seems to work fine for one person in the home. Can you recommend a router based on a $100 budget? And as a secondary, would you recommend a wifi extender or second router?
danielwritesback
DD-WRT User


Joined: 29 Aug 2011
Posts: 240

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 15:58    Post subject: Re: Older Linksys Routers Reply with quote
scottkeeg wrote:
I have found the connection to be weak recently.

If weak connection means weak WiFi, a nearby neighbor is on the same channel. You can do a wifi survey (its in the menu) and, after that, change channel to the least loud/crowded channel. Putting them up on a high shelf and/or relocation is another option for more range. However, since you can turn the power up to 200 on those SOC versions (you'd easily win that battle with the neighbor's wifi), even more powerful replacements are hard to find, and rare.

However, if weak connection involves often getting stuck (having to cycle power to restart), replacement is an effective solution in that case.

Another possible cause for replacement is, if the internet connection is faster than the wifi spec can do one-way, which is approximately 25 megabits.
Sam1789
DD-WRT User


Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 324

PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 4:39    Post subject: Reply with quote
@scottkeeg,

As Alozaros said, your routers have a lot of time in service. And getting newer equipment is really needed. But many people are still using wrt54's with new dd-wrt FW. You'd need to check the forum to find what people have used successfully on their wrt54's and match model numbers; not all wrt54's can handle newer FW and newer versions are not necessarily available.

A couple of points:
1) you absolutely do NEED newer dd-wrt FW running on your front router (the router connected to your modem. !!!

2) it would be a good idea to also get newer FW onto your other router(s) also.

What to get = One possibility would be the Marvel r6300v2's. There have been a number of these on sale at really cheap prices on Amazon. ($30 to $45) Those are refurbished carrier routers that the carriers (ISPs) have been replacing with newer hardware. I have bought a few of them with great results. Make sure you get the "v2" NOT "v1".

The sellers I get them from have installed the NG regular (non carrier) FirmWare as part of their refurb process. That makes it easier to change over to dd-wrt.

AND a number of guru's here advice using the Kong build made specifically to transition these NG routers over to dd-wrt.

Use the dd-wrt Wiki for NG r6300v2.
https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Netgear_R6300v2

hth
Sam

_________________
multi-tier router stack
wrt 3200's for speed & cpu power, NG R6300v2's for WiFi AP's,
wrt 1200v2 for one of my secure subnets.
wrt54GLs for ad'l 3rd tier machines.
scottkeeg
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 28 Mar 2011
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 12:59    Post subject: Reply with quote
ok thanks guys for the advise. I will look at updating the firmware if I can find the time.
Sam1789
DD-WRT User


Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 324

PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 14:37    Post subject: Reply with quote
@scottkeeg,
You're very welcome. BUT I think you missed the main points that were presented on this. So here goes a second try

A) You need better and more up to date protection facing the internet immediately. (Connected to your modem.)

B) You definitely should get newer hardware for at least that front facing router immediately. And you should plan to get newer routers for every stage of your network.

C) It is worth it and possible to update the FW on your wrt54's even if they are no longer in active use. You can expand your network or use them as backups.

But C) is not the first place to start. Get better front facing protection in place asap.

You mentioned a budget of $100. So I mentioned as an example, the refurb'd NG r6300v2's are a currently low priced router that gets you faster WiFi, ac WiFi, faster thru put, and with the Kong builds for it gives you the needed protection. That would let you replace both your routers and still be within your $100 budget.

hth

_________________
multi-tier router stack
wrt 3200's for speed & cpu power, NG R6300v2's for WiFi AP's,
wrt 1200v2 for one of my secure subnets.
wrt54GLs for ad'l 3rd tier machines.
mrjcd
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 31 Jan 2015
Posts: 6268
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 15:05    Post subject: Reply with quote
Be sure to read 'New Build' threads is the broadcom forum before you install on old WRT54G routers!!!!
danielwritesback
DD-WRT User


Joined: 29 Aug 2011
Posts: 240

PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
scottkeeg wrote:
...I will look at updating the firmware if I can find the time.

Notes on firmware versions for you: https://svn.dd-wrt.com/ticket/6387 <- Be sure to read that.
The firmware's TX power default is far too low for bcm5352 routers like yours. Set to 160mw (or singapore) to actually get "medium" power. Default cpu speed is 200mhz, but the majority of bcm5352 can run 240. Then it can work with 30 megabit internet.
P.S. Looks like 35531 can WDS with older models. https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=315896


Last edited by danielwritesback on Fri Aug 03, 2018 4:43; edited 1 time in total
danielwritesback
DD-WRT User


Joined: 29 Aug 2011
Posts: 240

PostPosted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 21:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sam1789 wrote:
So I mentioned as an example, the refurb'd NG r6300v2's are a currently low priced router that gets you faster WiFi, ac WiFi, faster thru put, and with the Kong builds for it gives you the needed protection.

I got one, but there was a wee catch: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=316178


Last edited by danielwritesback on Wed Aug 22, 2018 19:54; edited 1 time in total
Sam1789
DD-WRT User


Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 324

PostPosted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 22:06    Post subject: Reply with quote
[size=12]@45AZt%veg,

Glad it's working for you. _But it's puzzling that you ran into that issue?

Did you follow the instructions in the dd-wrt wiki for the r6300v2?

Note you do need to check what NG build the refurbisher used. It should have been refurbished with a "regular" NG build and not left with the "carrier" build still installed. In that case, you would need to go thru and either change that build to a "regular" NG build or follow Kong's instructions for when/how to use his chk build ending in CH.

hth

_________________
multi-tier router stack
wrt 3200's for speed & cpu power, NG R6300v2's for WiFi AP's,
wrt 1200v2 for one of my secure subnets.
wrt54GLs for ad'l 3rd tier machines.
danielwritesback
DD-WRT User


Joined: 29 Aug 2011
Posts: 240

PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 15:34    Post subject: Reply with quote
Following the wiki install direction precisely, is not possible with a spoofed ID. However, setting the lan mac manually has worked fine.
Sam1789 wrote:
Glad it's working for you. _But it's puzzling that you ran into that issue?

I bought it hoping that it would do Broadcom's lively quick web browsing. Yes! It does!
No need to buy either a new computer or a faster connection, to get what is mostly a router feature.

That would have gone well if every feature didn't conflict with another. After two weeks of chasing problems round-robin, I've returned it.

To get some reliability installed fast, I've upgraded TO wrt54GS-TM. That works so much better!

Future upgrade plan is to Edgerouter (a wired-only router, professional style) plus professional AP's (wireless without router). The advantage of separate boxes is that problems are separable. It seems immensely more reliable to buy something that is made for the job I wanted to get done, instead of...

Good learning moment though!
Display posts from previous:    Page 1 of 1
Post new topic   Reply to topic    DD-WRT Forum Index -> General Questions All times are GMT

Navigation

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum