Wifi Shenanigans (Part Three)

DD-WRT

I recently purchased a Buffalo WHR-g300n wireless router to screw around with. I picked this one since it had alright reviews, got $45 off and most importantly because it was supported by DD-WRT. What's that you ask? It's an alternate firmware for wireless routers that greatly expands upon its capabilities and is supported by a wide variety of hardware. Here's just a few of the things you can do with it:

You can increase the transmit power and thus the range

you can set it up as a repeater or bridge which some routers won't normally allow

You can set up a hotspot like Chilispot or throw ads on the users' pages to generate funds

View detailed graphs and logs on usage

And the list goes on...

Installation and firmware version are going to vary depending on the hardware. On my Buffalo router I had to setup a tftp server that hosted the firmware, which it downloaded and flashed to itself automatically, whereas my Linksys router only required a web flash. Check out their router database to see if yours is supported and also to get installation instructions. Be advised that flashing your router with DD-WRT will more than most likely void your router's warranty.

Your purpose may be different than mine, but in any case, I recommend DD-WRT over any standard firmware (unless you start having issues with it). I cranked the TX power from 71mW to 100mW and got a pretty good connection boost. Right now it's serving about 15 different computers connected to it and has been pretty stable so far, and the number of users will only be increasing.

I can't cover everything this firmware is capable of, so I suggest installing it and messing around with it to see what it can do for you.

This concludes the end of part three. Part four covers creating a simple Pringles cantenna. so Check it out.