Yes, the Linksys WRT54G V5 Really Is a Lousy Router

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Sorry for not reading more carefully and seeing that there is a version of DD-WRT for the V5. For those of you who are using it, did you have problems with factory firmware that DD-WRT fixed?

I hope to run the other experiments that are being requested (testing alternate firmware and also some general router distros). Just can't promise when.
 
thigins i would have to take some credit for this.

i have alot of friends, and we all used to be PRO linksys.

NOMORE

We are not the average users.

we are all network admins from different companies and we all work together.

my complaint it that this router and ALL the other routers linksys has out right now have the same firmware and the same problems.

PLEASE READ BELOW!!!!!!

besides the fact that you actually rans some test on this particular router i found something even more disturbing.

my e-mail to toms hardware was probably lost in the masses so here we go!

YOU CANNOT RUN SERVERS BEHIND THIS ROUTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i tried it and dns gets hosed.

ok BEFORE cisco accuired linksys everything was fine and dandy.

i use the linksys model BEFSX41 version 1 routers for my network.

and i still do.

my redhat server runs perfectly behind these routers.

are you familiar with dnsreport.com????

when i put my server behind the wrt54g or any other router out there linksys makes right now(yes i actually purchased and returned every router they make as of current) DNS gets hosed.

al of a sudden my WWW record gets screwed up and e-mail stops working.

simply put... with out DNS you cannot run WWW, DNS, FTP, ect. ect.

and even if you browse to it by ip sometimes it still wont work.

all the e-mails linksys has sent me regarding this router are pissing me off.

try this try that

i told them i updated the firmware and what do they tell me in the e-mail...............

try updating to the latest firmware.

are they @#$%#$ stupid!!!!

this is just an example of what they do over there.

there are orders are "DO WHAT EVER IT TAKES TO BUY US TIME"

i told the lady it was a firmware issue and the techs need to fix it about 7 times now.

i even threatend to tell her that this will end up in a forum and now here we are.

thanks to everyone who had a complaint about this router and complained about it wheather it be a small issue or a big one like mine.

how would you feel if you went to a coustomers office to replace there windows 2000 file server with a full blown redhat server running everything only to loose money because of a faulty router.

i had to down my server install my router at there office and find an EBAY replacement!!!

is toms hardware capable or is anyone on staff able to back up my problems with this router.

ADMINS!!! you have my e-mail address and i could communicate via e-mail from my treo 650.

by the way all those who run there own mail server and get a relaying denied,, add spcsdns.net to youre spam rules for sprint service phones and you can e-mail all day long.

i actually discovered this fix and the techs at sprint almost fell out of there chairs.

its off subject but i am a technical guy and like to tinker.


SO what router should i use from now on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i am looking for a DSL modem/router/wireless that i can run servers behind with no problems.

my goal which is hinderd is to creat a super low power server using a mini-itx board.

and a router described above to be able to have lots of uptime via ups if power were to be cut.

now if i could only find a replacement router that does all of that. maybe even an official cisco product that does all of the above with v-lan.


by the way putting my server in the DMZ does not work either
 
Whoa man you sound angry. if your geek enough for it (that's not an insult round here) why not roll your own using something like

http://www.pcengines.ch/index.htm
http://www.soekris.com/products.htm
http://www.ampro.com/index.html
http://www.kurobox.com/
http://gumstix.com/index.html

The Soekris guys bundle their net4801 3 port Motherboard with 1, 2 or 4 port network cards in a small beige box that takes a CF card and runs BSD or Linux, I so want one (or more).
 
I use a Dell gx240 (only good use for a dell) with 4 nics and pfSense. I've used smoothwall, ipcop, clark connect, and monowall, and some others I can't think of right now, this is my favorite; handles dual wans very well. It's based on monowall but built more for x86 systems rather than hardware solutions like soekris and pcengines.
 
thanks for replying.

i'm only upset at linksys.

i'm trying to downsize (smaller) my server and router.

i wand a mini- itx motherboard( i already have the low profile ram)
running 2 2.5 inch hdds for redundancy. in a coustom pancake box.
along with a small do it all router that i can go out and purchase.

sit it on top of my desk.

smaller is cooler to me.

i used to think you had to have a big bad server and i built one.

linux is so powerfull you don't ned that anymore.

for a router i am looking for something i could plug my phoneline into(dsl) and route and to wireless for me all in one box. vlan would be great also but is not required.

although cisco 2600 routers can be purchased on ebay for like 150 bucks!!!
 
That's a P4 right? It'll be doing wonders for your electricity bill. One of the reasons those products are in my bookmarks is that, with the exception of the KuroBox, they're all x86 and should run (probably with some tweaking) any of the various router OSes. I've not tried pfSense but if it works for you thats good, I know you can mod Smoothwall for multiple (independent) or bonded WANs, but if something else works 'out of the box' that's hard to argue with.

I only use Smoothwall out of habit, Express 2.0, the current production version, is beginning to look a bit feature cramped (no QOS, no WiFi etc...) but with mods to do practically anything it doesn't mater so much. Having said that it's a bit of a pain having so many mods installed when they release an update, I'm looking forward to version 3 (currently in alpha) and having a lot of the features I currently implement through mods brought into the core feature set.
 
No problem, I too think small and low power consumption is cool (the later in a rather more literal sense) if you want an 'all in one box' solution you can still roll your own and use a low profile PCI ADSL card like

http://www.traverse.com.au/productview.do?product_id=21
http://www.sangoma.com/main/products/cards/adsl

Google knows of more, a possibly better solution is to stick your ADSL network terminating equipment, (PPoE 'modem' or whatever) in a box on the wall where you phone line comes into the building and get the signal off the crappy phone wire and onto some nice Cat5, this has the advantage that when you get upgraded to ADSL2 or fibre ultraband or even elasticband you just replace the box on the wall, also you can install a micro filter at that point and then you don't need them in the rest of the house.
 
This router has been ROCK SOLID for me. I don't have tons of computers hooked up, but I do have 3 hard wired computers and 1 Wireless Laptop that connects to it. The wireless is using WPA Personal / TKIP Security. I don't broadcast the SID, and I don't use DCHP for my LAN.

This has been fantastic for me, and the laptop gets great connectivity everywhere in the house and outside on our deck and in front of the house.

I have two other friends using this Router version, they both are using 128bit WEP Security, no DHCP for their LAN, and they both are getting great connectivity and stability from it.
 
Well,

The Linksys WRT54G is not an industrial product... it's simply for the home user.

I've had every version of the WRT54G from v1 to v4. I've not played around with the v5, as I don't have a need to.

Over the past two years I've been using the Sveasoft firmware update for the WRT54G/GS units I have, and it's been pretty reliable compared to the OEM firmware from Linksys. I suspect most people using other products are in the same boat.

Originally, I used a multihomed LINUX box as my firewall. However, since that required a dedicated system, it eventually needed to be scraped when it became a little to old to find replacement parts for. The LINUX version of the WRT54G/GS units is a good and solid replacement for basic user requirements. Some one with higher demands and utilization should probably consider an industrial solution / firewall.

Linksys technical support, however, is HORRIBLE. So if you run into problems that are atypical, you're going to have difficulties getting them to respond to your needs... which is another reason to consider and industrial product when better technical support.
 
Well,

The Linksys WRT54G is not an industrial product... it's simply for the home user.

I've had every version of the WRT54G from v1 to v4. I've not played around with the v5, as I don't have a need to.

Over the past two years I've been using the Sveasoft firmware update for the WRT54G/GS units I have, and it's been pretty reliable compared to the OEM firmware from Linksys. I suspect most people using other products are in the same boat.

Originally, I used a multihomed LINUX box as my firewall. However, since that required a dedicated system, it eventually needed to be scraped when it became a little to old to find replacement parts for. The LINUX version of the WRT54G/GS units is a good and solid replacement for basic user requirements. Some one with higher demands and utilization should probably consider an industrial solution / firewall.

Linksys technical support, however, is HORRIBLE. So if you run into problems that are atypical, you're going to have difficulties getting them to respond to your needs... which is another reason to consider and industrial product when better technical support.
Click to expand...

of course it's not an industrial product but......................................

i run befsx41 routers and they are rock solid and work perfect. NOT to be mistaken for the befs"R"41 router which sucks cause it has the same crappy firmware as the wrt54g router. i do admit it's a good router, but it will not forward ports to my server. all the old routers worked and now none of the new routers work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how stupid is that!

so linksys changes the firmware and claimes to support port forwarding but it doesn't work???? why dont they just stick with the old firmware????????

like i said i purchased and returned every current model thay make and they all suck.

many of them give java errors and dont load the built in webpages correctly or at all.

the poor fool who doesnt know any better will buy it and just run the setup disk and say it works. they don't know any better cause they are doing simple simon stuff.

so my point is that the old linksys(pre cisco)works wonderfully!
the new stuff is ALL crap.

i don't think we should only talk about the wrt54g i think we need to include all models here cause they all have the same problems or WORSE!!!!!!!!!!

and everybody here knows it.

cicso can kiss my you know what!!!!!! trying to down grade these routers to get real cisco product sales up.

WHAT A GIMMICK!

anyone looking for a reliable router for servers use the old befsx41 version 1 that has 4 rows of LED's on it. get it off ebay for like 30 bucks! that's my suggestion.


also anyone know of a linksys router model that is like over 3 years old that supports wirless and has the OLD gui

any model numbers!!!


thanks!!!!
 
Well,

The Linksys WRT54G is not an industrial product... it's simply for the home user.

I've had every version of the WRT54G from v1 to v4. I've not played around with the v5, as I don't have a need to.

Over the past two years I've been using the Sveasoft firmware update for the WRT54G/GS units I have, and it's been pretty reliable compared to the OEM firmware from Linksys. I suspect most people using other products are in the same boat.

Originally, I used a multihomed LINUX box as my firewall. However, since that required a dedicated system, it eventually needed to be scraped when it became a little to old to find replacement parts for. The LINUX version of the WRT54G/GS units is a good and solid replacement for basic user requirements. Some one with higher demands and utilization should probably consider an industrial solution / firewall.

Linksys technical support, however, is HORRIBLE. So if you run into problems that are atypical, you're going to have difficulties getting them to respond to your needs... which is another reason to consider and industrial product when better technical support.
Click to expand...

of course it's not an industrial product but......................................

i run befsx41 routers and they are rock solid and work perfect. NOT to be mistaken for the befs"R"41 router which sucks cause it has the same crappy firmware as the wrt54g router. i do admit it's a good router, but it will not forward ports to my server. all the old routers worked and now none of the new routers work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how stupid is that!

so linksys changes the firmware and claimes to support port forwarding but it doesn't work???? why dont they just stick with the old firmware????????

like i said i purchased and returned every current model thay make and they all suck.

many of them give java errors and dont load the built in webpages correctly or at all.

the poor fool who doesnt know any better will buy it and just run the setup disk and say it works. they don't know any better cause they are doing simple simon stuff.

so my point is that the old linksys(pre cisco)works wonderfully!
the new stuff is ALL crap.

i don't think we should only talk about the wrt54g i think we need to include all models here cause they all have the same problems or WORSE!!!!!!!!!!

and everybody here knows it.

cicso can kiss my you know what!!!!!! trying to down grade these routers to get real cisco product sales up.

WHAT A GIMMICK!

anyone looking for a reliable router for servers use the old befsx41 version 1 that has 4 rows of LED's on it. get it off ebay for like 30 bucks! that's my suggestion.


also anyone know of a linksys router model that is like over 3 years old that supports wirless and has the OLD gui

any model numbers!!!


thanks!!!!

Hopefully you don't mean me when you talk about the setup disk. Like I said I have setup 3 of these now, changed DHCP to hard coded ip addresses for the LAN, setup security, and more on these. Never have had a problem.
 
Hearing about this saddens me. I've done in-home wireless installs for about fifty people since 2000. Everything from cheap Dlink models to refurbished Netgear models to the latest Draft-N Belkin's and Netgears. The WRT54G v2's that I have in my home and installed for several customers was definately the best router I'd used out of all of them. It really is a shame they ruined the product in the name of lowering costs.
 
Our company sells a lot of Routers. Setting up Wireless Networks is probably one of our biggest home client jobs (besides removing spyware).

We have had to go back and swap out any and all Version 5 - WRT54G's, what a nightmare!!! Not sure about the multiple connection issues but pretty much every client was losing their internet connection and they weren't even going Wireless!? I had to troubleshoot one of these damn things for 3 days trying to figure out what was causing it to lose it's connection randomly several times a day and finally gave up, replaced it with a DLink DI-624 and then they were fine and haven't heard back from them. We've since done that with every client that we sold one to. This seems especially true for Motorola Canopy Equipment users, on Broadband Wireless Internet connections. This V5 seems to really hate being on Canopy networks, although it still hates Cable and ADSL as well.

Products like this give our business a black eye since client's look at it as if it's our fault. I'm truly not happy with Linksys and their support now is less than stellar. They used to be good. Now...not so much.
 
From a reader:
It´s only a lousy router if you´re into P2P and games, which I am not.

I only neet it as a router to my 1 MBit ADSL gateway, and it works just fine for me.

Additionally, I appreciate the V5´s non-hackability feature for security reasons.

Additionaly 2, it´s not just a router, it´s also a firewall, DMZ, 4 port 10/100-Base-T LAN unit.

All in all, as far as I´m concerned (and likely a zillion others in my situation too) at 40 bucks the WRT54G is just excellent value for the money!

So I don´t think it´s fair to say the WRT54G is a "lousy router" just because it ´wasn´t designed for the few who need 64 or 128 concurrent sessions...
Click to expand...
 
Reader says:
After reading you article on the WRT54G I set out to obtain one of my own, Preferabily a V4 or less model. However when I purchased my new Router in the store and checked out the version it was a V6. Imagine my suprise, Well I immediately returned it until I cna obtain more information.
Click to expand...
The V6 and V7 are both based on VxWorks and appear to have the same problems. In addition, according to this broadband reports thread, the V7 removes the JTAG and Serial port headers, preventing the flashing of even the micro version of DD-WRT.
 
From a reader:
It´s only a lousy router if you´re into P2P and games, which I am not.

I only neet it as a router to my 1 MBit ADSL gateway, and it works just fine for me.

Additionally, I appreciate the V5´s non-hackability feature for security reasons.

Additionaly 2, it´s not just a router, it´s also a firewall, DMZ, 4 port 10/100-Base-T LAN unit.

All in all, as far as I´m concerned (and likely a zillion others in my situation too) at 40 bucks the WRT54G is just excellent value for the money!

So I don´t think it´s fair to say the WRT54G is a "lousy router" just because it ´wasn´t designed for the few who need 64 or 128 concurrent sessions...
Click to expand...

you're missing the point!!!

it is a lousy router because the older routers worked perfectly and the new ones just flat out SUCK!

so how is 40 bucks a good deal???

the R&D on the older routers are already done!! wouldnt it be cheaper to stick with the old stuff and make it better rather thatn start from scratch waste time and money and get it wrong!

I don't care what anybody says all these new routers suck and you wont find out how bad they suck untill a feature you really need and are going to rely upon dissapoints you because it just does not work!
 
I have a WRT54G v1 router when using P2P the client's routing table constantly incremented with routes masking 255.255.255.255 and targeted some IP at the P2P connection. Is it normal?

Any hint welcome!

Regards,
Janos
 
Couple of points I'd like to make / clear up as this is a useful thread that will probably turn up in many a search in the future.

1. the BEFSR41 doesn't use the same firmware as the WRT54G, in-fact, according to Linksys, it doesn't even use GPL'd code.

2. it's possible to work out how many concurrent connections a device can support using the maths from here
http://www.wallfire.org/misc/netfilter_conntrack_perf.txt
although that is geared towards 32bit PC architecture and I think the WRT54G uses a 32bit MIPS chip, also I would hope the kernel in any router has been optimised for that purpose so it should support more than the 1024 concurrent connections suggested by that maths, however it does prove it's just about memory.

After a fresh reboot my WRT54GL running DD-WRT v23 SP1 standard has 4328KB of memory free (according to top) and it's not doing anything (it's only an access point so no PPPoE, DHCP, QOS or anything, I'm telneting in over the LAN not wireless, there are no clients connected) so that's the size of the memory pool the netfilter table has to stay within, ignoring for a moment any memory required for wireless connections, WPA2 / TKIP, MAC filtering and so on.

After switching to the reduced feature set "mini" version I've got 9336KB of free memory and I'd have even more with the "micro" version, however I don't know if DD-WRT can use the extra space for it's netfilter table, and without a network testing tool designed for testing throughput and connections I can't find out, if anyone spots a free tool (preferably linux, but I've got a couple of 'dows boxes around for games so either will do) to do this let me know and I'll test it.

Other stuff...
 
Couple of points I'd like to make / clear up as this is a useful thread that will probably turn up in many a search in the future.

1. the BEFSR41 doesn't use the same firmware as the WRT54G, in-fact, according to Linksys, it doesn't even use GPL'd code.

Other stuff...
Click to expand...

well it's all hearsay but I would like to point out that they all have the SAME GUI!!!!

If it looks the same and smells the same it probably is the same.

getting technical all these routers do different things but they all have the core program.
 
Couple of points I'd like to make / clear up as this is a useful thread that will probably turn up in many a search in the future.

1. the BEFSR41 doesn't use the same firmware as the WRT54G, in-fact, according to Linksys, it doesn't even use GPL'd code.

Other stuff...
Click to expand...

well it's all hearsay but I would like to point out that they all have the SAME GUI!!!!

If it looks the same and smells the same it probably is the same.

getting technical all these routers do different things but they all have the core program.

Looks can be deceiving. The only reason the WRT54G was ever based off of Linux was because Broadcom decided to use it initially. The BEFSX line has been around far longer than any consumer level Linux-based router. Also there are differences, some not so subtle, between all the different GUIs on the routers.

The WRT54G v5 actually has features the Linux-based ones lack. The one I have wanted for a while was the ability to assign a "static" IP to a computer through DHCP and its MAC address. Netgear (I've made that mistake once before) has had it for a while, and now the v5 has it.

I have used a ton of WRT54G/GS routers including the new v5. Honestly the v5 is fine for most uses. Many, many, many, people don't use P2P which is what seems to choke it. I don't have, nor will I ever have, any v5 or later routers in my house, but that is because my usage isn't inline with it. It is incredible to me what some people expect out of a box you can buy for $45 retail. Buy a WRT54GL if you want the extra performance and hackability.
 
well it's all hearsay but I would like to point out that they all have the SAME GUI!!!!

If it looks the same and smells the same it probably is the same.

getting technical all these routers do different things but they all have the core program.
Click to expand...
While it is true that the GUI may be essentially the same for different model routers from the same manufacturer, the underlying code can be very different.
 
any links to this linksys router "ebay"

The servers i run at home are linux servers. fedora core 5. came from red hat 8

it would be no suprise to me if i could mod one of these routers to work just the wqay i want it to!
 
I've never herd of any successful attempts to run custom code on the BEFSRxx family of routers and I've been looking. (assuming that's the router you talking about, it's ambiguous in your post)
 
so linksys changes the firmware and claimes to support port forwarding but it doesn't work???? why dont they just stick with the old firmware????????

like i said i purchased and returned every current model thay make and they all suck.

many of them give java errors and dont load the built in webpages correctly or at all.

the poor fool who doesnt know any better will buy it and just run the setup disk and say it works. they don't know any better cause they are doing simple simon stuff.

so my point is that the old linksys(pre cisco)works wonderfully!
the new stuff is ALL crap.

i don't think we should only talk about the wrt54g i think we need to include all models here cause they all have the same problems or WORSE!!!!!!!!!!

and everybody here knows it.

cicso can kiss my you know what!!!!!! trying to down grade these routers to get real cisco product sales up.

WHAT A GIMMICK!

anyone looking for a reliable router for servers use the old befsx41 version 1 that has 4 rows of LED's on it. get it off ebay for like 30 bucks! that's my suggestion.

also anyone know of a linksys router model that is like over 3 years old that supports wirless and has the OLD gui

any model numbers!!!
Click to expand...
The BEFSX41 is nice, has VPN support. It's not wireless though.

I think as the underlying hardware changes to add features and reduce production costs, the firmware has to change.

I have a WRT54G v2. I've successfully forwarded ports with multiple versions of firmware from Linksys, Sveasoft, tofu, thibor, openwrt and dd-wrt on this router. I don't recall any significant java errors although the 3rd party ones get them from time to time with rapid development releases. I can't comment on setup disks and if they work as I've never used a setup disk for any router. I just go in through the router GUI or telnet in to configure it. I have a friend who has the BEFSX41 (edit: actually it might have been the BEFXR41 but either way it worked for him but he wanted to move to a wireless router) and got a WRT54G v2.0 to replace it and has been happy with it. He didn't run the linksys firmware for long, switching almost immediately to Sveasoft Satori back in 2004. It's worked for him so he is still on that version after all these years on the "if it's not broke don't fix it" theory. I've been through more versions of firmware than I can count since then. I know he can port forward since I instant message with him on a regular basis and he has to RDP from work to his home PC to access the IM software (as it's blocked by a firewall where he works, but yes he is able to RDP home using a port other than 443).

If you're purchased every current model and returned them all, then you've been very busy as Linksys has lots of products.

If you don't care about wireless, check out the RV082. It also supports VPN and a very picky friend of mine has one and likes it although it did take a firmware upgrade to fix some issues that he had.
 
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