Wireless Router Mayhem part 1

So,
when i found out that my dorm internet connection was strictly wireless for this coming year, i did a little research. My problem was that i have several LAN dependent devices that need internet connections so that i can access them from afar. I have an Xbox 360 for one (and don't want to spend $100 on the silly wireless adapter), a few window and linux based machines (acting as FTP hosts, servers, etc...), and a NAS harddrive with backups of all my movies and music as well as personal files. I am used to having all these devices on an ultra fast and low latency gigabit network, and did not want to settle for anything less. I also needed to be able to access them (for school work and music across campus and the world) when my MacBook Pro was not there to seamlessly share the wireless connection through its Ethernet port. So all in all, i thought i was toast because routers that had the functionality i needed (to act as a client bridge) were over $600. YIKES!!!

Luckly i found a handy little website where i could download the open source software "DD-WRT" for the $50 wireless router that i already had. (a linksys WRT54G). I was lucky enough to have a router that was the correct version, and promptly repossessed it from my parents and got them something with less potential that would serve them just as well at home.

The flashing process was easy except for the fact that there is differing information on the internet about the default passwords for the router. (It is, by the way, root and admin and its default IP is 192.168.1.1). After logging in i went to "Upgrade Firmware" and selected the DD-WRT package i downloaded (V23). It took about 2 minuted and when i rebooted the thing it was strange and complex looking, but VERY COOL.

With the new software (which is actually a small linux build), i can now have my router act as anything from a client to a gateway, and I have endless configuration options such as which antenna is Tx and which is Rx. I can change the Xmit power of the adapter for better S/N ratios and i can even install third party linux apps on it to do my evil bidding. I was also able to switch the routers uplink port to an Ethernet port (for my bastard 10/100 Ethernet devices) and all the REAL networking devices were plugged into my 5 port netgear 10/100/1000 switch.

My overall experience with DD-WRT has been a good one. While the interface is EXTREMELY complex with multiple options under each tab and multiple things that make me go ASDF, there is a great help menu that stays with you on ever page to explain what things are. I still, however, go hunting around for things quite often.

The first thing i did to my new router was to assign it a new IP address and install the firefox plugin "Router Status" that integrates with DD-WRT and, if nothing else, allows me to reboot, access the control panel, and generally know that it is still working.

One really cool feature on the router is the QoS (Quality of Service) function that allows me to add programs and applications to a list so that the router will give them latency and bandwidth preference. I added the Xbox Live protocol but wish there was an iChat protocol of some type for better video chatting.

I'm still experimenting with things in the software and hope to install some linux apps and see what the baby can do. Its already an FTP host and can mound SMB disks for secure hosting which is great.

If you can't tell, i love hacking pretty much everything to make it perform better. If i had the money i would try to integrate an airport express airtunes features with the airport extreme for the ultimate airport, but that will have to wait until I'm a millionaire.

More hacking stories to come and a part 2 after I get to UCLA and test this sucker out!

If you want any help doing this yourself, please give me a ring and ill help you out.