DD-WRT and my Linksys WRT54GL

I've been sitting on a Linksys (Cisco) WRT54GL for a long while now. A long, long, while.

Originally I was going to replace my WRT54G (don't get me wrong, it still works great) and install DD-WRT for the additional features. However, I just never got around to it. Today I finally dusted off the box (I had opened it) and started getting it setup.

Interestingly, the deeper I dug into DD-WRT the more confused I became. The main Web site contains a database of routers, with information on which firmware to install, but if you dig into the forums you'll find that the database, and the firmware, are out-of-date and buggy.

Luckily, although not too surprisingly, there's a Wiki on the Linksys WRT54GL, which made installation pretty dang simple.

I basically:

  • plugged the router into my laptop via a wired connection,
  • disconnected from my existing wireless-enabled router,
  • verified I could access the router with the stock firmware
  • did a hard reset on the router (30-30-30)
  • installed the new firmware
  • had to manually change the password (it didn't prompt me)
  • was set, since I decided to stick with the 'micro' (called such because of how large it is) install

The hardest part was then replicating my existing settings on the new router, although that wasn't terrible since I was able to just connect to both from my laptop and iPad. I didn't put in my custom DNS lookups (I'm not using Charter), so that caused some issues, although even after adding those didn't work, a power cycle of my cable modem did.

All-in-all, it was much easier than I thought it was going to be, and, best of all, I don't have a bricked router.

According to inSSIDer, I already seem to have a better signal, so that's a good sign. I don't see myself investing too much time in additional settings, but ... it's there if I want to play around.

Oh, and if you're gotten this far, it's been a few months more than 2 years since I picked up the WRT54GL. Whoops.

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