Great router overall. Particularly great for dd-wrt or tomato. You know the deal...
Edit: Amazon deal died, but now available from Newegg for same price. Edit: Well it looks like the Newegg deal is mostly dead now with no free shipping. Title updated to reflect this. Perhaps this should be migrated to the expired forum.
Great router. Wireless-B/G only (not N), and just 10/100 Ethernet (not Gigabit). I considered buying a Gigabit/Wireless-N router the last time around, but couldn't justify the price premium, so I went ahead and bought another 54GL.
Now, let's say I wanted to do some VOIP (actually, Sprint Airave). Since this thing can do good packet prioritizing, would it be a good idea to put it in between the modem and Airport Express and plug the Airave into it? Or is there a better way to add this to my network?
Might look for something cheaper but will probably pick these up. Moving very close to a friend and will share his internet with these and some cantennae
aznlyte
New Member
posted: Aug. 30, 2009 @ 8:49p
Man, I had to pay like $80 at Fry's to get this (put Tomato on it) a few years ago. Nice find, OP!
mtlamar
New Member
posted: Aug. 30, 2009 @ 9:42p
Amazon marketplace routinely has the WRT54G-TM available for under $50 shipped. I think it is a better router for dd-wrt firmware since it supports the mega release. This is a good price for the GL, but if you are looking for the best router for 3rd party firmware, take a look at the -TM.
Quatrix said: I got all three of mine for $30 - $35 at different times. Come on.
Do you have a time machine so we can get these prices?
Shahaf
Member
posted: Aug. 30, 2009 @ 9:59p
got one thank you
Henrythewound
Member
posted: Aug. 30, 2009 @ 11:51p
If you don't care about a new model they can be had on eBay or your local craigslist for ~$25. I just bought one and set it up w/ DD-WRT as a wireless bridge for my 360
blankdaze
Member
posted: Aug. 31, 2009 @ 3:27a
Quatrix said: I got all three of mine for $30 - $35 at different times. Come on.
Now, let's say I wanted to do some VOIP (actually, Sprint Airave). Since this thing can do good packet prioritizing, would it be a good idea to put it in between the modem and Airport Express and plug the Airave into it? Or is there a better way to add this to my network???? I thought Apple stuff all automagically worked without any effort from the part of the user. Why would you need both an Express and an Extreme? To answer your question, it is not usually recommended to layer your network with multiple routers - downstream routers effectively segments your network into 2, without an easy way for them to talk to each other. If you want the 54GL for its QoS capabilities, then use that as your primary router, and then if you want to add wireless-N, connect one of the LAN (not WAN) ports of your wireless-N router to a LAN port on the 54GL. This way your entire network is in the same segment.
Oh, I set it up that way because I'm lazy. But having the Extreme near my television does let me use the ports for my consoles, TiVo, HTPC, etc.. And the Express is elsewhere, near my modem.
It sounds like my concept is correct, but since I wouldn't be using the 54GL for its wireless, just its QoS, it seems like overkill. Are there routers out there that do QoS that don't do wireless?
Sorry to hijack the thread -- I set up a WRT54G in my parents place years ago with DD-WRT and I haven't needed to touch it since.
nube
New Member
posted: Aug. 31, 2009 @ 11:43a
I've had this router running dd-wrt for two years at home and two at a former employer's location, and it's nearly bulletproof. Great signal strength and range when you push up the wattage, too. Good deal, too, about $20 less than I paid way back then.
I'm looking up 'tomato' but can't find any explaination that's not geekese. I don't know what it does at all, but I'm sure I need it. nevermind, i'm finding an explaination in the Newegg comment section
the wrt54GL is the classic "standard" for dd-wrt flashing, but is there a more modern heir that provides wireless-N and maybe gigabit ports? and since this is fatwallet, at a good price?
I've never had a WRT54GL myself but I do like my Buffalo and the old Buffalo router I've had before with DD-WRT on it.
As far as I can tell, no tomato support for the WHR-G300N. Also, the dd-wrt firmware for that model is still in BETA. The advantage with the linksys, therefore, is highest compatibility with third party firmwares.
siliconcenturion
Member
posted: Sep. 1, 2009 @ 1:31p
In for 1. Going to return my newer Linksys router as soon as it arrives. Thanks.
Had my first experience with DD-WRT on an ASUS router the other day. This is a very nice bit of firmware. Had used the Alchemy before, and much prefer the dd-wrt to it.
If you've got the time and desire, you could do what I did, and look around at area thrift stores for the older WRT54G v1.1 thru v4 routers (The version is listed on the bottom router label), which are essentially what a WRT54GL is. I've got v1.1, v2, v4, and I run Tomato on mine. I paid between $3 and $10 for each, and even got one free via Freecycle.
Of course, if you're not into checking thrift stores for bargains, or don't have the time (to wait or to bargain-hunt), you can just buy a new WRT54GL.
The increase to $59.99 price was fairly recent, it was $54.99 at both Amazon & Newegg throughout last year. I picked one up from Amazon during Thanksgiving for $44.95 using the $10 off $50 Discover Card promo. While it is not the cheapest I've ever seen it, it was the lowest that I've seen for many months.
I think Newegg synchronizes their pricing to Amazon, since I always see the price go up first on Amazon and then Newegg's price follows about a week later. I have the WRT54GL product page bookmarked for both sites and monitor it almost every week.
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