dd-wrt on Linksys 54G / 54GS

Choose a build

The big question is how to choose the right build. This site has a great introduction and says:

The best advice I can give you when choosing the right build for you is the start with the DD-WRT wiki entry for your specific router model. It will (usually) contain up-to-date information regarding where you should at least start, and then watch the forums to see which builds are stable.

Where you shouldn’t go, however, is the “official” DD-WRT router database. It’s ridiculously outdated (which is a problem known to the DD-WRT developers), and probably won’t be improved until the next official stable release comes out (again, the last one was 2008). Users of routers with Broadcom internals are strongly encouraged to read what is referred to as the Peacock Thread before proceeding with any DD-WRT install.

• The consensus on the Peacock Thread is that build BS 15962 is probably the best, even though it has to be patched because of the NAT loopback bug. There is also a discussion here and several workarounds are available

Users wanting to fix it themselves need to add iptables rules to their firewall script on the admin->commands page (run command and then save to firewall). For a standard configuration only this command is needed.

iptables -t nat -I POSTROUTING -o br0 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -d 192.168.1.0/24 -j MASQUERADE

Type of build

• This really depends on how much flash memory is on your router, See chart
• Version is VINT, NEWD or K26 (only for newer routers)
• “Most routers should use NEWD rather than VINT when they can. VINT is for old routers that cannot support the new wireless drivers. Many new models can ONLY use k26 builds”

Download

• Here is a list: ftp://dd-wrt.com/betas/2010
  -e.g. dd-wrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2010/12-24-10-r15962/broadcom/dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin

or dd-wrt.com/betas/2010/12-24-10-r15962/broadcom/dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin (identical)

• And get a mini version to start with:
• e.g. dd-wrt.v24–13064_VINT_mini
• dd-wrt.com/…VINT_mini.bin/2176

How to flash

• find router here
• e.g. Linksys WRT54GS v1.0

Updating static DHCP leases

• Make sure to have only one “new” row open when adding a new lease