Linksys WRT54GL, WRT54GS and DD-WRT firmware question?

love2learn · 26-12-2007, 10:40

I'm thinking of getting either a WRT54GL or GS. I'm wondering if someone with a bit of knowledge can give me their opinions? I've read that the GL has more memory and the GS has less memory.

The reason I want a Linksys router is I need it to solve my problem of locking up with torrents. I have a NetGear RangeMax WPN824 and it sucks for this.

My question is... which router is best in terms of speed, range and compatibility with torrents when upgraded with a third party firewall?

Nikesh · 26-12-2007, 12:07

I think the GL is better for installing DD-WRT because it has more memory, but it will work on most routers from the range as I have an old WRT54G which has the basic DD-WRT firmware on it.

love2learn · 26-12-2007, 13:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikesh

I think the GL is better for installing DD-WRT because it has more memory, but it will work on most routers from the range as I have an old WRT54G which has the basic DD-WRT firmware on it.

Does it work well with p2p and does it have a good signal strength with the DD-WRT?

Nikesh · 26-12-2007, 13:10

Yep, I do use torrents occasionally and the signal strength can be changed with DD-WRT. My laptop can connect to the internet from 2-3 houses away.

To get it to work well with torrents, I changed some of the settings...

Maximum Ports: 4096
TCP Timeout (s): 300
UDP Timeout (s): 300

And in uTorrent...

100 connectiions
4 Torrents
25KB/s

I'm on VM 4Mb and them settings seem to work well. It will be different for you if you have quicker/slower broadband.

love2learn · 26-12-2007, 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikesh

Yep, I do use torrents occasionally and the signal strength can be changed with DD-WRT. My laptop can connect to the internet from 2-3 houses away.

To get it to work well with torrents, I changed some of the settings...

Maximum Ports: 4096
TCP Timeout (s): 300
UDP Timeout (s): 300

And in uTorrent...

100 connectiions
4 Torrents
25KB/s

I'm on VM 4Mb and them settings seem to work well. It will be different for you if you have quicker/slower broadband.

Sounds good mate. So you run it with torrents for a long period of time without it crashing? Is that because you've got it at only 25kb/s?

Nikesh · 26-12-2007, 18:18

Yeah, I've left torrents running overnight before and the 25KB/s is the upload speed I have it capped at. It downloads at full speed if there is enough seeders.

love2learn · 26-12-2007, 19:03

Yep deffinately sounds like the router I need. I'll order one tonight. I'll sell the other two routers I have and get some money back for them. Thanks for your help mate!

Nikesh · 26-12-2007, 20:12

No problem.

brundles · 26-12-2007, 21:27

I could be wrong but thought the GL was a rebadged version of the older GS before they shifted the base platform away from Linux (hence GL on the new version). The GS definitely has more memory than the G, but not sure about the GL.

The other thing that helps stability with DD-WRT is enabling Cron and getting it to reboot once a week.

Edit: More details on WRT54G hardware revisions

love2learn · 28-12-2007, 15:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikesh

Yep, I do use torrents occasionally and the signal strength can be changed with DD-WRT. My laptop can connect to the internet from 2-3 houses away.

To get it to work well with torrents, I changed some of the settings...

Maximum Ports: 4096
TCP Timeout (s): 300
UDP Timeout (s): 300

And in uTorrent...

100 connectiions
4 Torrents
25KB/s

I'm on VM 4Mb and them settings seem to work well. It will be different for you if you have quicker/slower broadband.

I got my WRT54GL router mate. I'm wondering where I can set that
TCP Timeout (s): 300
UDP Timeout (s): 300

Can't seem to find it on the DD-WRT firmware mate?

Edit: Infact, it's ok mate found it now

Nikesh · 28-12-2007, 18:21

Glad you sorted it.