Infiltrator Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) Hi all, I am performing some network upgrades at home and I am going to be buying new wireless routers to share the internet connection and other stuffs as well. I've been thinking and doing some readings but I am not sure which firmware I should flush my routers with. I know there are several open firmwares out there, like Tomato, Openwrt and DD-wrt. After reading about each individual firmware I am just a little confused. That's why I am turning to you guys, to find out which firmware is better or would you recommend and why. Thank you in advance. Edited April 18, 2010 by Infiltrator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infiltrator Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 I think I will be flushing OpenWRT and DD-WRT on both of my routers. I kinda like the features both have to offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascorbic Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 (edited) I am partial to OpenWRT if it runs well with X-WRT on the router or DD-WRT if OpenWRT/X-WRT isn't completly supported. When using DD-WRT make sure to get the latest stable development build. I usually look in the forums to see what Eko has released. OpenWRT is great, but generally DD-WRT seems to be faster at getting more devices/features supported. Both are great firmwares and I don't think you will go wrong with either so long as it is stable on the particular router you have. OpenWRT is really free and open source where as DD-WRT source has some controversy around it if that matters to you. I have tried Tomato but I wasn't impressed. I probably didn't give it enough of a fair chance because I am already familiar with OpenWRT/DD-WRT. But basically tomato just seemed to be geared towards being easy to use, rather then being feature rich. I'd start off by checking your routers compatability. For OpenWRT you need to check in two places Older List: http://wiki.openwrt.org/oldwiki/tableofhardware Newer List: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start For DD-WRT: http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database and I usually read on the forums for the most up to date information. Edited April 19, 2010 by ascorbic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infiltrator Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 I am partial to OpenWRT if it runs well with X-WRT on the router or DD-WRT if OpenWRT/X-WRT isn't completly supported. When using DD-WRT make sure to get the latest stable development build. I usually look in the forums to see what Eko has released. OpenWRT is great, but generally DD-WRT seems to be faster at getting more devices/features supported. Both are great firmwares and I don't think you will go wrong with either so long as it is stable on the particular router you have. OpenWRT is really free and open source where as DD-WRT source has some controversy around it if that matters to you. I have tried Tomato but I wasn't impressed. I probably didn't give it enough of a fair chance because I am already familiar with OpenWRT/DD-WRT. But basically tomato just seemed to be geared towards being easy to use, rather then being feature rich. I'd start off by checking your routers compatability. For OpenWRT you need to check in two places Older List: http://wiki.openwrt.org/oldwiki/tableofhardware Newer List: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start For DD-WRT: http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database and I usually read on the forums for the most up to date information. Thanks for sharing the info, I very much appreciate it. I will be checking those URLs a bit later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 OpenWRT is the most powerful, but last time I checked didn't have a gui (sorry kids, i like gui's). Tomarto is a little feature light for me, but good for most people. I've used dd-wrt for years now, and its very good imo, just set it up and forget about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascorbic Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 OpenWRT is the most powerful, but last time I checked didn't have a gui (sorry kids, i like gui's). Tomarto is a little feature light for me, but good for most people. I've used dd-wrt for years now, and its very good imo, just set it up and forget about it. www.x-wrt.org is a web interface for OpenWRT. It doesn't come with OpenWRT so you will need to go to that site to get it. Releases are a few weeks behind OpenWRT. I prefer UI's simply because it is easier and for me, I am less likely to make a mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Yeah, worth looking at. But TBH, dd-wrt does what I need it to do, and beyond that I can't really be arsed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Yeah, worth looking at. But TBH, dd-wrt does what I need it to do, and beyond that I can't really be arsed. I am the same way. If and when I decide to upgrade my POS Dlink router, I'll probably be getting a Linksys one that I can flash with DD-WRT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascorbic Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Yeah, worth looking at. But TBH, dd-wrt does what I need it to do, and beyond that I can't really be arsed. Yeah if it works, don't fix it. OpenWRT and DD-WRT are both great firmwares. You can't go wrong with either as long as the build is stable on your router. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infiltrator Posted April 21, 2010 Author Share Posted April 21, 2010 Thank you all for the replies, I will be doing a bit more reading and finally make up my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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