Got a friend that has a small business that is looking to setup VPN for incoming connections ( road warrior ). Normally i just setup a PFSense box, but was thinking of grabbing another wifi router and installing DD-WRT on it to keep costs/space down. Not having ever used it, anyone know how stable it is in a real world environment?
I already gave them a freeNAS file serer a while ago, and hate to stick 'yet another computer' in their closet.
( opinions on OpenWRT are welcome too of cousre... )
[This message has been edited by User00013170 (edited 10-22-2010).]
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05:44 PM
PFF
System Bot
Cliff Pennock Administrator
Posts: 11896 From: Zandvoort, The Netherlands Registered: Jan 99
It depends on which build you choose. If you go for one of the official stable builds (latest being v24 SP1), then that's exactly what they are: very stable.
There are other builds that offer more features, mostly experimental and they can sometimes crash your router. I'm running a non standard build (because I wanted multiple wireless interfaces on a single router) and my router does crash sometimes but nothing a simple power cycle can't solve.
Cool. Stability is important as they are pretty far away for support ( 2 hour drive one way ) and i don't want egg on my face either. PFSense has been rock solid for me at other sites, but its a bit overkill for a 4 person office that doesn't do much online anyway.
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08:17 PM
phonedawgz Member
Posts: 17106 From: Green Bay, WI USA Registered: Dec 2009
I use DD-WRT... I use it because: Linksys doesn't have update firmware in years for my hardware. DD-WRT gives me WPA2-AES on wireless. Static DHCP lease... use it for printers.
Very stable, v24 SP1 generic, on my old Linksys.
But note... use hardware list at DD-WRT site... If hardware isn't listed or says hardware doesn't work for any reason then hardware is useless for DD-WRT
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
I have used DD-WRT heavily for a long time now. I have a router that by all rights should be dead right now. It's fell off the roof twice (don't ask), it's got a broken board (first roof fall), I accidentally overclocked it, and melted the case into a pile of unrecognizable plastic (don't overclock it without a fan to cool it, especially if you cannot monitor said router because it's on the roof), it now has one antenna (second fall from the roof), and I am just running all the data through the right one.
I set it to reboot every few hours because it is soooo unstable, I have a router with dd-wrt that is not FUBAR that is stable, but I'm waiting for this one to die before I replace it. The stability on mine is because I have the settings so far out of whack to make it work that it just works it to death. A simple auto reset brings it right back though when it starts forgetting what it is. I can connect with my router 3-4 blocks away, but it's sketchy anymore. I have a better mounting system for the router since it fell the last time, and the next one will simply have two antenna's ran to the roof instead of the entire router.
Man I love DD-WRT, this router is one that would not work with Linksys on it, it was for all effects and purposes dead, and I have used it for two years since it was thrown away.
Cool. Stability is important as they are pretty far away for support ( 2 hour drive one way ) and i don't want egg on my face either. PFSense has been rock solid for me at other sites, but its a bit overkill for a 4 person office that doesn't do much online anyway.
I'll have to defer to the smarter people on here, but I'm fairly certain that you could manage the router from a remote connection with no problems, if you are concerned about it needing reset force it to reset itself every night at midnight, even if people are connected there is a chance they won't notice, mine reboots every few hours, and I only notice it once a day or so, typically I am on a page that has already loaded, or even in a chat and it just goes on like nothing happened.
DD-WRT is very nice. However, when I am setting up VPN's for my clients, I use the Sonicwall TZ-210. I have no real reason why, other than they are nice, easy to setup and my company recommends them
DD-WRT is very nice. However, when I am setting up VPN's for my clients, I use the Sonicwall TZ-210. I have no real reason why, other than they are nice, easy to setup and my company recommends them
For that kind of price i can just setup a pfsense box like i normally do.
Just set one up a Link Systems WRT54G2_V10 using DD-WRT as a client bridge for my daughter's Xbox. She uses a 4G Clear Spot wireless modem/router that doesn't have any ethernet ports. She also didn't have an Xbox wireless adapter.
I used the V-24 build Cliff mentioned and it seems to be very stable. I've used the same router as a repeater bridge and as a wireless access point. Easy to change it to whatever you want it to be. The WRT54G's are cheap and plentiful.
[This message has been edited by spark1 (edited 10-23-2010).]
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09:05 PM
Oct 24th, 2010
HI-TECH Member
Posts: 1697 From: manteca, california Registered: Jul 2005
i have an older linksys wrt54gs2 that hasn't been turned off or rebooted since i flashed it and configured it more than 18 months ago...where @ least once a week i was resetting it when it had the old linksys firmware... i also have a netgear out in the garage that i use as a client.. its SOOO nice.
[This message has been edited by HI-TECH (edited 10-24-2010).]
