Page 1 of 2

Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:09 pm
by Spyder22446688
I am currently running Tomato on my Buffalo router and am happy with it. However, my girlfriend might take my router, and I might buy a fancy new router supporting wireless-N and etc. Looks like I would need to shift from Tomato to DD-WRT. Anybody care to comment on this? Bad idea? Good idea? Other suggestions?

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:01 pm
by Flying Fox
Which router are you thinking that is DD-WRT only?

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:09 pm
by Usacomp2k3
No interest in stock firmware I assume?

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:28 pm
by Spyder22446688
Flying Fox wrote:
Which router are you thinking that is DD-WRT only?


The Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH. I've heard it might work with Tomato, maybe with the Teddy Bear mod? I've also heard the opposite, and that Tomato does not support wireless-N. I'd prefer to be 100% certain than Tomato will work before making a purchase on that assumption. Either that, or knowing DD-WRT is something I will likely enjoy.

http://tiny.cc/f4jxt

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:28 pm
by Spyder22446688
Usacomp2k3 wrote:
No interest in stock firmware I assume?


None whatsoever.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:59 pm
by _Sigma
I just got a Netgear WNDR3700 and put DDWRT on it and I'm very happy so far.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:08 pm
by Flying Fox
_Sigma wrote:
I just got a Netgear WNDR3700 and put DDWRT on it and I'm very happy so far.

That is a model that Tomato does not work, that I know. The 3500L however, Tomato should be better as it does not seem to exhibit the slowdowns found by SNB (is this still an issue?). That said, even the stock 3700 firmware is pretty good, according to SNB and Damage.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:29 am
by Spyder22446688
Ooooo, the WNR3500L looks like it might fit the bill, I will read up on it. Thanks for the tip!

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:35 am
by Synchromesh
Have been running DD-WRT on my Linksys WRT320N for a while now - no problems although the install was a bit of a pain. Had it on my WRT54GL before that - ran for a long time smoothly.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:52 am
by tfp
What is the benefit of something like Tomato or DD-WRT over the stock firmware? Is there a large performance difference or better features?

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:00 am
by bthylafh
Features.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:18 am
by TheEmrys
bthylafh wrote:
Features.


Any chance of getting more details? That is rather.... vague. I could move to DD-WRT, but haven't because I am unsure of the benefits over my stock configuration.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:20 am
by Spyder22446688
bthylafh wrote:
Features.


Your comment is almost as helpful as it is brief. :wink:

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:43 am
by StuffMaster
If you count overclocking, then you can get more performance as well :)

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:50 am
by bthylafh

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:59 am
by tfp
I have searched in the past and I was hoping to get actual user feedback from the people here. If you can't be helpful you don't really need to respond at all.

Nice list but should I really care? How is that going to impact me as a general user?

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 11:13 am
by Captain Ned
Tomato & DD-WRT allow you to set your own time outs for closed connections, allowing closed connections to be dropped quicker than by standard, which is quite helpful for P2P users. Both firmwares also allow for boosting the wireless transmitter power, increasing reception range. They also allow access to the b/g channels that the FCC doesn't allow to be used in the US, although this will only be helpful if you've got non-US standard client devices.

They also have much more robust logging and real-time monitoring capabilities compared to stock firmwares.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 11:17 am
by Spyder22446688
I originally switched from stock firmware to Tomato for the sole reason that Tomato never dropped my wireless signal or needed a habitual reboot to perform normally. Since then, I have grown to utilize and appreciate its other features, and especially like the easy-to-navigate interface.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 11:37 am
by l33t-g4m3r
IMO, Tomato is more stable, looks and runs better than DD-WRT, but DD-WRT does more stuff.
I prefer tomato.
There is a new version of tomato that supports n and usb too. http://tomatousb.org/

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 7:58 pm
by Usacomp2k3
Captain Ned wrote:
Both firmwares also allow for boosting the wireless transmitter power, increasing reception range. They also allow access to the b/g channels that the FCC doesn't allow to be used in the US, although this will only be helpful if you've got non-US standard client devices.

Don't forget that technically both of those changes aren't exactly legal...

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:01 pm
by Captain Ned
Usacomp2k3 wrote:
Don't forget that technically both of those changes aren't exactly legal...

Agreed, and a proper disclosure. That said, I've yet to see a FCC truck in my front yard. YMMV.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:06 pm
by bthylafh
My understanding is that you shouldn't more than double the antenna's default strength because you can burn out the transmitters.

I have my WRT54GL on exactly double (84 mW) and works great.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:24 pm
by Derfer
Aside from features there's also a bandwidth improvement. Tomato leading, but both faster than stock. Though it's unlikely you'd need the speed. I switched from stock to tomato for stability. Up time is majorly improved.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 11:10 pm
by bitvector
Some examples of features in DD-WRT that I appreciate that may or may not be in stock firmwares:

* SSH (to router) & SNMP support
* Very extensive filtering, logging, monitoring and traffic graphing support
* Advanced QoS & traffic shaping
* VLAN support & Ethernet Over IP Tunneling
* Bridging controls
* Multiple virtual wireless access points / WDS bridges
* RADIUS & 802.1x support
* Support for installing extra packages like print servers, storage servers, and other persistent network services
* Ability to send WoL on local subnet

I'm sure I've forgotten some. It basically elevates your router from the lame stock firmware to nearly the capabilities of a full stack Linux router but with a coherent prepackaged web-based configuration console.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 2:53 am
by Flying Fox
Performance is not always a given though:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless ... t-reviewed

If someone has tested a later build and can confirm this issue has been fixed please say so.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 1:17 am
by PacoBell
axeman wrote:
On another topic, it's not advisable on some newer routers (at least Broadcom SoC based ones) to increase the transmit power at all according to DD-WRT experts. In fact, in some cases, like the goofy spaceship-esque LinkSys models with integrated antennae, you may have better results by turning _down_ the tx power.
Is that due to a noisy power amp in the Broadcom SoC or something?

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 10:22 pm
by rykellim
I am running Tomato firmware on a Linksys WRT54GL router and wanted to change it to DD-WRT because I needed to turn the device into a Universal Repeater. Can I indeed do so with Tomato?

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 10:34 pm
by Captain Ned
rykellim wrote:
I am running Tomato firmware on a Linksys WRT54GL router and wanted to change it to DD-WRT because I needed to turn the device into a Universal Repeater. Can I indeed do so with Tomato?

http://www.howtogeek.com/104007/how-to- ... d-routers/

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:25 am
by absurdity
bitvector wrote:
* RADIUS & 802.1x support


Out of curiosity, what do you do with this? I can't imagine it has much use at home, and at a work environment I'd think you would want to be running equipment with a support contract.

Re: Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:38 am
by XTF
bitvector wrote:
* Advanced QoS & traffic shaping

Are you using it?
I tried to use it but couldn't get it to work.