Switching from Tomato to DD-WRT?

[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?

[Flying Fox]

Which router are you thinking that is DD-WRT only?

[Usacomp2k3]

No interest in stock firmware I assume?

[Spyder22446688]

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

[Spyder22446688]

No interest in stock firmware I assume?

None whatsoever.

[_Sigma]

I just got a Netgear WNDR3700 and put DDWRT on it and I'm very happy so far.

[Flying Fox]

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.

[Spyder22446688]

Ooooo, the WNR3500L looks like it might fit the bill, I will read up on it. Thanks for the tip!

[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.

[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?

[bthylafh]

Features.

[TheEmrys]

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.

[Spyder22446688]

Features.

Your comment is almost as helpful as it is brief.

[StuffMaster]

If you count overclocking, then you can get more performance as well

[bthylafh]

STFG, n00b.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Tomato_Firmware

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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/

[Usacomp2k3]

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...

[Captain Ned]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[axeman]

As a long time Tomato user who switched to DD-WRT, I'll have to say I'm not impressed. If it wasn't for Wireless N, I'd switch back. DD-WRT has a ton of features, but the GUI lacks so much when it comes to usability and consistency. For example, in Tomato, you could click on a machine's IP address to automatically pop-up a dialog to give the device a static DHCP lease. In DD-WRT, you have to manually enter the MAC and IP to create a static DHCP entry. Then to add another one, you have to click the "add" button to create a new entry, manually enter the details, then scroll to the bottom, click on save, then on apply. The whole interface is consistently irritating and counter-intuitive.

And when it comes to QoS, tomato has that fancy SVG graphics of what QoS rules are being applied, in DD-WRT you have to ssh to the router and dig around to manually find out what's going on. FAIL.

Stability-wise DD-WRT can be pretty good, but it took me a while to get there. Problem is, one of the big things DD-WRT has going for it is supporting a lot of newer routers - the tradeoff is getting a build that works properly with your router, and is stable may take a bit of trial and error. FWIW, I'm running a WRT310N v1.0

[axeman]

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.

[PacoBell]

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?

[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?

[Captain Ned]

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/