Most all this information you will notice comes from the DD-WRT Wiki.
I suggest spending a couple of hours pawing around over there. You are
likely to discover many things helpful to your goal that I fail to
mention.

This page lists all the DD-WRT supported routers:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

Of these, the Linksys WRT-54G routers are the easiest to flash as it
can be accomplished through the web interface of the router itself.
The biggest problem with the Linksys routers is that there is
significant differences in the hardware your are getting depending
upon which version of the WRT-54G you have. Versions 5 and 6 are
notoriously hard to deal with a they have been crippled at the factory
(I remember somewhere that it was possible to get around this somehow)
For an off the shelf new Linksys, it is best to go with the WRT-54GL.
One advantage of the Linksys routers over the Buffalo id twin
antennas. This could be helpful in a repeater set-up where one antenna
is used to connect to the access point (8 dBi stick) and another is
used to connect with your lap top (80 degree directional pointing down
from your mast). The DD-WRT firmware can sense which antenna is most
useful for the connection and use that antanna.

Although the Buffalo routers are not the easiest to flash (it requires
using a command line interface and a TFTP utility), it is neither
rocket science, nor uber-geekdom. The pay-off is the best hardware in
the smallest package size.

You asked about bricking. There is a Wiki that deals with that:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php...om_a_Bad_Flash

Basicly it is near impossible to render a router completly unuseable
by flashing incorrectly. Even if you did brick a couple routers, you
are still money ahead of where you would be if your were buying Senao
equipment.

I do not know what develpment tools are used for writing the firmware
itself. Coding on that level is way beyond anything of interest or
utility to most cruisers. I play around at the level of adding
"packages." These are preconfigured add-ons that typically become a
part of the unix operating environment of the router and are
automatically started when the router reboots. You can read about all
the major ones that are availabe he

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorials

I absolutely agree with your statement about goals and priorities.
Fortunately, this pathway is pretty well defined and yields pay-offs
far greater than the time invested. With any system, you will spend at
least a day creating a weather-tight enclosure and probably another
day getting it up the mast or wherever its outside home will be. I am
just suggesting that you spend an additional day reading and learning
about DD-WRT before you begin the project, because doing so will save
about 20 days of trying to solve all your problems created by locking
yourself into inappropriate consumer-grade POS router/bridges that
can't easily handle the changing AP connections. It will save you
quite a few trips up the mast as well.

David
S/V Nausicaa




On Apr 2, 7:04 am, Wayne.B wrote:
On 1 Apr 2007 23:39:21 -0700, wrote:

Once I discovered DD-WRT, it was this
amazing playground. Every option available in every router plus more
was all rolled into one. Plus contributors were writing code and
scrips that added into the firmware to create even greater
functionality. I suggest that you dig out some old router that you
have lying around and load DD-WRT on it.

Interesting, good information.

Since I don't have any old routers laying around that are DD-WRT
capable, which would you recommend buying? Do any of them have a way
of recovering from a "bricked" state due to a faulty firmware load?
What programming language is the DD-WRT code written in, and what
development tools do you need for hacking around with it?

One issue that I have is goals and priorities. My priority is
achieving reliable WiFi service on the boat, not becoming a
router/bridge/DD-WRT expert. :-)