DD-WRT - please educate me

A

alarmguy

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Running off to work, will check back later.
Currently LOVE my TP-Link Archer C7 V2. YEARS of trouble free service, at least 20 wifi devices on it.
But lets face it, V2 is getting a bit older now, how many more years or months will it keep running so flawlessly?

So, started looking into routers .. or should I play around with this one and install DD-WRT?
Sounds like I can really mess up my day by doing it, or should I just research new routers until Black Friday?
and what about this site that preinstalls DD-WRT on new routers/rebuilt?
https://www.flashrouters.com/routers?___store=default
(the above site is just an example of something I found before running off to work)

Please, no offense to anyone, looking for knowledgeable replies. I know there are quite a few in here that are really up to date on this stuff.
I consider myself techy but that is using equipment preconfigured with its firmware or software.

BTW - I can also install DD-WRT on my current TPLInk Archer c7 V2 router, Its even on TP Links site, just that they do not support it of course.
I REALLY am tempted to try this route, for fun...
 
DD-WRT is an Open Source Linux-based router distribution that's reasonably well supported and is typically an improvement over OEM firmware. I've used it in the past and it was no problem getting a year+ of uptime with it without having to reboot the device. It offers far greater configurability than your typical OEM bundle and if you have the flash space, often you'll get a much broader suite of features.

If I was in your shoes, I'd follow the guide here:

TP Link Archer C7 - DD-WRT Wiki

wiki.dd-wrt.com wiki.dd-wrt.com

It will be very straight-forward. Once you've gone through the installation process, then you upgrade to the latest version of DD-WRT listed for the device here:

DD-WRT » Router Database

dd-wrt.com dd-wrt.com
 
From my own experience, I've tried running DD-WRT on my old Asus WL-500gP v2 router, but it was painfully slow and wi-fi connectivity was very buggy, even when using the most basic DD-WRT version. Granted, that is dinosaur of a router by today's standards. I ended up switching to Open WRT (https://openwrt.org/) on that router and it works much better - more responsive, and wi-fi is stable. Open WRT is more streamlined so it may be more suitable for less powerful/older hardware, but it may not have all the bells and whistles that DD-WRT has.
 
I'm running Asuswrt-Merlin on a Asus RT-N66U router. Merlin has a lot of features and is extremely stable. My router is no longer updated by Asuswrt-Merlin firmware, so I need to see about moving to something else. I am currently running an OpenVPN server on my router and it works very well so I am hesitant to change.
 
terry274 said:
I'm running Asuswrt-Merlin on a Asus RT-N66U router. Merlin has a lot of features and is extremely stable. My router is no longer updated by Asuswrt-Merlin firmware, so I need to see about moving to something else. I am currently running an OpenVPN server on my router and it works very well so I am hesitant to change.
Click to expand...

DD-WRT » Router Database

dd-wrt.com dd-wrt.com

Installation instructions are also included there.
 
I had DD-WRT on an old router years ago and just last week installed it on an ASUS RT-N66U. Here are some observations:

1) The documentation is not great; especially given how technical some portions of the process can be for any given router. I would gather a few tutorials together, perhaps even a YouTube video or two as well, and examine what pieces and steps overlap.

I would ensure that before you begin you are familiar with the factory reset procedure for your router and have the stock firmware handy; and know how to telnet into the device in case the peas and carrots hit the fan. I made out OK with my ASUS but 10 years ago I darn-near bricked a router by trying to follow instructions from someone for whom English was a second language or who otherwise did not have a deep-seeded sense of excellence when it came to communication.

2) DD-WRT is a powerful piece of stuff and may well have some extra features up and above what your stock firmware had. Be mindful, though, that there may be some cases where you can bugger something up; eg. you can likely set the power level for your antenna(e) far above what the manufacturer intended, and end up dramatically shortening the life of the unit with high heat.
 
I flashed DDWRT firmware to a Tmobile WIFI Calling Router, and have been using it as my main router for several years now.

I update the firmware about 4x per year, and have had pretty good results.

The best thing I did with it was traffic shaping, to stop bufferbloat.

We have about 30 devices on it all the time, and it has been rock solid.
 
uc50ic4more said:
I had DD-WRT on an old router years ago and just last week installed it on an ASUS RT-N66U.
Click to expand...

Ok, that's my router. I'm reading through the page on the DD-WRT forums which have a lot of outdated information concerning which file to download. What version of firmware did you flash? Is everything working as it should? Does it have the ability to run a vpn server?
Thanks,
Terry
 
JustinH said:
The best thing I did with it was traffic shaping, to stop bufferbloat.
Click to expand...
This is a great use case. In FreshTomato (which I run on my Netgear R7000), it's called QoS.

While I've been running some variant of Tomato on my routers for 15+ years, and it is very powerful and feature-rich, it also has some downsides. Every time they release a firmware update, so many components get updated that they strongly advise that you completely wipe your NVRAM and configure it from scratch. If you have a fairly custom configuration, this could be a major PITA. For this reason, I don't update my router with every new firmware release, which means I'm not always on the latest version. I usually upgrade maybe once a year or if there is some major security flaw that needs to be addressed ASAP. Not sure if DD-WRT is similar in that respect (having to clear NVRAM).
 
Last edited:
Hopefully I'm not hijacking your thread too much, but, if the stock firmware and its capabilities is adequate, why change anything? Is there a feature that's missing? I assume DD-WRT offer better security since it's updated more often (and continue to be updated in the future)?

I totally understand the desire to do it just to do it though! I think my next router will be a pfSense box, just to do it.
 
terry274 said:
Ok, that's my router. I'm reading through the page on the DD-WRT forums which have a lot of outdated information concerning which file to download. What version of firmware did you flash? Is everything working as it should? Does it have the ability to run a vpn server?
Thanks,
Terry
Click to expand...

Often you have to flash an old firmware FIRST, then once you have it on there, you upgrade to the current version.
 
And to further OVERKILL’s point, you might need to flash a “special” build of DD-WRT within the factory firmware beforehand then you can update to their stock builds. That allows you to go back to the OE’s firmware if something goes awry by flashing the DD-WRT build on a spare partition of the router’s NAND flash.

I’ve been running it on my Linksys WRT-1200AC for a while. It’s rock solid stable. I prefer it if your router has that ability.
 
EdwardC said:
Hopefully I'm not hijacking your thread too much, but, if the stock firmware and its capabilities is adequate, why change anything? Is there a feature that's missing? I assume DD-WRT offer better security since it's updated more often (and continue to be updated in the future)?

I totally understand the desire to do it just to do it though! I think my next router will be a pfSense box, just to do it.
Click to expand...

After reading through this thread and I thank everybody for their input.
Although I consider myself more text savvy than the general population this is definitely something more than I would want to get into.
It would’ve been more of a desire to do it but after reading all this I don’t think I want too as everything has been working perfectly for years and it seems like no matter what I throw at this router it just keeps humming along just fine.
I’m actually getting about 15% more speed than I pay for on the 5 GHz band at 115 Mbps.
I do know, for no other reason then, just because this router has been getting on in years I will be upgrading it by the end of the year but will stick with whatever the router comes with.
More less preemptive before the thing dies someday.

Thanks again for all the responses!
 
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EdwardC said:
Hopefully I'm not hijacking your thread too much, but, if the stock firmware and its capabilities is adequate, why change anything? Is there a feature that's missing? I assume DD-WRT offer better security since it's updated more often (and continue to be updated in the future)?

I totally understand the desire to do it just to do it though! I think my next router will be a pfSense box, just to do it.
Click to expand...

People flash their routers to 3rd-party firmware because their router's manufacturer stopped supporting their device, they want extra features or they value knowing that the underlying code running the thing is open source.

The only thing(s) stopping me from running a full-blown Linux or BSD as a router is/ are space and power consumption; else I'd be all over that, too.
 
terry274 said:
Ok, that's my router. I'm reading through the page on the DD-WRT forums which have a lot of outdated information concerning which file to download. What version of firmware did you flash? Is everything working as it should? Does it have the ability to run a vpn server?
Thanks,
Terry
Click to expand...

I ended up following along with this guy:



Here is some background reading: https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Asus_RT-N66U

Here are the files: https://dd-wrt.com/support/router-database/?model=RT-N66U_-
I went with the "mega" rather than "big". I am not sure I ever got a good answer about separates the two in terms of feature set.

I've had zero trouble thus far; about a week into it. I ran DD-WRT on a lesser router for a few years about 10 years ago and had zero trouble then.

I will say this much about VPN on the DD-WRT versus the stock firmware: The ASUS was ridiculously simple to set up and the DD-WRT is a good deal more involved (https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/OpenVPN). I only use it to connect mobile devices to the router when I am in public places so I cannot compare performance (my use cases being pretty light-weight). You can overclock the ASUS with DD-WRT easily; but like I mentioned in an earlier comment in this thread be mindful of heat!
 
Go by Goodwill or a thrift store, with a list of DD-WRT supported routers in your pocket.
I have picked up decent dual band 2.4 / 5 GHz (Linksys E2500 or higher) for around $10...
 
I DD-WRT still developed? I would get something ubiquiti and skip the open source firmware. Just my .02
 
alarmguy said:
After reading through this thread and I thank everybody for their input.
Although I consider myself more text savvy than the general population this is definitely something more than I would want to get into.
It would’ve been more of a desire to do it but after reading all this I don’t think I want too as everything has been working perfectly for years and it seems like no matter what I throw at this router it just keeps humming along just fine.
Click to expand...

That's fine. Some people make router firmware into a hobby, and with some of it, you kind of have to.
 
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