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Limited by your router? Try replacing the firmware

Posted on 6 Aug 2010 at 14:22

Ian Wrigley explains how a firmware refresh could bring new life to your router

I recently needed to install a wireless repeater in my apartment.

I use a cable modem for internet access and my main router – an Apple Time Capsule – sits next to the cable modem. But my building appears to incorporate a Faraday Cage in its walls, as wireless reception at the furthest points from the Time Capsule is rather spotty.

My building appears to incorporate a Faraday Cage in its walls

I could deal with that, but I also encountered another problem: when I moved a printer from one room to another, I realised that because it’s a network printer that requires an Ethernet cable - how quaint! - I couldn’t print unless I physically attached my laptop to it.

What I needed was some kind of repeater that would rebroadcast the wireless signal (so I can stream movies to my iPad while I’m in bed, if you must know) and also provide some actual Ethernet ports.

I wanted to do this using whatever hardware I already had lying around, which included a Linksys router. However, trawling through the internet led me to the conclusion that this router’s built-in firmware just couldn’t do what I wanted. Several people suggested replacing the router’s firmware, and that’s what I did.

DD-WRT does the trick

My router is now running DD-WRT, and I highly recommend it if you’re looking to do anything even slightly out of the ordinary with your wireless network. Despite its name - WRT is the prefix given to most Linksys devices - this will actually run on hardware from a wide variety of manufacturers. You’ll find a complete list here.

It turns out that accomplishing the setup I wanted was simple. I had to download the firmware first, and install it onto the router. That’s the scariest part of the operation, because if something goes wrong while you’re doing that you’ll almost certainly turn the device into a completely useless “brick”.

Assuming everything goes well (and unless you actually experience a power outage while you’re transferring the file then it should do) then once the new firmware is in place, you’re presented with a web controller interface that displays far more options than you had available before.

These include the ability to set up your router in many different configurations, the one I needed being a Repeater Bridge that extends the wireless range as well as providing access to the router’s Ethernet ports. If I hadn’t needed to expand the range and merely wanted to hook up the printer then a Client Bridge would have been a better option.

There’s plenty of information about the differences on the site’s documentation pages, and there are step-by-step instructions about exactly what settings you need at each stage of the process.

If all you want to do is build a wireless network at home connected to your ADSL or cable modem DD-WRT will be total overkill, and you’d be better off sticking with your router’s own firmware. But if you’re looking to do more tricky or sophisticated things, this is a powerful piece of work, and is, naturally, open-source and completely free.