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Looks like someone has cracked the code on getting DD-WRT micro into the V5 and V6 WRT54G without having to use a JTAG Header or serial port
http://www.bitsum.com/openwiking/o [...] 54G5%5FCFE

It's a one-way trip, for now, so be sure you want to do this!

Thanks to Linksysinfo.org for the tip!

Lately, when my Xbox 360 tries to connect to Xbox Live, I often lose my internet connection entirely. If I remove the WRT54G from the equation and simply connect the Xbox to my cable modem, I don't have this problem, but there's no point in having a router at all if I can't have multiple simultaneous internet connections.

I have the current firmware and have tried all manner of different administrative-type fixes, but to no avail.

What version of the WRT54G do you have? Basically pre or post V5? I would recommend updating your firmware to the latest version, make sure you have UPnP enabled, and add ports 88 and 3074 to your port triggering (not forwarding). After doing this you can check your Xbox Live connectivity on the system blade and it should report your NAT status to be open which is best for online games. The WRT54G is definitely Xbox Live compatible, I use two, one wireless router and the other a wireless bridge, to connect up my 360 and they work excellent.

I have a V5 with the latest firmware (1.00.9). UPnP is enabled. I reset it again today (without changing anything else) and it spontaneously started working again this afternoon. I added ports 88 and 3074 to the port triggering list; we'll see if it remains functional (and for how long).

Thanks for the advice!

Interesting note from a reader:

It's not so much the "junk grade parts", as the basic thermal design, and perhaps the clock rates that the processors are run at.

Margins are very thin on consumer routers and manfs squeeze every cent they can of manufacturing cost out. This generally means no heat sinks, which would help thermal related issues. It would also help if case designs used some basic thermal design techniques such as enough holes/slots in the case for the required airflow and intelligent placement to allow air to flow across the hottest parts.

Bad thermal design isn't limited to Linksys. I'm looking at a brand-new draft 11n router that just came in from a well-known manufacturer that has lots of cooling slots on the bottom of the case, but one little row of slots on the top. The router has been idling all night and the top of the case is warm.

I'm by no means defending Linksys. But since it has such large market share, it will also generate a larger number of complains. And why, if Linksys products are so terrible, do people keep buying the products?

The thermal design issue is complicated by the fact that they have for some time designed most of their products to be stackable. Well stackable in that they inter-connect somehow. However, stacking my WRT54G on top of my Linksys cable modem was a huge problem. The cable modem radiated so much heat that the bottom intake venting of the router was just taking in really hot exhaust from the cable modem. I have them side by side now and they both work great. I had to reboot the router almost weekly, especially in hot months.

The thermal designs have always been iffy on these products though. They are adequate if used properly, but many people put their routers in enclosed spaces, on their sides, behind their heater, I mean Prescott-based P4. They aren't the worst offender I have seen in this market though. My experience with Netgear is that they run much hotter. Mostly as a result of having basically zero ventilation holes/slots.

Honestly I think Linksys gets so many complaints because they sell so many routers. The number of complaints is a function of the number of devices sold and the defective. If they only sell one million of these per year and had only 1% were defective that is 10,000 units. Now add in forums on the web to post your gripes, and you find a very vocal minority. I am always skeptical of people who claim to have bought dozens of these and returned each one. Usually that is user error. You will find people with these stories for almost any popular product on Newegg's user reviews.

I have personally purchased about 2-3 dozen WRT54G's from v1 to v5 and including the GS and the GC. I have even run about 4 or 5 flavors of firmwares on them. I haven't had to return one. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to return one though, it happens in consumer electronics. But if these things were all just faulty as some say there is no way I would have avoided it.

my WRT54GL (v1) running DD-WRT v23 SP1 Final (05/16/06) mini reports[code:1:9a1d76f723]cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_max
512[/code:1:9a1d76f723]My SmoothWall (which contrary to my previous post currently has 768MB of RAM) [code:1:9a1d76f723]cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_max
48120[/code:1:9a1d76f723]512 is the default in the DD-WRT firmware (others use different values) but you can apparently bump this up to 4096 on a WRT54G with 16MB of RAM, that's all of them except the v5 and up (8MB) and pre v4 GS models (32MB).

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G for the specifications of various hardware revisions and http://www.utorrent.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=29569 for an excellent thread describing how to bump up your ip_conntrack_max, if that goes down I found a search for "DD-WRT ip_conntrack_max" and "WRT54G ip_conntrack_max" (without the quotes) most enlightening.

I'd still like to test them though.

Oh and on the subject of thermal design, I’ve found that standing them on their sides results in *better* cooling, (bigger surface area to create a convective current with) I also remember reading that the stackability of linksys products was for display purposes *only* and not something to do when the products were in use, (probably daft to have it but there we go) other things that can effect the heat are bumping up the radio output power, overclocking the CPU and restricting the airflow around the unit.

When it comes to increasing the radio output power I think a lot of people do this blindly without thinking of the consequences, in some circumstances (like in an old solidly built house or a modern high-rise building with lots on internal concrete walls) upping the output could increase reflection and potentially reduce the Signal to Noise Ratio, also it does nothing for the receive signal, which probably won’t get transmitted from the client at more than 100mW (linksys WRT54G family routers transmit at 28mW by default). In general it’s probably better to get a hi-gain antenna which I’ve seen in 7dB omni directional and up to 27dB directional varieties, these will boost the receive signal too.

OCing the CPU, well again, do you really need to, even at 300MHz it's not really suited to applications other than routing? It’s never going to make a kick ass web server (or whatever) so consider using something else, if you are going to OC it improve the cooling appropriately, I’m considering attaching an old chipset heatsync to the CPU as this can’t hurt (except you warranty) as long as you use a proper thermal adhesive, I don't OC and I intentionally run the DD-WRT mini version with most stuff turned off to keep the memory free for my routing table but the cooler it runs the longer it'll last.

I've got the same problem. My server (an old ThinkPad!!!!!) doesn't work when I put it behind my crappy Linksys WRT54G router. So i am going to dig out my old non-wireless router (a D-Link DI-604) and use that. someone might ask "How do i get wireless with that?" I am going to daisy chain my linksys to my d-link, and hook my ThinkPad server to the d-link, and forward ports as appropriately.then i will hook the rest of my wired computers to the d-link and then hook my linksys to the d-link (just for wireless). So it will go like this: Cable Modem > Dlink > Linksys > Wireless Laptops
|____________________Other wired PC 's
|
ThinkPad Server

How exactly does your "server" not work behind your WRT54G? What exactly are you serving up with it? Honestly I would be really surprised if a pre-V5 (or even a V5/V6) had trouble with some basic server operations. I have run a ton of different servers behind mine with no problem.

A web server is what my thinkpad is, and i replaced my Linksys with a D-Link. Now people can ping my ip address, but i then found out that my isp doesn't allow web servers. if my isp allowed web servers, then my webpage would be online. So, Don't go and buy a Linksys WRT54G and expect it to let you have a server.

Some points.

1stly it’s hardly fair to blame Linksys for your ISP blocking http connections to your address.

2ndly try running your web server on a different port as they’re probably just blocking connections to port 80, then you give out your web address as mydyndns.homeip.net:81/bla/bla/bla/index.html (I’ve used 8080 and 81 in the past, be aware your router may use 8080 for remote admin) that should work, though some people behind super restrictive corporate firewalls may not be able to browse your site.

3rdly, when your contract is up, vote with your dollar and move ISP (be sure to ask any potential ISP if they block connections to port 80 first) and tell both your current ISP and the new one why you're moving, there’s no point going of in a huff if you don’t tell people why your doing it and preferably give them a chance to fix the problem.

The reason people can't ping your IP is because of your WRT54G configuration, and it isn't necessarily a bad thing. People use pings to determine that there is a device attached to some IP address. If you don't respond to those pings, they won't know. You can easily host a webserver behind a WRT54G. It is as the previous poster mentioned, a problem with your ISP. A common thing to do is to change your website port to 8080 like he mentions. I have hosted far more complex things behind my WRT54G than an http server. It is up to the task. Some people have actually used their WRT54G as a webserver all by itself using a 3rd party firewall.