The deal on DD-WRT

[coldfire]

DD-WRT is a Linux OS for wireless routers. Its site can be found here. Its initial attraction to me was of course that it removed the OE firmware and replaced it with a remarkably less restricted version of the Linux OS. Another HUGE selling point was that it enabled you to boost the power of the wireless router to over 1000% the original (28mW as opposed to 251mW). I figured I'd give it a try but I wasn't going to do it with my only router. So I picked up a Linksys WRT54GL router that is supposed to be very compatible with the DD-WRT. Had no problem installing the new firmware and I had no problem setting up a second wireless ap along with my DLINK 802.11G network. Then I decided to test the two.

Now for some reason NetStumbler doesn't seem to recognize my wireless card in Vista so until I find a replacement I'm stuck with the Zero Config Service that Microsoft supplies. My friend and I decided to go with that anyway and headed out into my apartments parking lot. We had the Linksys AP turned up to its maximum of 251mW and the DLINK doing its normal thing. What we discovered was surprising. The DLINK's 802.11G network became unusable about 20 feet before the Linksys amplified G network.

Basically if your looking to extend your wireless network this isn't the way to do it. DD-WRT recommends not raising the power past 70mW and says that numerous people have not seen overheating problems at even 100mW. However every report says that sustained use at above 100 will burn out the chipset. I don't think anyone has been stupid enough to test at 251mW for an extended period of time. I doubt the router would last more than a day or two though. So you can have that 20 feet extra at the price of a router a day. Or just get a DLINK. Maybe next time we'll try to get our hands on a compatible DLINK and see what we can get out of that. We didn't think to test the range on the unmodified Linksys until it was too late unfortunately.

Thought some of you all would be interested.

[CaliMike]

Transmitting power at the access point is only part of the equation. The client has to be able to communicate back to the access point and the access point needs a receiver sensitive enough to hear it.

I don't think Netstumbler works with Vista at all. I dual booted my laptop between Vista and XP until about 6 months ago and there was no Vista compatible version of Netstumbler at that time and no ETA either.

[coldfire]

Originally Posted by CaliMike

Transmitting power at the access point is only part of the equation. The client has to be able to communicate back to the access point and the access point needs a receiver sensitive enough to hear it.

I don't think Netstumbler works with Vista at all. I dual booted my laptop between Vista and XP until about 6 months ago and there was no Vista compatible version of Netstumbler at that time and no ETA either.

Thats too bad about Netsumbler. One of my favorite tools.

Yeah I know power at the router isn't the entire picture. But that kind of boost should at least extend the range at which you can see the network. It was just surprising that the DLINK performed right with it no matter what it was set at.

[CaliMike]

Originally Posted by coldfire

Thats too bad about Netsumbler. One of my favorite tools.

Yeah I know power at the router isn't the entire picture. But that kind of boost should at least extend the range at which you can see the network. It was just surprising that the DLINK performed right with it no matter what it was set at.

My guess is that the signal bars in Windows isn't really showing you the radiated power from the access point. Do you have another laptop with XP you can run Netstumbler on? I'd really like to see what it shows. Another issue is the signal to noise ratio. You can crank the power up to 11, but unless its clean power, it won't do a whole lot of good.

[coldfire]

Unfortunately I don't have an install of XP at this point. I need to get my hands on another install CD and see what that does.