azinck3 Wrote: > My experience shows that any and all brands have their good units and > their bad units. It's really hit or miss. If you're looking for a > tried and true router/WAP it's hard to go wrong with the old Linksys > WRT54G (now the WRT54GL).
I read somewhere that the Linksys WRT54G is the best-selling consumer router of all time. Therefore I went with it for the Squeezebox and haven't had any issues since. That said, the WRT54G today isn't the same one that was sold a few years ago. The initial versions, the v1-v4, actually ran Linux. The code was released a few years ago which led to the development of 3rd party firmware that can allow power and flexibility unheard-of in the factory firmware. (I'm using DD-WRT on my WRT54Gv4). Recently though, Linksys realized that their routers were overspec compared to the competition and that they couldn't match the competition's prices, so they halved the RAM and ROM (to 8 MB and 2 MB) and ran VxWorks on it rather than Linux. The initial firmware was horrendous but present releases are said to work OK. I would be wary of these units due to their reduced resources, but many Squeezebox users are using them without a problem. Due to the reduced flash memory, it's difficult to load Linux firmware on these, but the latest DD-WRT (v23 SP1) "micro" distribution can be loaded onto it, although it requires a hardware hack. Fortunately Linksys realized there was still a market for the Linux-powered router and sells the WRT54GL (L for Linux). It's really just a WRT54Gv4. Due to increased resources, it won't sell as low as the WRT54Gv5, perhaps $10-$15 more. When it comes to throughput choking issues, I suspect it's lack of router resources (out of memory?) There are a lot of comments about the Draytek routers regarding this issue, some about USR and some about D-Link. Therefore the higher the resources, the better, so a WRT54GL should have the advantage here. I can't say I've ever seen any throughput choking with the WRT54Gv4 playing back FLAC. The GS (speedbooster) versions, v1-v3, have twice the memory of the WRT54Gv4 (32 MB RAM/8 MB ROM), but the v4 has the same (16 MB/4 MB) and the v5 has even less in addition to VxWorks (16/2). Most say the Speedbooster/turbo/etc. schemes don't deliver. The speed is higher but not to the extent the manufacturers promise. See http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2004/04/01/linksys_wrt54gs_wireless_wrt54gs/ However if you could find a WRT54GS v1-v3 you'd have the extra resources. For more info, including a complete rundown of the hardware, see: http://www.linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=6 -- Mark Lanctot ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mark Lanctot's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2071 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=24351 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
