Low Bit

I recently picked up a Linksys WRT350N to replace my old WRT54G. After getting the new router up and running, my wife noticed a problem with her Powerbook. It would no longer pick up a strong wireless signal in the sun room. I had hoped the new unit would provide increased range throughout the house but this doesn't seem to be the case.

I decided to put the old WRT54G back into service and set it up in the sun room as a WDS participant. I flashed both of the units with DD-WRT v24 RC2 and more or less followed this guide. So far it is working great. My wife's Powerbook went from essentially no signal to four bars. The other benefit is that I can now get my Squeezebox back on the network. Since mine is an older model, it doesn't support WPA which I am now using for wireless security. The WRT54G is parked right next to the Squeezebox so I am able to connect it wired and get music back in the sun room.

Once Rama posted some favorable results after a recent AirPort upgrade, I decided to drop the cash for a WRT350N of my own. I have been running the home network on a WRT54G v2.2 flashed with a beta of DD-WRT v24. The idea was to migrate to the new hardware using the same software.

After some sleuthing on the interwebs, I discovered that I needed version 1.0 of the WRT350N which is still Broadcom based and supported by DD-WRT. Various folks have reported receiving version 2.0 units which would, for now, keep me tethered to the stock firmware. Either I got lucky or the version 2.0 units just aren't that prevalent out in the wild because when the friendly UPS truck came, it was indeed bearing a version 1.0 for me.

The initial flashing was rather easy once I booted up Windows on my Mac. Using Firefox or Safari I would get the rather humorous error message, "Upgrade are failed." This makes me think those Linksys engineers are big fans of Zero Wing. A bit more research revealed that I needed to use IE for the initial flash from the stock Linksys firmware. Granted, it was stated that the OS X version of IE would work but who still uses that?

The new router is now happily running DD-WRT v24 RC1 and most of my settings have been migrated. I haven't cut over to it yet because that means I have to get under the house. Yep, one of the main reasons for getting this router was the gigabit switch fueled by my grand scheme of running three CAT-5e cables into the sun room. The WRT350N was the last bit I needed and now I have no excuse not to get down into the basement and then into two different crawl spaces to run cable. Well, I guess I can still use spiders as an excuse.