Yes, the Linksys WRT54G V5 Really Is a Lousy Router

Even in Tom's Networking you could read about it.

User forums around the Web have been abuzz with complaints about the non-Linux version of one of Linksys' most popular products. Tim Higgins tested the WRT54GL Linux-based version and found at least one reason why the V5 has so many unhappy buyers. Learn the sad truth.

So if you are searching for a new router Router, consider the Linksys WRT54GL or get a Buffalo WHR-G54S or WHR-HP-G54 and flash it to DD-WRT.

Putting DD-WRT into a Linksys WRT54G V5 is a complicated process. So it is not something I would recomed a friend to do.

DD-WRT Wiki: Flash Your Version 5 WRT54G

Note: WRT54 v5 routers are officially supported by DD-WRT since v23 SP1 final. Flashing them is still not for the faint of heart, it is recommended that you get a router with more memory.

FINALLY IT HAPPENED !!!

Now is is possible to flash DD-WRT or OpenWRT to a WRT54G/GS version 5.x/6.x without using a JTAG cable.

With this new process I will recomend my friend to upgrade his router to DD-WRT micro, V2.3 SP1 multilanguage.


Read more about it in here:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Vxworkskiller
http://www.bitsum.com/openwiking/owbase/ow.asp?WRT54G5%5FCFE

I'm glad that it went smooth.

Originally Posted by ofbarea

Now is is possible to flash DD-WRT or OpenWRT to a WRT54G/GS version 5.x/6.x without using a JTAG cable.

Is the JTAG cable for flashing the memory chip or the embedded memory in the processor ?

Is for flashing the boot loader of the broadcom chipset. The loader for linux is diferent to the loader of VxWorks.

I red that the WRT54G is a big seller. So Linksys decided to reduce the memory to earn more money.

I think Cisco uses VxWorks in some of their product, so migrating the Linksys WRT54G to this OS made sense to them.

Even that WRT54G/GS v5.x/v6.x could be upgraded to Linux, these products are not recomended as they have little memory.

The new product to totally avoid is the WRT54G v7.0. This router has little memory and it uses a different Chipset, therefore there is no way we could upload third party firmware to this one.

If you are in the hunt of a new router and you want a Linksys one, get the WRT54GL v1.x

If you can find an older WRT54GS v1.x to 3.x they are the best option because of the extra memory these units have, but these are very rare finds these days.

In summary any WRT54G/GL/GS v1.x to v4.0 will work fine.

You can recognize the version of the WRT54Gx unit even if they are in the original box, by looking at the first 4 digits of the serial number.

Toxic @ http://www.linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=10230

WRT54G
CDF0 = WRT54G v1.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 125Mhz
CDF1 = WRT54G v1.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 125Mhz
CDF2 = WRT54G v1.1 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 125Mhz
CDF3 = WRT54G v1.1 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 125Mhz
CDF5 = WRT54G v2.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDF7 = WRT54G v2.2 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDF8 = WRT54G v3.0 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDF9 = WRT54G v3.1 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDFA = WRT54G v4.0 / BCM5352E Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDFB = WRT54G v5.0 / BCM5352EKPB Chipset / CPU 200Mhz (not recommended)
CDFC = WRT54G v5.1 / BCM5352EKPB Chipset / CPU 200Mhz (not recommended)
CDFD = WRT54G v6.0 / BCM5352EKBG Chipset / CPU 200Mhz (not recommended)
CDFE = WRT54G v7.0 (*** avoid ***)

WRT54GL
CL7A = WRT54GL v1.0 / BCM5352E Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CL7B = WRT54GL v1.1 / BCM5352EKPBG Chipset / CPU 200Mhz

WRT54GS
CGN0 = WRT54GS v1.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN1 = WRT54GS v1.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN2 = WRT54GS v1.1 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN3 = WRT54GS v2.0 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN4 = WRT54GS v2.1 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN5 = WRT54GS v3.0 / BCM5352E Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN6 = WRT54GS v4.0 / BCM5352E Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN7 = WRT54GS v5.0 / BCM5352EKPB Chipset (not recommended)
CGN8 = WRT54GS v5.1 / BCM5352EKPBG Chipset (not recommended)

There are other options for running DD-WRT, the best ones so far are Buffalo WHR-G54s and WHR-HP-G54.

Originally Posted by ofbarea

If you are in the hunt of a new router and you want a Linksys one, get the WRT54GL v1.x

Would that be flashed as a standard "G" model then?



--edit--

Found It!

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Installation#Flashing_the_WRT54Gv4.2FWRT54GL

Flashing the WRT54Gv4/WRT54GL
Only DD-WRT versions 23 or higher will support the WRT54Gv4. Neither device supports flashing the std or voip versions of DD-WRT from the original Linksys firmware (Linksys limited the maximum firmware size to 3 MBytes). Therefore, only the MINI version of DD-WRT can be flashed initially. Once DD-WRT mini is installed, you can upgrade to std or voip versions. When using the Web GUI, use the *_generic.bin types when upgrading. If the Web GUI is unavailable, use tftp in combination with the special *_wrt54g.bin files. Remember to reset to factory defaults before and after every flashing.

WRT54G v4 Installation Tutorial
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/WRT54G_v4_Installation_Tutorial

You must use the mini version when upgrading from original linksys firmware!

.

Originally Posted by gastorgrab

Would that be flashed as a standard "G" model then?

Yes as the WRT54GL is the same as the older WRT54G v.4.

Did you try the new firmware?

I was only considering buying the WRT54GL when i posted that. I wish i had waited more than 5 minutes before i flashed with DD-WRT. The learning curve for the Linksys firmware probably isn't as steep. This thing has hundreds of options!

This is my first wireless device.



The first thing that really screwed things up is that this thing has 3 MAC addresses. I originally went into the firmware and disabled the one that didn't match my card, in the MAC filtering page.

I'm only using it as AP right now till i figure out what i'm doing.
.

After several months of flawless operation, my WRT54G... V5, went cuckoo on me. I can get on only intermittently, any heavy usage (such as hitting the News Server with Grabit autodownloader) will cause the router to freeze up. Sometimes opening the web management interface brings up NOT the the menu, but the "upgrade firmware" screen. Weird, heh?

Did a full reset, then flashed it with latest firmware. Now it's working again. But it was not a pleasant experience.

Originally Posted by US Guy

Thanks for the great work, I have successully flashed my WRT54GS v5 to DD-WRT. Apart from the already mentioned memory size at 8MB instead of 16MB, I noticed that the WLAN light no longer lit up.

Hi US Guy, now it is possible to enable 16 MB of memory in your WRT54GS v5.x. Check this out: WRT54GS: How to enable 16MB of RAM

I have a Linksys WRT54GS and Ive never had any problems with it. It forwards ports, assigns IPs and even works wonderfully when Lanning to my xboxes. I never udpated the firmware either.

Lucky you.

BTW, the Linux version of WRT54G (i.e. the WRT54GL) which does easily accept updated firmware or even thirdparty firmware is on sale for $49.95

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayitem.cfm/68327

And if you get a buffalo, you flash it to DD-WRT, now is possible to go back to the original buffalo firmware:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=23591#23591

For the people using DD-WRT, please note that DD-WRT v23 SP2 has been released today.

http://www.dd-wrt.com

DD-WRT v23 SP2 released

without big words, its finally done. V23 SP2 final is now available for download. the development team will now force to spend all time into v24. so far there are important major things we will bring this into a "maybe" v23 sp3 too, to support the wrt54g v5/v6 as well as the low memory device community. from the current point it would be hard to get the v24 running on a 8MB device. but lets see what will happen in the next weeks.

you may download v23 SP2 here