DD-WRT

I had a WRT54G (version 8) left over and thought of using it as either a repeater or a client: however, I believe that since V7, Cisco has stopped supporting client/bridge modes in their (consumer routers). I’ve been wanting to convert this router over into DD-WRT, but never really had time. Today, was the day and out of memory to get this going:

1. Download the two files, the vxworks app and micro DD-WRT.
2. Hard reset your WRT54G (keep the ‘reset’ button pressed for 20+ seconds).
3. Set your computer to get the IP automatically and connect it to the router.
4. Load up the admin page of the Linksys router and go to the Upgrade page and select the ‘vworkskiller’ file. After upgrading, the router will reboot. Note: at this stage, there’s no Linksys admin pages anymore.
5. use tftp to upload the last file to the router
   1. Windows/DOS: tftp -i 192.168.1.1 put dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin
   2. Linux: atftp –option “mode octet” –verbose -l dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin -p 192.168.1.1
6. After upgrading, it will take a minute or so for the router to reboot. Browse to 192.168.1.1 (using root/admin credentials) and you should be good to go and see the pretty DD-WRT admin pages.

Note: no guarantees here. I’m not responsible for any ‘bricking’ of your router.

Update: I did the tftp part on my linuxen b0xen: surprisingly, tftp isn’t installed by default on Windows Vista and higher.