How to Monitor Your Upload and Download on Linksys Router

Routers are basically niggling computers. Past default, they run a industry-provided operating system, or firmware, to road network traffic and provide you with various settings and features. But you can oft supersede this firmware.

Most people don't need a third-party custom router firmware. Yes, custom firmware can provide you with additional features and other benefits, but they're more than circuitous and most people just want their router to role as an apparatus.

Firmware Basics

Your router runs an operating system, known every bit its firmware. Router manufacturers provide a way to "flash" new firmware, which is typically used to upgrade the router'southward firmware to a new version from the manufacturer. Yet, yous don't necessarily accept to flash a file provided by a manufacturer — you could instead flash a file provided by a third-political party. This file could have a customized operating system on it.

Routers aren't like PCs. Y'all can't just install any old firmware on whatsoever onetime router. You lot'll need to use a firmware that's been specifically designed for your router- – i that supports its hardware devices and one that fits in the limited storage space your router includes.

The Linksys WRT54G

Custom router firmware first took off with the Linksys WRT54G router released back in 2003. These routers ran a firmware based on Linux. Linksys didn't release source code when they released the router, although they were supposed to. They eventually released the WRT54G firmware's source code after some pressure. Enthusiast'due south then had a router that ran Linux and the source code to the router. They could accept that lawmaking and change it, adding features, tweaking it, modifying the interface, and so flashing their customized version back onto the router.

Futurity versions of the WRT54G ran a dissimilar operating system. Even so, the line of Linux-based WRT54G routers continues in Linksys's WRT54GL series — the L stands for Linux. However, the WRT54GL series only supports 802.11b/one thousand Wi-Fi and lacks support for 802.11n wireless, so it'south not really the ideal router to purchase today.

Why Carp?

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People similar installing custom router firmware because they provide boosted features. For instance, the OpenWrt firmware is basically a Linux distribution for your router, consummate with a package manager. You can use it to install lightweight spider web, VPN, and SSH servers on your router. Even user-friendly options similar DD-WRT add powerful features like quality of service (QoS) support for prioritizing network traffic, a feature ofttimes found simply on higher-end routers. Here's a demo of the DD-WRT interface y'all tin view online.

Custom router firmware tin likewise be more stable than the manufacturer-provided firmware in some cases. If your router needs regular reboots, a custom firmware may brand it run more stable.

Security is another concern. For example, some D-Link routers contained a backstairs — if your browser used a special user amanuensis string, you could admission the administration interface without a username and password. Many consumer routers contained some other backstairs which was stock-still with a patch, but the patch actually just hid the backdoor so it was still usable by attackers. Asus routers with network file share features may betrayal your files to the Internet for anyone to access. The state of home router security is a nightmare, and these open-source projects based on Linux likely won't include amateurish backdoors.

How to Install a Tertiary-Political party Router Firmware

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If you desire to apply a third-political party router firmware, you'll kickoff need to choose the i you want to use. OpenWrt is a powerful Linux-based router firmware written from scratch to back up WRT54G routers, and it's moved on to supporting more routers. DD-WRT is a more user-friendly distribution based on OpenWrt. Tomato plant has been popular in the past, but it was concluding updated in 2010 then information technology won't support as many routers and is more outdated. There are many other third-party firmware projects, besides — you lot'll observe a long list on Wikipedia.

Next, you'll need to exist sure you actually take a router that supports this firmware. You can detect a list of router hardware firmware support on their websites — here's the list of devices OpenWRT supports and hither's the list of devices DD-WRT supports.

If you're shopping for a router, y'all'll desire to do some inquiry to find a solid modern router that supports third-party routers well. For example, we saw this advertisement on the DD-WRT site — ASUS is ad straight to enthusiasts looking for 3rd-party router firmware, arguing that their hardware is the platonic platform for running your ain router operating organisation. Geeks who hack their routers are a big enough market for manufacturers to pay attention to.

You'll want to follow the firmware's instructions to go through the installation process. Still, the process is generally as simple as downloading the advisable firmware file for your device, visiting the Upgrade Firmware page in your router'due south spider web interface, and uploading the tertiary-party firmware through this form. The router will so supervene upon its original firmware with the third-political party ane.

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Of grade, third-political party router firmwares generally aren't supported past the router's manufacturer. They're similar installing a custom ROM on Android or replacing your PC's operating system with Linux. If you encounter a problem, you can't just contact the router's manufacturer and expect them to troubleshoot problems with the 3rd-party software.

Image Credit: webhamster on Flickr, Republic of chad Ohman on Flickr

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Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/189073/how-to-use-a-custom-firmware-on-your-router-and-why-you-might-want-to/

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