Taking The DD-WRT Plunge In Two Days!

[Xerran]

Hello all, after researching as much as i can i have decided to take the plunge and just ordered two WHR-HP-G54's and plan to flash them both with DD-WRT.v23 SP2, use one as a router and the other as a wireless bridge for a second PC and an Xbox 360. I know i am gonna love having QoS for my Vonage adapter. Any of you guys or gals have a similar set up? I would love to hear any feedback/tips etc. :)

[fastpakr]

I'm running a G54S at the house with a PAP2 for Viatalk. At the office I've got something like 14 Buffalo devices at our various sites (2 HP's, the rest G54S) with another 3 HP's on the way. Some are just working as AP's, but we've got a few bridge links running as well, including one based on two Linksys WAP54G's. Everything is run with v23 SP2. I'm not nearly as familiar with this stuff as many of the guys here, but I'll help as much as possible.

[Xerran]

I'm running a G54S at the house with a PAP2 for Viatalk. At the office I've got something like 14 Buffalo devices at our various sites (2 HP's, the rest G54S) with another 3 HP's on the way. Some are just working as AP's, but we've got a few bridge links running as well, including one based on two Linksys WAP54G's. Everything is run with v23 SP2. I'm not nearly as familiar with this stuff as many of the guys here, but I'll help as much as possible.

I'm going to have my main PC and a Vonage ATA connected to this router via Ethernet. The second router will be set to wireless bridge mode and my wife's PC and an Xbox 360 will both be connected to it via Ethernet. My wife is always using Vonage so i would love to use Skype as a back up and we play tons of multi-player PC and Xbox Live games so the QoS feature in DD-WRT will be awesome. After trying Netgear and D-Link i just want a setup that i can go at least 6-12 months with no reboots lol. Thanks again.
:)

[Alan87i]

Just want to ask what is the power level in the WHR-HP-G54 after the flash to DD-WRT.v23 SP2 firm ware
Thanks
Allan

[fastpakr]

That's actually still a bit confusing, Alan. Prior to SP2, you just set output to 10mW to avoid overpowering the internal amp. Now, it appears that you should set the power on a different scale, something more like 84mW or 100mW. There's an active discussion on that in the Broadcom forum over there. I'm watching it closely since we're just now starting to use the HP's for longer range links with external antennas instead of the G54S devices we were using purely as AP's.

[Alan87i]

Thanks for the info.
I might try another link this spring or summer. I have 2 edimax ew-7206Apg's in PTP mode now with 19 db grid antennas from FAB corp.
It's a short link about 900 feet. Those 7206 apg's run at 63 mw And I have yet to find a way to turn them up. They do work great ,I have 4 pc's hooked through a switch on the bridge and have yet to notice a problem.
I'm looking for afordable 200mw or 400mw ap and client or ap's in bridge mode to try on my next project. About 1/2 to 3/4 mile but with tree tops.
Allan

[fastpakr]

What about a SBC with a high output mini-PCI card? That ought to do what you're looking for and still keep the cost down with lots of software DIY flexibility.

[Alan87i]

You will have to explain what A SBC is lol I have no idea.
What I will need to do to make sure this link works is mount both devices on a pole 12 feet up or better from the roofs of both houses. I looked at the roo antenna but like the 24 db grids better
Allan

[fastpakr]

Single board computer, like these (http://store.microcom.us/wireless-lan--embedded-pc.html). You can get waterproof enclosures for them from the same site. What about 900mhz? That would probably deal with the trees better if you don't need high throughput.

[Alan87i]

YA They are nicely priced . I'm right out of the loop on them though. Later today If I get time I'll start a new post about SBC I need too learn about them (understand ) the apps and such.
Thanks Allan

[umdivx]

Hello all, after researching as much as i can i have decided to take the plunge and just ordered two WHR-HP-G54's and plan to flash them both with DD-WRT.v23 SP2, use one as a router and the other as a wireless bridge for a second PC and an Xbox 360. I know i am gonna love having QoS for my Vonage adapter. Any of you guys or gals have a similar set up? I would love to here any feedback/tips etc. :)

So did you get it setup yet? I am currently running three different networks with buffalo's and DD-WRT, 34 in total. of the 34 I've only had 1 router fail and that was due to a power spike that fried the router.

Other than that, running QOS, policy scripts, web proxy, ect....

I'd suggest trying out WDS instead of Bridge mode, WDS is nice as it'll bridge teh connections but also extend it so if you need better wifi coverage in your home WDS fixes that need.

- Josh

[Xerran]

So did you get it setup yet? I am currently running three different networks with buffalo's and DD-WRT, 34 in total. of the 34 I've only had 1 router fail and that was due to a power spike that fried the router.

Other than that, running QOS, policy scripts, web proxy, ect....

I'd suggest trying out WDS instead of Bridge mode, WDS is nice as it'll bridge teh connections but also extend it so if you need better wifi coverage in your home WDS fixes that need.

- Josh

Coolness, i received both of the WHR-HP-G54's from Amazon today, i unpacked & flashed one with 0 problems and everything went perfect on my first try :) I did a trick that someone mentioned in these forums. I plugged the power cable in first then waited until the network icon on my desktop switched from "network cable disconnected" then immediately hit enter to begin the tftp flash with dd-wrt.v23_micro_generic, once inside the DD-WRT http web interface i simply flashed again using dd-wrt.v23_generic and once done I held the reset button for 30 seconds then set 85% of my uplink and downlink in QoS settings, set my Vonage VTA under "MAC Priority - Premium" and BAM my Vonage call quality now kicks major ass, no drop in call quality even while doing speedtests or with the Mrs. playing WoW and i can hit the telephone flash button to switch back and fourth between callers with ease and no dropped calls. Xbox Live works with no issues at all, at first the Xbox Live network test was telling me my NAT was "moderate" so i assigned my Xbox 360 a static IP and enabled port forwarding then performed another test and BAM it says the NAT is "OPEN". I was scared of the Broadcom chip burning out so i set Xmit to the Wiki recommended setting of 10 mW. I have not even set up the other Buffalo as a bridge yet as the router works perfectly with the wife's (Lord knows i had to make sure of this before she came home) D-Link DWL-G520M Wireless MIMO Adapter. I am so pleased with the WHR-HP-G54 & DD-WRT. Thank you so much guys for all your help, much appreciated. I hope this thread will help out other fellow DD-WRT newbies out there. :)