Random Mod: LinkSys Router

Aguiluz · Post by **Aguiluz** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:37 am

I was tired of the inconsistent performance of my wireless internet. In my room, the signal is a paltry 25%, so I decided to modify my router. The router is at the basement and my room is at the second floor, and it's the farthest point from the router - which explains the crappy signal.

I disconnected my router, reprogrammed it with DD-WRT and set the transmission power to 80 milliwatts. I hot-glued a spare fan and...

TA-DA! It's my first modded router! It's also my first firmware flash too!

Here's how it looks. It's a Linksys WRH-54G.

Here's the signal on my room. (92%... That's progress!)

(P.S: I posted it here on F42 because I have no idea where to put it.)

nitro2k01 · Post by **nitro2k01** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:12 pm

Why the fan? Did the router crash because of over-heating?

vb_master · Post by **vb_master** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:43 pm

nitro2k01 wrote:Why the fan? Did the router crash because of over-heating?

Since he upped the signal output of it, it will produce more heat. It requires a fan now to keep it cool.

Aguiluz · Post by **Aguiluz** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:06 pm

vb_master wrote:Since he upped the signal output of it, it will produce more heat. It requires a fan now to keep it cool.

Correct. I ramped up the output and to play it safe, I added a fan.

I'm rockin' the airwaves at 80 Milliwatts. An improvement over 15 milliwatts. That's a 65 milliwatt increase!

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:29 pm

Aguiluz wrote:
vb_master wrote:Since he upped the signal output of it, it will produce more heat. It requires a fan now to keep it cool.
Correct. I ramped up the output and to play it safe, I added a fan.

I'm rockin' the airwaves at 80 Milliwatts. An improvement over 15 milliwatts. That's a 65 milliwatt increase!

0_o

I could use this in my room, the router reaches there (like you 2 stories up) and I get 1 bad.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:47 pm

That's pretty cool, I wonder if the same could be done to my Linksys router.

So now that you have more signal strength, if you feel like it, let us know how far it reaches.

Aguiluz · Post by **Aguiluz** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:47 pm

Sparkfist wrote:So now that you have more signal strength, if you feel like it, let us know how far it reaches.

Sure! When I get the opportunity.

I used to keep an eye on the signal strength of my PSP while riding the car while going away. At stock, it reached up to four to five houses away before dropping out.

At modded, I am pretty sure that this will have a longer range somewhat.

EDIT: I can't ride the car anymore. Engine blown.

Aguiluz · Post by **Aguiluz** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 4:00 pm

Uh-Oh... I tried 85 mw and it froze. A Quick reset and lowering it back to 80 mw and it was fine and dandy.

Phew! I thought I lost my router!

Anyway, Sparkfist, what is the model of your Router?

Jongamer · Post by **Jongamer** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 5:17 pm

I think pretty much any fairly new Linksys router will take the modified firmware.

Though with this, I would turn off SSID broadcasting as people will be able to pick up your connection, so to avoid unwanted hackers, I would turn off that SSID broadcasting.

Aguiluz · Post by **Aguiluz** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 5:56 pm

Jongamer wrote:Though with this, I would turn off SSID broadcasting as people will be able to pick up your connection, so to avoid unwanted hackers, I would turn off that SSID broadcasting.

Even if I have WPA 2 and a key 20+ characters long with letters and numbers?

Sharp Sapphire · Post by **Sharp Sapphire** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:01 pm

Aguiluz wrote:
Jongamer wrote:Though with this, I would turn off SSID broadcasting as people will be able to pick up your connection, so to avoid unwanted hackers, I would turn off that SSID broadcasting.
Even if I have WPA 2 and a key 20+ characters long with letters and numbers?

Honestly, disabling your SSID is a good idea in general. I recommend it

Aguiluz · Post by **Aguiluz** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:06 pm

But would that mean my network will be hidden from anyone except who knows the SSID?

Jongamer · Post by **Jongamer** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:13 pm

quite honestly I don't need to disable SSID broadcasting on mine, but mines a Nintendo WI-fi USB adaptor running on modified drivers and Buffalo Wireless keychain software.

I can barely get a Signal in the living room with it modified with an Antenna from a POS Wireless-B router, so I doubt anyone would be able to snatch my connection

and all the device that use the adaptor are within range anyway.

Its not bad either, I played a couple lag free COD4 matches on it though my friends Wi-fi connector for his 360, and GH3 play flawlessly online too on my Wii, and same for my DS and Mario Kart, and my bros computer with one of those Linksys WUSB11 Wireless-B receivers, which I got for like $5 from a friend. Hmm I think Im gonna go test how many devices will connect to it before it chokes.

Post by **bicostp** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:20 pm

Okay, first off if this is a desktop PC, it's always better to run a wire. The connection will be at least twice as fast, and here's no way to get into it from the street. Even if it's a laptop, run a wire to a wall plug so you can plug a patch cable into that and plug your laptop in. I'm serious, WiFi is a horrible thing to use on a daily basis, especially when you don't have to. It's just way too insecure.

You might also want to turn the transmitter power down until you have about a 75% signal in your room. The fact that it froze when you turned it up a little bit says that you're pushing that unit's limit. Runnin git that hard will most likely burn it out by the end of the year. Consumer grade APs aren't meant to do that much. If you really need more power, look into Cisco Aironet APs, which have a substantially larger range than anything you can buy at Circuit City (I could get about 600 feet down the road before the signal completely cut out), and have a 100 mw transmitter that was made to do that much. And turning it up way too much will only allow people farther away to break in.

The best place to put your AP is either the middle of the lower level with the antennas parallel to the ground, or at one end of the basement with the antennas at a 45 degree angle, projecting into the house. If the radio waves don't get to the street in the first place, people can't connect.

As for other security, disable SSID broadcasting! It's a lot harder to break into your network when outsiders don't know the name. Also, WEP 1 is a joke and can be hacked in about 5 minutes. Use WEP 2. Also, enable MAC address filtering, only allowing your devices to connect. (MAC addresses can be faked, but they'll have to guess what MAC address to use.) While these kind of security measures can be compromised, the idea is to make it not worth the trouble to do so.

The best thing to do is install a hardware firewall, and separate your AP from your hard-wired PCs, that way there's another level of security to get through.

Sharp Sapphire · Post by **Sharp Sapphire** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:49 pm

It's a lot harder to break into your network when outsiders don't know the name.

and when they don't know it exists.