Bman

I currently have a Linksys WRT54GL router. I love it, it's a good router.

I share my connection with a neighbor (lives above me) and my fiddling with my settings can be annoying. Also if I was as secure as I wanted to be I would be changing my passwords every day, but that would get quite annoying to another person.

So I am looking to get a new router that has that Guest Network feature, the one that gives people internet access but no real access to my network. Not just for the guy I am giving internet to now, but when I have friends and family over etc.

And if I am going to get a new router for that I should as well future proof myself and make sure it's Wireless N, or is there a new one now AC or something?

What is the cheapest router that has those 2 features, and supports Tomato firmware? I am hoping for something Under $70CAD if possible, but list the best options either way.

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Admiral Michael

Personally I would do this:

I know with ddwrt you can create virtual wireless networks, surely you can do this with tomato? If a router has a guest network flashing tomato on it would remove this feature.

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Bman

I have looked through Tomato and have not been able to find anything about Virtual Wireless Networks or similar. I read that the WRT54GL does not support that. The router itself needs too.

Why would flashing Tomato on it remove the feature, only because that Firmware does not support it? Would ddwrt do the same thing?

Your idea is good, though I would have to spend more money on a switch as well. Which I don't want to do at the moment.

Are you using a WRT54G router?

It appears that the hardware supports Virtual Networks, but as of now the Tomato firmware does not. Might be a good reason to switch to DDWRT, the issue is that everything I have read the layout and design is no where as good as Tomato.

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Admiral Michael

Well I used to use a Linksys WAP54G which is just an access point then later upgraded to a Linksys E3000 router and I put DDWRT on it. I was able to do virtual wireless networks on both but I never went into it too much.

Now I use an Apple Time Capsule.

Flashing would remove the feature because you are removing the firmware which has the feature. I'm sure you could do it with DDWRT.

EDIT: I didn't use it because I had a very specific setup I wanted to do but couldn't figure it out. I didn't use these routers and time capsule as router but as access points.

I use a mini PC I built running SmoothWall linux as my main router. It has different subnets (essentially Red is WAN, Green is Private LAN, Purple is Public LAN). I wanted to create a wifi network and assign that network to a specific port on the router which would be plugged into the purple interface on the smoothwall box.

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Bman

Does the Virtual Network work the same as a router with a real guest account? Or is it still possible for the person using the Virtual Network to access my network?

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Admiral Michael

as far as I know if you put the guest network in a different virtual network they can't access the other virtual networks.

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Bman

Thanks a bunch Michael, you have been a huge help lately

I am going to give DDWRT a try.

Though, anyone want to give there recommendations on a new router anyways, that would be great. Just to see.

*I just read this. http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Mode Unless I am reading wrong, for it to work you still need a second router?

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Admiral Michael

I liked the Linksys E3000, but its about $90-130. It has a USB port and while I didn't try a HDD in it I was able to turn it into a print server.

Only reason why I don't use it anymore is because I wanted a Apple Time Capsule so I could use Time Machine to back up my MacBook.

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Xie

If your going to try and run DDWRT then this guide might be of use to you: Multiple BSSIDs with DD-WRT - Interactive HowTo

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Bman

That guide is brilliant. I was not sure if I wanted to go through figuring it all out with DDWRT but with that I think I will.

Thanks! Just two questions.

The start of the guide it asks me to input information, do I put the same IP address for both? And which version do I need, I have the same router as him. He links to this, but his description for which version you need is confusing. http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/down....NG%2Fsvn17990/

* I used telnet to figure out which version mine is, I need a NEWD version. Though now there are like 10 version of NEWD, I know I need a STD one, but which. ARg!

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Xie

No, you want a seperate IP (subnet) for each, making them 2 different networks. If you notice the default IP address one is 192.168.1.1 while the other is 192.168.2.1 making them on separate subnets.

As for what version you would need I would have to look at that more and google up what each version did.

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Bman

Yea I haven't been able to figure out which version. That is where I am stuck lol

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Xie

Sorry I always get to the thread right before work and don't have the time for proper research. BUT, it looks like what you need should be in these two links:

Linksys WRT54GL - DD-WRT Wiki (which refers to the 2nd)
DD-WRT Forum :: View topic - Peacock Thread-FAQ: EVERYTHING you NEED to know! Really!!

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American Zombie

Since ISP's are going to start going native IPV6 in 2012 I would scrap that router and get one that supports IPV6.

Trials are over: World IPv6 Launch on June 6, 2012, To Bring Permanent IPv6 Deployment | Deploy360 Programme

Bman

I thought most routers do support IPV6, including the WRT54 series?

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American Zombie

Not with stock firmware although you can get it to work with some 3rd party firmware.

You can test here: Test your IPv6

Bman

So if I am reading that test correct, no I don't support it. Darn.

So I am still going to play with my router and all that. But lets get back to the original question, which router, wireless N or better, virtual networks, and IPV6, cheapest?

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American Zombie

Do you want/need dual band or single?

I have my b, g devices on 2.4GHz and my N devices on 5GHz as it is less crowded so I get max speeds.

Have to make sure your device supports 5GHz before trying to connect to 5GHz.

As for routers here is a really good chart: Router Charts - WAN to LAN Throughput - SmallNetBuilder

You can compare, see what the router supports and the current price

Bman

Yea dual band is probably a good idea.

Looking through that list, not many that support VLANs or even talk about it. Interesting. To me it sounds like an amazing feature, but to most people I guess it's not important.

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