My goals
Update my router, and get a network attached hard drive setup allowing me to backup my MacBook Pro over the network via Time Machine (possibly over the internet, but that might be a long-shot?) I’ll write about the backup process later, but here’s some references to get a network setup supporting full G speeds and also support B/G (all running DD-WRT.)
How I decided on the Linksys e3000
I finally upgraded to a wireless n network. After looking at a few high performance dual band routers (Negear WNDR3700, Linksys e3000, and the Apple Airport Extreme Base Station) I decided on the Linksys e3000.
The Airport Extreme wasn’t as customizable as I wanted. And the main deciding factor between the Netgear and the Linsys was just brand loyalty really. All were close in price.
After I bought the Linsys I almost took it back for an Airport. I wanted to Time Machine from my MacBook Pro over the WiFi via an USB attached hard drive. But the Linksys e3000 didn’t offer the support for that type of hard drive sharing.
I instead decided to install DD-WRT onto the router, after all I’ve done that before with my trusty Linksys WRT54G and it was great. The only holdup… DD-WRT didn’t officially support the router yet (as of July 25 2010.) It was however supported in the forums, and I decided to try installing that.
Step 1: Setup the Linksys e3000 with DD-WRT firmware
Here’s the link to the thread on the DD-WRT forum I read through after some Googling. Note: page 14 has the version of the firmware I installed in the end.)
I wanted DD-WRT because I was used to it and didn’t want to be limited in any way with the Linksys factory firmware. As I mentioned, a USB hard drive attached to the router was not very useful for my needs using that factory firmware.
- First I installed a standard build (dd-wrt.v24-14567_NEWD-2_K2.6_std_usb_ftp-e3000.bin)
- Then I installed the “big” build with all the extra features, it fixed some bugs and why not? I ended up with this build at the time (http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/others/eko/V24-K26/svn14826/dd-wrt.v24-14826_NEWD-2_K2.6_big-e3000.bin)
I configured the router with WPA2 WiFi security and the basic settings I would want in a day-to-day router setup.
Step 2: Setup my old WRT54G as the G and N WiFi hotspot
I had older B and G devices in the house, and I wanted to separate the traffic from those off the wireless of the newer e3000 router. I guess it helps with speed (keeping the N speed up to true N speeds) and I felt it may also help avoid a bit of wear and tear on the newer router, I don’t know but I did.
I already had DD-WRT installed on it, here’s the walk-through I used to setup the old router to use the internet through the new router through ethernet and keep the DNS settings the same as if there was one router.
11 Comments
Hi,
Is it necessary to perform “step 1)”? Or can one go straight to installing the ‘big’ *.bin?
Thanks for sharing.
Dietrich
I started with the smaller one because on the dd-wrt forums it seemed to be a sin to skip that step. It’s a smaller file and thus less to go wrong during the initial switch. There were reports though that it’s possible.
You mentioned: “I configured the router with WPA2 WiFi security and the basic settings I would want in a day-to-day router setup.”
Cold you describe the settings to achieve wireless N?
These are nothing special in particular to get wireless N speeds. The key there is to make sure no wireless B or G devices are accessing your network through the wireless N router. From what I understand as soon as one G or B device connects, the router runs at that speed (or at least you loose the multiple in multiple out advantage.) I could be wrong. But I do have a 2nd router that hosts my B and G network hard-wired to my main N router.
Otherwise… various settings include…
I like to have a static IP address for my laptop and for my wireless printer, so I set those up under “Services” (by MAC address for each device.)
Under Setup / Basic Setup I set my routers Static DNS settings to use OpenDNS (directions found at http://opendns.org.)
I use DynDNS to get a domain name for my home. So under Setup / DDNS I set that up (directions found at dyndns.org and under the settings page.)
Under NAT / QoS, I’ll turn QoS on for my gaming computer. Also, I’ll disable or enable Port forwarding to my work computer depending on if I need to access my computer from out of the house.
There are other settings you can configure too, like a VPN setting, or other port forwarding options. (e.g. if your doing peer to peer sharing or if you need to run a app / file / game server from the network. )
A question, if i dont like DD-WRT, is it possible to change back to linksys standard firmware?
I believe so, though I haven’t tried. You should be able to download and install the original Linksys firmware in the same way you upgrade DD-WRT firmware. Check out the dd-wrt forum for more info though.
What are your thoughts on the E4200? I recently bought one because my DDWRT Linksys WRT54GS burnt out. I loved that router. I had the power settings jacked up because I needed to boost the signal to cover my house. It took a few years, but it finally died. I upgraded to the E4200, but I currently DDWRT has not been ported over to that model. Personally, I have been disappointed with the E4200. Range, speed, and signal quality are the main reasons. Figured that pretty much sums up WHY you buy a router to begin with. I’m returning it for an E3000 + DDWRT.
I can’t say I have any opinion as I’ve never used that router. From the specs, it looks very similar to the E3000, some software differences maybe, but if you go with DD-WRT you don’t need to factor that in much anyway. The Bands seem to be the only noticeable hardware update (per the Cisco website.) E3000 has 2 x 3, where the E4200 has 2 x 3 (2.4 GHz) and 3 x 3 (5 GHz).
My personal opinion would be to go with the E3000 still, since it’s better supported with DD-WRT, and is a bit cheaper… thats just me though.
Thx for the write up. I’m same situation (basically) with my setup (E3000+wrt54gl). I wish the dd-wrt wiki for the E3000 was a bit more simple. It’s full of links that are saying “be careful if you do this and that” etc.
I’m about to convert an e3000 exactly to do what you did: time machine (afpovertcp).
I think I’ll start from the 16785 e3000 and then see how it goes.
Now, one thing I have not seen around is how to configure dd-wrt for afpovertcp. Pointers?
I ended up ditching the Time Machine, in the end I wanted to be sure 2 years later if my laptop died, I didn’t have to scramble to figure out how to re-initialize it because Apple changed something small but important. (Network boots are tricky for restoring from a non-Apple Time Machine.)
When I looked into setting up my NAS though, the key to getting the open-source AFPD to be seen by my Mac. That’s probably important in getting the full Time Machine setup going, so check out this link for a bit of info that may be good to be aware of.