Linksys wifi + dd-wrt

kev000 · 05-03-2007, 12:25 PM

I just got in a Linksys wrt54gl and flashed it with the latest dd-wrt linux firmware. I plan on making this a wireless bridge/ repeater bridge that I can use with the car PC. Here are some of the benifits:

-Longer range than most usb wifi and some cards
-Will automatically scan and connect to any open wifi with an internet connection via the autoap script.
-No need for proprietary wifi firmware or drivers for Linux (plug your ethernet into the router and your good to go).

I've been having a bit of trouble getting it to work correctly but I'll keep an update of my progress.

kev000 · 05-05-2007, 06:38 PM

I got it working! Now my router will auto-connect to any open wifi with an internet connection. It also creates a wireless bubble around my car, spreading the wireless love a little farther. Here is a short howto on what I did:

1) bought a Linksys WRT54GL router ($62)

2) Flashed the firmware with this: dd-wrt.std-nokaid.v24-6291.bin

3) Set the Router to "repeater" mode using this info: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/UWR

4) Enables SSH and JFFS2 in the router.

5) Downloaded the autoap.sh script from: http://www.oregonmicroscience.com/autoap.sh
(this script is the magic that will auto-connect to the strongest, openwifi with internet. This script has a fair amount of customizability to it as you can specify prefered ssid's and even specify to only connect to secure wifi APs)

6) copied it to the /jffs (this directory allows user storage space):
http://www.oregonmicroscience.com/autoap.sh

Code:

scp autoap.sh root@[wrt54gl_IPADDRESS]:/jffs
ssh root@[wrt54gl_IPADDRESS]
chmod 777 /jffs/autoap.sh

7) In the administration->command web interface I added a:

Code:

./jffs/autoap &

and clicked "Save Startup" so the script will load every time the router does.

That's it! Hope this helps anyone out who wants to give it a try.

intuitionsys · 05-10-2007, 05:52 PM

That's great info. When SW2 is ready I'm going to try that. I remember connectivity was touch and go sometimes with my WiFi card (I tried two - the LinkSys had better range but poor linux support, the other excellent linux support but limited range).

This sounds like the best of both worlds, and building an SW2 control panel should be pretty simple.

jiggersplat · 06-15-2007, 07:08 PM

I just set this up. Be sure you download the v24 beta to get the repeater features. Also, no need to enable ssh and scp the sccript over. Make your way to the AutoAP wiki and follow the instructions there. It will download the scrip automatically if it can find an open access point.

keatonreckard · 09-17-2008, 10:28 PM

i was just wondering what kind of performance you were getting using this set up...

on my wrt54g v5 it seems like internet cuts out every few minutes..

this might just be from the router and AP the connection is going through before it get repeated by my router...

kev000 · 09-17-2008, 11:37 PM

I use it daily for the PC in the other room. I haven't noticed any cutting out.

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