Considering installing DD-WRT.com on my Linksys. More headache than it's worth?
An EE respondent sent me a link to a firmware product that looks very cool: http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv3/. Looking at the site, it appears that I could do much more with my Linksys router with the DD-WRT firmware installed than I could with the current Linksys firmware. (According to the website, DD-WRT is compatible with my WRT54G Linksys.) Here's the question: is the DD-WRT more headache than it's worth? Does it throw a lot of errors, and are there lots of nuances in the web GUI that take hours or days to figure out? Or, is it a pretty robust and straight-forward product? (I'm happy to deal with some headache because it looks so cool, but not a lot.)
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I happen to be a network professional, thank you very much. While SOME network professionals might agree with you (including myself if we're talking about enterprise-class environments), there are many small businesses with small budgets and small needs where these features come in handy. I service many businesses like this, and after explaining the risks involved (voided warranty an no commercial support), many have asked me to go ahead and implement a solution using these routers and 3rd party firmware.
Having done so for several of my clients, I can say from experience that when setup properly these routers do an awesome job for these tasks.
You have to find the right tool for the job, and not everyone has the budget for Cisco gear.
Having done so for several of my clients, I can say from experience that when setup properly these routers do an awesome job for these tasks.
You have to find the right tool for the job, and not everyone has the budget for Cisco gear.
Woah there... not picking on you...
I agree that Cisco stuff is very pricey, but there are other solutions that (like Netgear VPN devices) are not nearly as expensive and get the job done...
All I'm saying is that it is generally considered a no-no to use hacked hardware (that IS what this is) in a business environment, or any environment that could impact any critical services if it failed... not to mention the voided warranty and being stuck with an unsupported brick if anything happened.
In almost all cases as such, it would be better to implement a small-business class solution like Netgear instead of hacked devices if the budget is not there for better equipment.
Again, just my thoughts.
Cheers!
I agree that Cisco stuff is very pricey, but there are other solutions that (like Netgear VPN devices) are not nearly as expensive and get the job done...
All I'm saying is that it is generally considered a no-no to use hacked hardware (that IS what this is) in a business environment, or any environment that could impact any critical services if it failed... not to mention the voided warranty and being stuck with an unsupported brick if anything happened.
In almost all cases as such, it would be better to implement a small-business class solution like Netgear instead of hacked devices if the budget is not there for better equipment.
Again, just my thoughts.
Cheers!
I completely agree with you that this kind of thing shouldn't be used where mission critical services might depend on it, nor would I implement this kind of a solution in such an environment. Let me give you a scenario where I deem this to be appropriate.
One of my clients has a very small remote office, and before they contracted me to optimize their environment, whenever the remote office needed to access a file on the main server, usually a 1 - 2mb pdf, they would actually have someone at the main office email it to them so that they could work on it and then email it back. Obviously a very cumbersome and wasteful procedure. Many solutions to this problem exist, including leased lines between the sites, ftp access, etc. In this case, the client was extremely budget conscious and since the procedure they were using was technically working, it wasn't a high priority to "fix". Enter DD-WRT. Two Linksys routers and an hour of my time later, the remote site had drive mapped access to the server and the users could open the files, do with them as they pleased, and then save them. They could also print hard copies on the main site's network printer if they so chose.
Just an example of a perfect use for a tool like this. Non-mission critical, and they could easily go back to the old way of doing it if the link failed (It's been up non-stop for over a year now). Without such a tool, even the Netgear type VPN solution would have been pricey enough for them to have passed on it.
It's not a big deal. All I was trying to suggest is perhaps you might think twice before using such broad generalizations as "and any networking professional's for that matter". No hard feelings.
Cheers!
One of my clients has a very small remote office, and before they contracted me to optimize their environment, whenever the remote office needed to access a file on the main server, usually a 1 - 2mb pdf, they would actually have someone at the main office email it to them so that they could work on it and then email it back. Obviously a very cumbersome and wasteful procedure. Many solutions to this problem exist, including leased lines between the sites, ftp access, etc. In this case, the client was extremely budget conscious and since the procedure they were using was technically working, it wasn't a high priority to "fix". Enter DD-WRT. Two Linksys routers and an hour of my time later, the remote site had drive mapped access to the server and the users could open the files, do with them as they pleased, and then save them. They could also print hard copies on the main site's network printer if they so chose.
Just an example of a perfect use for a tool like this. Non-mission critical, and they could easily go back to the old way of doing it if the link failed (It's been up non-stop for over a year now). Without such a tool, even the Netgear type VPN solution would have been pricey enough for them to have passed on it.
It's not a big deal. All I was trying to suggest is perhaps you might think twice before using such broad generalizations as "and any networking professional's for that matter". No hard feelings.
Cheers!
Okay, in that situation I suppose it would be okay then. :)
I don't know that I would use it myself in any situation, but I concede. :-D
Cheers!
I don't know that I would use it myself in any situation, but I concede. :-D
Cheers!
ASKER
Woah, I sparked some vigorous dialog. I'm going to go for it. It's a home office Linksys. If I bring down the network for a few hours I only have my wife and kids to apologize to.
> Enter DD-WRT. Two Linksys routers and an hour of my time later, the remote site had drive mapped
> access to the server and the users could open the files, do with them as they pleased, and then save them.
If that was v24, hopefully you went back and flashed v24 SP1 on both of those for them, which closes the security hole which made it possible for a rogue website to run malicious scripts on the attached network from the command shell (Commands subtab in the Administration tab).
> access to the server and the users could open the files, do with them as they pleased, and then save them.
If that was v24, hopefully you went back and flashed v24 SP1 on both of those for them, which closes the security hole which made it possible for a rogue website to run malicious scripts on the attached network from the command shell (Commands subtab in the Administration tab).
Like I said... full of bugs...
Regarding the use for business purposes such as site-to-site VPN - in my opinion, and any networking professional's for that matter, these devices should not be used. It is better to invest a bit on business-class equipment that is stable and proven than it is to take a risk on this stuff.
Just my thoughts.
Cheers!