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Belkin's WRT54G Router Successor Is Crap On The Software Front So Far

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  • Belkin's WRT54G Router Successor Is Crap On The Software Front So Far

    Phoronix: Belkin's WRT54G Router Successor Is Crap On The Software Front So Far

    Belkin revived the Linksys WRT54G in a new 802.11ac model earlier this year and one of its selling points has been the OpenWRT support as what made the WRT54G legendary. However, OpenWRT developers and fans are yet to be satisfied by this new router...

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite

  • #2
    Honest title.

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    • #3
      I am currently using Ubiquiti EdgeMax EdgeRouter ERPOE-5, which blurs the line between a consumer router and an enterprise router (okay, I wouldn't include the word "consumer," but...), but it's not for the faint of heart for those who don't know how networking works, including NAT, assigning interfaces with a static IP address, and setting up a DHCP server that isn't running out of the box; however, once everything is setup, I am enjoying it. In other words, if you buy an EdgeRouter, you start out with a blank slate. No NAT, no firewall enabled, and no DHCP server running in there.

      I went from firmware 1.2 to 1.5; there are additional tabs such as NAT/Firewall and Wizards that is not included in 1.2 -- probably not 1.3 but there is one in 1.4 if I recall correctly, but I don't bother with the Wizards tab except for setting up a UPNP to listen for br0, which eth1 and switch0 (eth2, eth3, and eth4) are part of them. I really don't care about which routers support DD-WRT, which routers support OpenWRT, and which routers support the Tomato firmware. Not even the stock firmware, so I really thought about going "commercial-grade and I'm glad I did. EdgeRouter runs EdgeOS, which is a fork of Vyatta but with some few syntactical differences such as the NAT in EdgeOS:

      Code:
      set service nat rule 10 outbound-interface eth0
      set service nat rule 10 type masquerade
      VyOS/Vyatta:

      Code:
      set nat source rule 10 outbound-interface 'eth0'
      set nat source rule 10 translation address masquerade
      VyOS is available for download and it is also a fork of Vyatta; however, I do want to keep the routing functionality out of my home server and let the router do it's job and let my server's CPU do it's job for other server functionality such as MythTV (backend) and file serving. EdgeOS is still a work-in-progress, as the GUI frontend is improving, but I did use a mix of GUI and CLI, but mostly CLI whenever possible so I can become familiar with Vyatta syntax.

      Anyway, anything that is wireless is served by my Amped Wireless AP20000G 802.11n access point, so I like to keep the wireless functionality out of the router. Think of it this way: just leave the router alone, but upgrade the wireless access point whenever a new standard becomes available. I looked as hard as I could, but it's hard to find wireless access points that support AC1900. It's not that AC1900 can give me additional performance over AC1750, but I prefer to use a 5GHz band whenever possible since I live in my apartment with a couple of 2GHz wireless access points within my area.

      Anyway, does anyone currently have Ubiquiti EdgeMax EdgeRouter ER-Lite, ERPOE-5 (only came with 24v power adapter which makes it non-802.3af compliant), or ER-8/ER-8 Pro? Not my place to go off-topic, but just thought I might ask. I chose ERPOE-5 just so I can have 5 ports and with an uptime of 2 days, I haven't had any problems so far.

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      • #4
        It's Belkin - anyone who thought this would have been comparable to the old WRT54G had their expectations too high. I have never used a Belkin I liked, then again, every single Linksys I've ever seen was either decommissioned or faulty in some way.

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        • #5
          For how it all continues to evolve, see main discussion thread here:

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          • #6
            Originally posted by schmidtbag View Post
            It's Belkin - anyone who thought this would have been comparable to the old WRT54G had their expectations too high.
            Apparently you weren't following the whole thing very closely...
            LOTS of very informed/rational folks had reasonable expectations to think something (roughly) like that may ultimately emerge.
            Alas this whole saga is now (almost) at an end, I doubt there'll be any more twists, but join the thread if you want to watch.
            It's looking increasingly like much (not all) of the blame may actually lay with Marvell...
            Last edited by jalyst; 02 August 2014, 01:18 AM.

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            • #7
              Geezus I hate the post editing time-outs on this forum, completely lame...

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              • #8
                Originally posted by jalyst View Post
                It's looking increasingly like much (not all) of the blame may actually lay with Marvell...
                Avoid Marvell at all costs!
                Their quality is outright horrible, there are nearly no free drivers, some only work with ancient kernel versions. Try to get in contact an ask them? Nah, first you fill out an NDA for a stupid support request.

                That is the problem of all those "box"makers. Be it cellphones, routers, laptops, whatsnot. They all manage to incorporate one or the other chip that is ridiculously infested with proprietary crap. A lot of these OpenMOKO successors had Imagination Tech (PowerVR) chips inside. Fail. In Laptops and routers it is broadcomm chips or some strange SuperIO or others that hamper your efforts on enjoying the device.
                I mean it is extra strange when people plan on doing something "freedom" "Linux" "community" or "fair" to not make sure to use only chips with appropriate documentation / drivers.
                Stop TCPA, stupid software patents and corrupt politicians!

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Adarion View Post
                  Avoid Marvell at all costs!<SNIP>
                  Yes, all the informed folks were well aware of potential pit-falls with Marvell*, been there done that.
                  They were willing to suspend belief though (if only briefly), given how things evolved...

                  *the hints that old patterns would continue started early

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                  • #10
                    FFS would someone just start selling these. Open source hardware design (CERN license), open OS, and the specs mean it should easily match (or exceed) the performance of the Ubiquiti Edgerouter line without having to resort to the Edgerouter's closed-source, proprietary, hardware offloading.

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