Reviving an old Wireless Router

Being a geek I am regularly updating my gear around the home - from servers to drives, networking, etc.   I'm also a bit of a pack rack - so I end up holding on to at least 1 generation back of a particular device - kind of as a backup.

 One of those backup devices was a Linksys WRT610N Wireless Router.  I had replaced it with a Cisco/Linksys E4200 a couple of years back when the 610 started acting a bit flaky and I really wasn't that satisfied with it's stability even though I had kept it current with the most recent firmware.

 The E4200 supports a number of wireless devices around the home from SmartPhones to iPads, to Laptops and Desktops in both the 2.4 and 5Ghz ranges. 

 Our home is relatively large at nearly 6,000 sq feet - so I've tried various techniques for expanding the wireless coverage via router location  range extenders - better antennas and/or wireless cards - the works.   The results were mixed at best.

 One of the devices that was experiencing issues was my wife's all-in-one touchscreen and while the standard 2.4 connection was working fine for browsing, email etc - when she would start streaming content - whether local or internet - she was running into the typical buffering, and fragmenting issues.  The problem was that the E4200 was just too far away to give her a consistent connection at the higher bandwidth 5Ghz range.

 I've had experience with large corporate wireless networks - that used an access point and centralized hub model where the access points simply provided the wireless connection and the hub/router provided networking services like Access Control / DHCP / etc.   The corporate gear is great but expensive and I wasn't ready to commit to that level of solution.

 So I looked at how could I maybe use my old 610N as an access point and integrate into my home network.   I needed to address two issues..

  1. I needed to address the stability issues that had caused me to replace the 610N in the first place
  2. I wanted to create an access point - where the basic SSID functions where there - but DHCP, etc was covered by my E4200.
The answer was dd-wrt.   dd-wrt is a community based Open Source Linux software group that has developed replacement firmware for a large portfolio of wireless routers running on a number of chipsets.   

They have a simple database that allows you to enter your router make/model and then detailed instructions on how to properly flash your device.  They also have several levels of firmware for routers that provide a pretty extensive level of features/capabilities.  If you are familiar and comfortable configuring a wireless router - dd-wrt is great.  The level of wireless network control you are provided is excellent and the security control is top-notch.

So in an afternoon I was able to complete the two tasks I wanted.  First improve the stability of the router.  dd-wrt has been rock solid.   Second - following their community guidelines I was easily able to configure the device in a access point mode - where it was simply presenting SSIDs and WPA security and then once a client system connected - passing the DHCP request and networking traffic back to my central E4200 router.

The end result was I effectively doubled the wireless connection speed to my wife's computer with great signal strength so now her overall experience has been great.   Additionally since I effectively was able to create a new 5Ghz network wireless network I've been able distribute the wireless load across my home and those devices are performing much better as a result.

dd-wrt also supports flashing the e4200 - I haven't found it necessary yet - but based on my experience with 610N - I know that when the time comes - it will be a no-brainer.

Bottom line - If your looking at ways to improve your wireless network coverage and have an old router sitting around - looking into flashing it with dd-wrt and then configuring it as an access point in your overall network.   


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