Taginternet

Linksys WRT54G Router as Wireless Bridge

DD-WRT_speedTestResults

With 2 desktop computers and 2 laptops with another desktop being added to the mix, I felt it was time to cut down on these wireless signals. My motivation is part security and part efficiency… with a dash of paranoia.

While looking through old electrical gear, I found a Linksys WRT54G v8 wireless router. Bells started ringing in my head.

I remembered reading an article on some custom firmware that allowed for routers to be turned into repeaters or a wireless bridge. When I looked it up, it turns out that the Linksys WRT54G v8 was a perfect candidate for this DD-WRT firmware.

There’s a few Youtube videos out there that will help you through the process, which seems intimidating, but really isn’t that complex. And for those preferring an text & image based tutorial there’s the bridge article by WIFI Planet.

For my particular router (the v8), I only needed to:

1. Download the files from the DD-WRT Router Database (for the heck of it, grab em all). http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database
2. In the admin panel of my Linksys router apply the vxworkskiller firmware. After applying this firmware, your router can only be accessed from a computer via a static IP and FTP.
3. Used the included tftp.exe file to upload the micro_generic firmware to my router.
4. Rebooted the router again and then inside the newly installed DD-WRT firmware, I followed these instructions to set it up as a wireless bridge. http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Bridged

Besides the speed benefits, I also have a little more security as I can just unplug a single device and all my computers are immediately taken offline. Also going to rest a little easier knowing I don’t have a half dozen wireless signals traveling through my body all night long.

Robbie Manson: The Mindful Designer

Another great talk on web design, that feels like it shifts a little outside of the World Wide Web. What I learned:

  • We are more efficient when designing away from the computer.
  • One of the techniques he uses is called “6-Up Sketching”, where you set a timer for 5 minutes and try to quickly come up with 6 unique concepts. After the 5 minutes is up, you and your team try to find the strong and weak points in each concept.
  • Intent has to be balanced with Experimentation. As slick as CSS is, it’s not flexible and an accident usually results in an error, not an innovation.

My notepad…

Twitter Tools Hacked for Identi.ca

Alex King made Twitter Tools for Wordpress.  Basically allows you to make tweets from your WordPress blog or create Daily/Weekly digests from  your tweets.  

Here is a hack to get this to work with Identi.ca.

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