WN Series Guides and How-Tos

How to Overclock the NETGEAR WGR614v8/L Wireless Router

I noticed we didn't have any articles with reference to overclocking this legacy router, so I decided to share this tip (credit goes to the modding/dd-wrt/tomato/openWrt etc. community).

First note however: Do this at your own risk!  This may damage your router.

The CPU clock frequency is by default set at 240MHz, it is my opinion that generally you are given a good headroom of 5-10% range without additional cooling.  For my situation, this would be 250MHz to 260MHz.

How To Use DD-WRT To Create Multiple SSID's on One Router (For Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Other Uses)

Several newer versions of DD-WRT, including many builds that we have available on the community, support the ability to set up virtual SSID's.

Having multiple SSID's with various encryption methods solves several problems that you may be having.  For example, what if you have a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP game system that does not properly support the newest forms of wireless encryption?  What if you want to let others in your home or office use your wireless connection, but don't want to expose your primary password?  Setting up separate SSID's can solve this problem, and it's much easier than you might think.

Installation and Quick Review of Tomato 1.27.9045 BETA 10 Firmware for WNR3500L

The Tomato router firmware is well known in the open source community for being simple, lean, and full of useful features.  The newest builds of this firmware have a bandwidth monitor, advanced QOS and access settings, and tons more. 

So, are you interested in trying a newer beta version of this software on your NETGEAR WNR3500L?  Read on for simple installation instructions and a preview of what Tomato can offer. 

***Note that at this time, the available builds of Tomato that are compatible with WNR3500L are in early beta form, and as always, there is a risk involving in testing such firmware.  Features may be missing or poorly implemented, etc.***

How to Hard Reset Your NETGEAR WNR3500L

One question that I have seen come up frequently on the forums, and also needed myself, is how to "properly" reset my NETGEAR open source router in the event of a lockup of some kind.  This happened to me on an experimental install of DD-WRT, and I thought that there was no hope short of debricking the router using a special cable.  However, after speaking with some experts, I discovered there are other methods to try first.

Why Do You Need A Special Serial (USB-TTL) Cable to Debrick Your Router?

I have been asked a few times if there is a way to convert a basic USB cable to allow it to connect to your WGR614L/WNR3500L.

The answer is basically no - allow me to explain.

How To Reflash Factory Firmware on the NETGEAR WRN3500L Without A Serial Cable

When you upgrade to DD-WRT on your WNR3500L, you'll find that the new firmware requires a file that ends with the BIN extension, if you ever want to upgrade or change your firmware from that point.

So, if you decide, for example, to revert back to the original NETGEAR firmware - you can't because that firmware has a filename that ends in CHK.

As such, this makes it harder to change back. One way to do it is to use a serial console, but if you don't have one... here's a way to accomplish it in Windows without one.

Fortunately, included in the DD-WRT firmware is an erase utility that will wipe the firmware and allow you to upload a new one.

Easy Serial Cable Connection Hack for WNR3500L

I like to play around quite a bit with the fimrware on my WNR3500L router and more than once I have bricked it and had to turn to the directions shown here.

But I have taken it a step further and made it so I can plug the special USB cable directly into the router. Now I don't have to have wires hanging out or leave the case open for easy access.

Here is what I did.

Using NETGEAR WGR614L (with DD-WRT) As A Wireless Client Bridge

Updated 01/12/2010 by BrandonC.

Introduction

A wireless client bridge is needed to connect two LAN segments with a wireless link. The two LAN segments will be in the same subnet. In this article, we will show the steps to configure the NETGEAR WGR614L with DD-WRT firmware (downloadable by clicking here) as a client bridge.
Please note that when a router is working as a wireless client bridge, we cannot connect wireless clients to it .

How To Install Tomato Firmware on NETGEAR WNR3500L

Once you get your hands on the NETGEAR WNR3500L, you'll probably be pretty tempted to start hacking away; unleashing the power of this brand new open source monster. Along with other builds of ready made firmware, a BETA version of the ultra-stable Tomato firmware is available.

What is Tomato Anyway?

Besides actually being a fruit, rather than a vegetable, Tomato is a router firmware with a reputation for being super stable and useful. It features an easy to navigate GUI, bandwidth monitoring features, as well as a whole host of other useful bits. Read more about the Tomato firmware at the official site.

How to Debrick/Restore your WNR3500L with a USB-TTL Cable and Mac OS X

Mac users are often no strangers to playing around with Terminal windows and custom software.  Although Mac OS X isn't open source, it's built upon BSD and Unix, and thus can be used to recover your WNR3500L in case something goes wrong... with the aid of the Developer tools and some third party open source packages.

Frankly, even for a Mac nerd like myself, it took quite a while of digging around on multiple articles, sites, and forums to find a combined solution for recovering a bricked WNR3500L - but I have managed to complete it successfully.  Apple fans, rejoice that you can save yourself hours of Internet searching with my easy-to-follow tutorial!

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