Hi Everybody,
So I've been checking out the specs on the WGR614L and have been reading through some of the material on this community (great site, by the way). There's some good stuff here, but most of it seems to assume a certain level of previous experience with open source network technology. I'm a bright, tech-savvy guy, but alas, I have never developed any open source network ninja skills.
So, on behalf of all the other intelligent-yet-inexperienced folks out there (I'm not the only one, right?), I'll ask the dumb questions that we ultra-newbies are wondering:
1. An open-source router? Why should I care? What can I make this thing do that I wouldn't be able to do with a regular off-the-Best-Buy-shelf router?
2. How would I get started? Are there some good starter resources available for the open source networking novice?
3. What kind of tech skills & knowledge would someone need to use/modify a WGR614L? What development language(s) is/are involved in the actual code? Will I need to have hardware skills as well (i.e. should I dust off my soldering iron)?
For those of you who are open source networking vets, please enlighten us newbie types. For any other newbies out there, what questions are on your minds?
Chris
1) For me the beauty of an open source router is that if you don't need anything special and it works fine for your setup then you don't have to do anything to it. But if you need somethng special then you can turn your low priced router into something that does things the high priced ones do.
For example, in my case I take low cost Linksys routers and using special firmware can turn them into a wireless bridge. The wireless bridges can handle several devices and there is no need to purchase multipple USB or wireless cards or an expensive wireless gaming adapter.
Another example could be if I wanted to start a pay site that I allowed users to connect wirelessly to the internet for a charge. With special software I cold do that to. That is an extreme case but something that could be done at very little cost.
Another example would be tweakng for Bittorrent type of stuff. Some routers don't allow you to do that. With aftermarket firmware you could speed up or even slow down bittorent programs as needed.
2) There are tons of good sources and does take some looking into. The beauty of the Netgear Open Router will be that they designed it for people to make changes. Other routers people basically hack to make changes and could cause warranty issues or even brick you router if not done correctly. There are tons of horror stories out there of people ruining their routers.
3) In a lot of cases it's just as easy to use some good aftermarket firmwares as updating your routers firmware from the manufacturer. But it all depends on how far you want to go and if you are into doing things like this. Kinda like hoping up your car. Some folks do the works themselves, some pay others and some never do it. Just whatever your into.
How about some real answers.
Like what extra hardware & software are needed to make and put custom code on the WGR614L.
Are there any "step by step" guides to putting custom code on the WGR614L ?
If you want to install custom firmware from folks like Tomato or DD-WRt you do not need any extra hardware or software to do so. They are designed so that all you have to do is upgrade the firmware using the same interface (your web browser) as you would use to upgrade the factory firmware.
They make it real simple. If you want to create and write your own personal code, thats a different story. Check out the Download section for info on that.