So I got the Linksys WRT54G yesterday—two business days after I ordered it with free shipping. The price is phenomenal: $49.99 after a $10 mail-in rebate. I plugged it in, flashed it with Sveasoft’s Alchemy Firmware Upgrade, and locked it down. I named the access point “Galt’s Gulch” so passers-by can know that I’m down with Ayn Rand.
Cruising through the settings (which is all I can do without the DSL installed—“The fun will come down tomorrow/Bet your bottom dollar/That tomorrow/There’ll be fun.”), I was impressed by the range of features Sveasoft has added to the GPL’d Linksys firmware. My favorite is definitely the power boost of 900%! When I had it downstairs, I was getting full signal upstairs through several walls.
I’ll prepare a full report tomorrow.
[UPDATE (1/28/05): The 900% power boost really boosts the range of the WRT54G. Tomorrow I’ll do a little walking and see how far I can go. I’ll post another update here.]