[ale] Looks like time for a new wireless router

[Charles Shapiro]

I am just now in the process of replacing my router, running in much the
same situation.  Currently it's an Asus RT-N16 running Tomato, which has
been faithfully cranking along for over 10 years. But it's now so out of
date that connecting to it with ssh requires me to do all kinds of
hideousity to deal with an outdated server.

Tomato router software is no longer maintained.  I checked FreshTomato (
https://freshtomato.org ) for hardware-compatible routers back in early
December.  I settled on an Asus RT-N10P (
https://deviwiki.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-N10P ). They're really cheap on Ebay. I
paid $14 with shipping for mine. Alas, I hadda buy a power supply for it
from Jeff -- there were no markings on the machine for the barrel
connector, and I didn't see anything on line about whether it's
center-ground or perimeter-ground.

I flashed the correct binary (
https://freshtomato.org/downloads/freshtomato-mips/2024/2024.5/K26RT-N/Asus%20RT-Nxx%20%26%20CO/freshtomato-K26MIPSR2_RTN-NVRAM32K-2024.5-Max.zip
) on the new hardware without too much trouble after using the factory
reset button.  Beware that many of the instructions for using tftp(1) to
reflash the router don't mention a crucial step.  You must force your tftp
connection to binary mode by telling tftp "binary" at its command prompt
before your "put" command or the firmware you flash will be corrupted and
will not workee.   This is missing from the tftp instructions on
freshtomato.org itself, sigh.  You'll be able to tell that it is correct if
you also say "verbose" before you put and see "(octets)" in the transfer
message.  If it's bad it'll say "(text)". After resetting the router it
only stays in "rescue" mode for a few seconds, so you need to start your
transfer quickly or session will simply time out. And of course you need to
give it a few minutes after the transfer to actually install the new binary.

Anyways, my new router is now ready and I plan to replace my venerable
RT-N16 after the first of the year. Freshtomato has a bunch of new fun cool
features, like domain black-holing right on the router and some kind of
interesting scheduling capability.  I'll probly spend some quality time
experimenting with that.

Doesn't _everyone_ spend Christmas reflashing their router?

-- CHS

On Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 9:46 PM Leam Hall via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:

> Currently using a 3 year old ASUS RT-ACRH18 with two wired and 4-6
> wireless clients, usually low load. It was having issues delivering a
> video, and the log showed a bunch of dropped connections from all over the
> IPv4 range.
>
> When I remotely rebooted, its IP pinged but the routing and web interface
> didn't come back up. Tried a short power off, same issue. A little longer
> power off worked, at least for the moment. Did a firmware update once it
> came back up fully. After I send this I'm going to shut it off for the
> night and see if it helps clear things out.
>
> However, having a backup is always a good idea. Recommendations? House
> isn't too big, wood and whiteboard internal walls. Main issue is that my
> wife's Mac is old and sometimes doesn't keep a good connection. Cost is a
> consideration, still haven't found a job yet.
>
> Recommendations?
>
> Leam
>
> --
> Linux Software Engineer   (reuel.net/resume)
> Scribe: The Domici War    (domiciwar.net)
> Coding Ne'er-do-well      (github.com/LeamHall)
>
> Between "can" and "can't" is a gap of "I don't know", a place of
> discovery. For the passionate, much of "can't" falls into "yet". -- lh
>
> Practice allows options and foresight. -- lh
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