EVB and WRT54GL SOHO Networking

Using the WRT54GL router with EVB for low cost SOHO

12-18-07

For home, small, or even remote offices, most of the time (as of this writing) the options are to use either cable or DSL services. This would also apply to someone who just wants to have an Asterisk based PBX phone system for use in their home.

We have found that for our area and it seems that for most areas in the US, cable and DSL service is competitive. The assumption for this article is that you have a network that is something comparable this the bandwidth speeds of these type of networks. For example when we run most of the speed tests, we get down= 5.13Mbps and Up=657Kbps. Of course the limiting factor is always the up speed with this type of network. We also have a dynamic IP which is cheaper than a static IP.

The Linksys WRT54GL router with the DD-WRT firmware works very well for our office router. The WRT54GL has wireless and 4 switch ports and easily loads the DD-WRT firmware with the directions on the their wiki. Using this configuration provides a very low cost router with some key features that are normally only found on more expense routers.

Key Router Features used to work with EVB:

1.) Keep Alive
Setup page - set Keep Alive period to lowest setting (20 sec).