How to Setup DD-WRT on a Linksys WRT54GL v1.1
11.30.09
By Walid ZGHIDI AND HAROUN BACHKHAZNADJI
November, 2009, Version 1.0 – LAB 1, Champlain College – St – Lambert
Students in the Wireless Networking (CWNA) – A.E.C, WLAN Design, Installation and Management
Step By Step Guide
Installation is quick and easy. You just have to follow the steps below. Remember that you’ll need a compatible router to install the new firmware (you can find a list of compatible models here).
Leave your router’s installation CD in the box, you won’t need it.
Be sure your computer obtains IP addresses automatically from your existing router via DHCP. Now you can proceed to STEP A.
STEP A – Replacing the original firmware to DD-WRT
In the first step, you’ll have to replace the firmware on your new router.
1. Download DD-WRT firmware dd-wrt.v24_voip_generic.bin
http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database and save it to your computer.
2. Connect your PC to the switch port of your router. (Do not connect it to the internet wan port; you have to connect the internet to the wan port)
3. Open a browser and type http://192.168.1.1 (login: admin, password: admin)
4. Go to Administration > Firmware upgrade.
5. Browse to dd-wrt.v24_nokaid_generic.bin that you previously saved to your computer, then press upgrade. UPGRADE MUST NOT BE INTERRUPTED so please don’t turn off the power or press the reset button.
After 3-4 minutes “Upgrade successful” will come up. Please wait for this message it is very important. Do not go further until you can see the message.
6. After the successful firmware upgrade please reset your router by pressing the reset button for at least 5 sec. on the back of your router (little button on the back of the router). Verify whether the router is doing a reset/reboot or not. If the POWER light on the front of the router is starting to flash, then everything is OK. If nothing happens, then unplug the router, then plug in again. Wait for the router to finish the boot process (the POWER light stops flashing), then press the reset button on the back for 5 seconds. The router should do a reset now.
7. Wait aprx. 30 sec and try to open http://192.168.1.1 if you cannot connect then reboot your computer then try again. If you still cannot connect then visit this page.
You should see the following screen:
You must have to set a new username / password for the router’s admin interface.
Now you have a new firmware in your router, now you need to load your hotspot settings.
For STEP B you will need to have an internet connection through the Linksys
To verify this, connect to the router and try to browse the internet. If it doesn’t work then go to your router’s admin page again (192.168.1.1, with the username/password you have changed at the end of the first step). If it won’t load unplug your network cable for 2 sec or try to reboot your router by unplugging the power cord.
Check the router’s time at the upper-right corner. It has to show the current time in GMT. If you see that the time is ’00:00:00′ (and the current time is not midnight in GMT) it means that the router is not connected to the internet. If you’re not sure what time the router has to show, you can check the GMT time here.
IF YOUR LINKSYS DOESN’T GET CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET…
A. If your router is connected to an internal network via another router then maybe you need to modify the IP address (as seen on the internal LAN) of the router. By default it is set to 192.168.1.1 .If both router use the same IP then the communication won’t work. In this case go to Setup > BASIC Setup > IP Address and Subnet Mask > change the IP address to 192.168.20.1 (leave the rest unchanged). Important: you won’t be able to connect to the router until you reboot your computer because the router will have a different IP address.
B. If your router is connected directly to your ADSL modem instead of an internal network (another router) then you have to go to Setup > Basic Setup and choose PPPoE and you have to fill out your ADSL username and password. See next screenshot:
STEP B won’t work if your Linksys is not connected to the internet correctly, so do not go further until you see the current time in GMT.
If everything looks fine, then you can proceed…
1. Now you will have to run a special command on your router. This is unique for every operator and can be found in the Control Center.
Log in to the Control Center with your Operator Username and password (this is the username and password that you’ve choose at the registration). Go to Manage > Locations and choose the location where you’d like to install your Linksys. Then find the “ROUTER SETUP COMMAND” section at the bottom, click on the ‘Highlight Text’ button to select all the text in the text area, and then copy it to the clipboard. (Press CTRL+C or APPLE+C or select the copy command from the browser’s EDIT menu).
2. Go to your router’s admin page again at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.20.1 if you’ve changed it previously.
Go to Administration > Commands. Copy your special command (that you’ve copied from the HotSpotSystem.com’s Control Center) from the clipboard to the text box (click on the text box and press CTRL+V or APPLE+V or select the paste command from the browser’s EDIT menu).
Press the ‘Run Commands’ button.
Important: you won’t be able to connect to the router until you reboot your computer because the router will have a different IP address (if you changed the IP previously you don’t have to reboot).
If everything was OK, then the ‘LinkSys’ led on the left of your router has to show yellow light. Connect to your Hotspot wirelessly with a laptop and see what’s happening. Your Hotspot start up page has to come up if you enter a web page in your browser. Also, you can check your e-mail address; the system is sending automatic e-mail to the e-mail address you have provided at the registration upon successful installation.
In case of successful upgrade the admin page of your router will be available at: http://192.168.20.1
IF YOU ARE NOT REDIRECTED TO THE START PAGE, BUT GET FREE INTERNET WHEN CONNECTED TO THE ROUTER WIRELESSLY…
Check that DHCP Interface is set to “WLAN” under Services > Hotspot page. If not, then set it to “WLAN” and press “Apply”. The router will now reboot. If you don’t have a “WLAN” option, then your router has different interface types. You have to find out what interface is the wireless interface. Try to set an interface, then connect to the router wirelessly. Do these until you find the right interface and you can connect to the router successfully via Wi-Fi.
You are done. Now you can operate your router as a AP and you can watch your transactions on your admin page.








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