[TriLUG] [OT] For Free: 2x WRT54G

[Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG]

On Mon, 11 Nov 2019, Brian Henning via TriLUG wrote:

> Guess I'll get on this train too.  I have two WRT54Gs that have been retired 
> in favor of an Ubiquiti AP.
>
> Full disclosure: They're of questionable reliability.  They've always seemed 
> excessively sensitive to dirty power, and lately seemed to want power-cycling 
> untenably often, hence the replacement.  So...you get what you pay for, I 
> guess?  Caveat [free-thing-taker]or.

I have a bunch of these and I've used them a lot, particularly in temporary 
field situations, where it's handy to have cheap devices that you don't mind 
subjecting to outdoor abuse.

Some data:

o you need new PSs (I use commercial ones at double the current rating, not ones 
that come as wall warts with commodity boxes), or put them on a UPS. They lock 
up all the time on regular power. Some of them come with 5V PS and some with 12v 
(or 9v, forget which). It turns out the PS inside the box handles any voltage 
(well a range of voltages, not sure what). At least they do for the ones I 
tried.

o the radios (or network) on them don't work well. If you ping through them, 
10-20% of the packets get lost. (Many relatively expensive WAPs don't pass this 
test. The problem isn't my wifi cards; if you get a good WAP, all my cards pass 
100% of the packets. I had to get a $200 Cisco WAP before I wouldn't get dropped 
packets. The $100 Netgear and Buffalos dropped packets; not a lot, maybe a 
couple of %, but if I'm in a situation where I want connectivity, then all 
packets have to get through.)

But I have a bunch of them (running openwrt) and as Brian says, as long as 
you know what you're getting, and you accept them for what they do, then the 
price can't be beat.

Joe

-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant
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