Why Should I Use DD-WRT?

Project Links DD-WRT Flash Guide
What is DD-WRT?
Why Should I Use DD-WRT?
Quick Firmware Flash Guide
Beginners Firmware Flash Guide
If for no other reason, use DD-WRT for stability. You should never have to reboot your router just because it crashes, the WiFi goes down or you loose your net connection. But unfortunately with the firmware a lot manufacturers ship with, you need to do just that. But not with DD-WRT, I've been using it for a year or two now and never had to reboot.

If that's not enough though, take a look at some of these features, you'd have to pay £100s to get a router with half these features. One of my favorites is the PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) support, allowing me to VPN into my router (no need to have my PC on!) from anywhere I have a net connection. Brilliant! Gives me a local IP like I'm on my own networks, allowing me access to any Network Attached Storage I have, or any PCs connected. Also acts as a kind of proxy server, meaning I have my external UK IP address while abroad... Fantastic for using the BBC iPlayer when stuck is some hotel for work.

DD-WRT Features

  • 13 languages
  • 802.1x Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
  • Access Restrictions
  • Ad hoc
  • Afterburner
  • Client Isolation Mode
  • Client Mode (supports multiple connected clients)
  • DHCP Forwarder (udhcp)
  • DHCP Server (udhcp or Dnsmasq)
  • DNS Forwarder (Dnsmasq)
  • DMZ
  • Dynamic DNS (DynDNS, easyDNS, FreeDNS, No-IP, TZO, ZoneEdit, custom, and others)
  • Hotspot Portal (Sputnik Agent ,Chillispot)
  • IPv6
  • JFFS2 (JFFS2)
  • MMC/SD Card Support (hardware modification required)
  • NTP
  • ntop Remote Statistic (ntop)
  • OpenVPN Client & Server (only in -vpn build of the firmware)
  • Port Triggering
  • Port Forwarding
  • PPTP VPN Server & Client
  • QoS Bandwidth Management
  • QoS L7 Packet Classifier (l7-filter)
  • RFlow
  • Routing (BIRD)
  • Samba FS Automount
  • Syslog
  • Rx Antenna
  • Tx Antenna
  • Show Status of Wireless Clients and WDS with System Uptime/Processor Utilization
  • Site Survey
  • SNMP
  • SSH server & client (dropbear)
  • Startup, Firewall, and Shutdown scripts (startup script)
  • Static DHCP
  • Style (Changeable GUI; v.23)
  • Supports New Devices (WRT54G V3, V3.1, V4, V5 and WRT54GS V2.1, V3, V4)
  • Telnet server & client
  • Transmit Power Adjustment (0-251mW, default is 28mW, 100mW is safe)
  • UPnP
  • USB
  • VLAN
  • WOL (Wake On Lan) (WOL)
  • WDS Connection Watchdog
  • WDS Repeater Mode
  • Wireless MAC Address Cloning
  • Wireless MAC Filter
  • WMM (Wi-Fi MultiMedia)
  • WPA over WDS
  • WPA/TKIP with AES
  • WPA2
  • Xbox Kaid (Kai Engine)