Linux wireless freedom with OpenWrt

Now this is one of the most fun ways to breathe some life back into those old routers piling up in your closet. Enter OpenWrt.

You can turn your blue Linksys router into a Linux box with OpenWrt, an embedded Linux distribution for Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GS routers. This tiny distribution exceeds the default firmware functionality in many useful ways. Instead of having only a Web-controlled wireless access point, OpenWrt provides you with a fully interactive Linux system. Some notable features are the ability to telnet/SSH to your router, install software such as Snort, Mini-Sendmail, and Asterisk, and create and control VLANs for every Ethernet port on the device.

Though OpenWrt runs on Linksys routers, it can also run on a plethora of similar routers from other vendors. Keep in mind, however, that you void your router vendor’s warranty by installing OpenWrt. OpenWrt, like the original Linksys firmware, is distributed under the GPL. [Read the rest]