DD-WRT
DD-WRT as the name implies, is the linux alternative open source firmware for a great deal of market available network router or devices. It is packed with a lot of advanced network settings that even I would need to take a networking course to master all of them. Overall, it is a great journey to explore such firmware route in software realm.
In this section, we will review my past attempts for my pre-owned devices.
Pre-Considerations
There are some considerations before attempting this guides.
Triple Check and Comprehend Before Doing
Due to the sensitivity of the project, it is very easy to brick (another word, mercilessly and unknowingly destroy) the commercial router. Hence, you should always refer to their documentations and be thorough and understand about what and why are they doing each steps before attempting on your device.
Voided Warranty
Also, do note that for some devices, flashing a DD-WRT firmware voids the device's warranty. Make sure you consider this before the transforming your device.
Perfect Candidate to Learn Software Networking
With that much of freedom and configurations, it is the perfect device to learn about software networking. You're no longer limited by the factory settings and software restrictions.
Reaching Latest Technologies FIRST
Not sure about others, especially with firmware from factory, DD-WRT actually delivers latest technologies way faster and stable. At the point of writing where WPA3 is still a new thing, many existing routers do not have such feature. After flashing DD-WRT, I got the chance to use WPA3 protocol for wireless settings.
Setup
These are the attempts I did successfully based on their documentations. In any cases, you should always refers to DD-WRT documentation for your device.
Network Topologies
These are the network topologies' configurations procedures I attempted in the past for different use cases.
That's all for DD-WRT.