[mohaine]

I'm pretty sure the software side of the project is a direct descendent from the WRT54G stack.

LinkSys got sued to release the firmware as it was GPL linked. This dump got modified to make the WRT54G way more powerful than LinkSys ever planned but they got to sell the hardware for years more than would have been expected at the time.

[kalleboo]

Yeah it was so popular they even released a specific WRT54GL model (where the L stands for Linux) in order to keep supporting third-party firmware after the main hardware series moved on to a more optimized VxWorks-based OS that let them ship less RAM and Flash.

A mainstream hardware company releasing a specific product SKU to support third party firmware really sounds crazy from the perspective of the current market where a substantial portion of the value in selling hardware is supposed to come from subscriptions and surveillance.

[baggachipz]

Yeah, I loved it because it allowed me to boost the signal above FCC-approved power requirements and saturate my house with that sweet 2.4GHz connection everywhere.

[linsomniac]

It is basically always better to run more APs at lower power in the areas where you need coverage, than to boost the power. Especially today with the radio spectrum being so congested.

Despite this, I could expect 3-5 people to hunt me down at PyCon when I was running the wireless to tell me that I had misconfigured the wifi because it was set to low power. More reports of that than reports of wifi not working, IIRC. ;-)

(I was running the wireless because the people we paid do to the wifi would just set up one or two APs and crank the power)

[baggachipz]

Please travel back to 2003 and talk to old me when I could only afford one AP and had no idea how to make them work in concert together. :)

[toast0]

> It is basically always better to run more APs at lower power in the areas where you need coverage, than to boost the power.

Only if your clients are competent at roaming.

[linsomniac]

FYI: I've never had any problems with that. Back in the mid-2000s I was running the WiFi for 1000+ people at a time at conferences for 3-4 years, and basically had no complaints.

[Cabal]

Looking at you, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2. Yes, the 2, in 2026.

[Barbing]

Good to know

[HumblyTossed]

I used corner reflectors made from roof flashing and cardboard on mine. Worked really well to get the signal from one corner of my apt to the other.

[commandersaki]

Yeah, Linksys made a killing from this and the WRT54GS 2.0 because of OpenWRT.