code in the ruins

This weekend I finally did something I've been meaning to do for a while - I installed the dd-wrt firmware on my Linksys WRT54G wireless router. dd-wrt is based on the original firmware from Linksys, but it adds a ton of new features.

Since installing it three days ago, I've done various things that I couldn't have done before:

• Static DHCP leases for my machines, so they always get the same IP address. This also makes the router act as a DNS server for free.
• SSH access to the router
• WPA2 wireless security
• Increased the transmission power of the router's wireless signal
• Set up NTP to keep the router's time current
• Set up IPv6 on my home network using 6to4. The router will automatically assign IPv6 addresses to all clients.
• Mounted a Samba share on the router

I love doing this kind of thing. dd-wrt is a fantastic piece of work, and has increased the value of my router a great deal.

The most satisfying bit was the IPv6 setup.  I find it kind of nifty that simply having a single IPv4 address entitles me to several quintillion contiguous IPv6 addresses. You know, just in case.