dd-wrt x86 on pc....how to add wireless?

[Fawkesguy]

[Solved] dd-wrt x86 on pc....how to add wireless?

Hi there,

I'm guessing this isn't complicated to do - I'm just not sure how to. I'm going to install dd-wrt on an old pc to handle dhcp and OpenVPN. For wireless, I've got a Netgear WNDR4000. I'm not exactly sure how to connect it to the network. eth0 on the pc will be the WAN port and will connect to the cable modem. Now the other NIC, eth1 - do I connect that to the WAN port of the 4000 or a LAN port? Do I set the 4000 to bridge mode? Again, I know this isn't rocket science - I just can't get it straight in my mind. . Thanks in advance for the help.

Guy

 

[stevech]

Now I'm confused. DD-WRT is firmware that one loads into certain WiFi routers. It's not PC software.

Next: Your PC shouldn't connect directly to the cable/DSL modem. That's a big security risk. The router (as is usual) would go between the cable modem and all PCs, wired or wireless.

The router single or dual band, would have one WAN port to connect to the cable modem.

Or am I just misunderstanding what you wish to do?

 

[Fawkesguy]

Hi,

dd-wrt also comes in an x86 version that can be loaded onto a pc which is what I'm going to do, so my pc will be a router. As an aside, my issue is that my WNDR4000, due to the encryption used by my VPN provider using OpenVPN takes my 50+ Mbps download speed and reduces it to about 5Mbps. It's a huge bottleneck.

So I'm going to take an old pc, load up the x86 version of dd-wrt and run all the services (VPN, DHCP, firewall, etc.) that currently run on my WNDR4000. So what I'm not sure about is how to configure and integrate my wireless router into my network. Do I set it to bridge? Do I use its WAN port or one of its LAN ports to connect? Those are the things I need help with. I hope that clears things up.

x86 dd-wrt: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/X86

Thanks
Guy

 

[tipstir]

Oh boy sounds like fun, but from what I use to do myself trying to run PC as a router always runs into some snags. If you like to experiment and have high hopes that promise of the software will do the job for you?

Then good luck in your decision!

 

[stevech]

what/where is the VPN server?
Doesn't your PC create the tunnel to some distant end point?
VPN would just pass through the router?

 

[Fawkesguy]

I'm using AirVPN and can connect to several different servers. Currently dd-wrt is running OpenVPN and my whole network goes through the VPN to access the Internet. Like I said, the slow processor in the router slows things down to a crawl due to VPN encryption overhead.

Let's forget about the pc though. Let's imagine I have a network that has a router that's handling access to the Internet and DHCP. How do you add a wireless access point to that network? Set it up as a bridge? And which port will connect to the router - a LAN or WAN port?

 

[devnull]

Access points go on the LAN ports. If you have a wireless router and want to turn that into an access point, go here:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...onvert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point

If you haven't already, check out Pfsense. It's a well built router package that installs onto a hard disk easier than a desktop OS. I've been using it for about 4 months now and I'm quite impressed by the variety of features. It also comes in variants that are made to install on embedded systems and flash drives.

It's also got a large number of optional packages to add transparent proxy, proxy with antivirus, IDS/IPS, regional/blacklist blocking and a lot more.

 

[Fawkesguy]

Access points go on the LAN ports. If you have a wireless router and want to turn that into an access point, go here:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...onvert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point

If you haven't already, check out Pfsense. It's a well built router package that installs onto a hard disk easier than a desktop OS. I've been using it for about 4 months now and I'm quite impressed by the variety of features. It also comes in variants that are made to install on embedded systems and flash drives.

It's also got a large number of optional packages to add transparent proxy, proxy with antivirus, IDS/IPS, regional/blacklist blocking and a lot more.

Thank you for that link, that is perfect! Since I have dd-wrt configured and running already on my wireless router, I'll try that first on my spare PC. I've heard a lot of good things about pfSense so maybe I'll check it out in a VM.

 

[Fawkesguy]

Thanks again for the link. I've got dd-wrt running on a spare pc and my Netgear router is now just a simple access point, exactly as I wanted.