Click here [dd-wrt.com] for a guide on installing DD-WRT
Download the latest DD-WRT builds from here [dd-wrt.com]
If you are not interested in using custom firmware yet, these routers support mesh with the stock firmware, but the USB port is disabled.
The stock firmware is relatively new, but is speculated to not receive many, if any, updates, so it may be best to wait until custom firmware support is merged and more mature before messing with installing custom firmware.
How to enable mesh:
- Setup your Main router completely.
- Plug your child node using the wan port to the main router lan port, wait for a solid purple light on the child node before proceeding.
- Log into your main router web admin.
- Click on CA at the bottom right.
- Click on Connectivity and CA Router setup.
- Click on both Add Wired and Add Wireless nodes buttons. Wait for the Add wireless button to re-enable.
- Click Done adding Child Nodes and then Apply.
- Now the child node light should start flashing purple and turn into a mesh mode when it turns blue.
- Disconnect Ethernet and wait for blue light again.
- Move node to desired location.
How to set up as access point:
- Disable DHCP (optional).
- Set the device to Bridge Mode under Connectivity tab.
- Connect cable from your router to a LAN port.
- Get some nail polish and a round sticker to cover the annoying flashing right light.
- Click the 'CA' at the bottom of the page to see the detailed configurations of wifi.
to unbrick and flash new firmware
run flashimg
run flashimg2
rename stock firmware to tortuga.img
Top Comments
Mind you that I only have 100Mbps Spectrum internet but I do stream/direct play 4k videos from a Plex media server to several Amazon Firestick 4k devices without issue. Overall IMO you would be hard pressed to find such relatively decent hardware for so cheap; especially a Mesh network.
It wasn't all smooth at first mind you. I kept getting disconnects; especially with the streaming IP cameras. But I discovered by disabling Express Forwarding all my streaming issues went away. (CA>Connectivity>Administration>Express Forwarding)
I'm guessing that Cisco's/Linksys' proprietary Express Forwarding routing protocol was causing havoc with the IP cams streaming capabilities. Also, disabling Node Steering seemed to make things more stable as well; mesh nodes no longer disconnect from the router when Node Steering is disabled. (CA>Wi-Fi Settings>Advanced>Node Steering)
Of course, user experience can vary so feel free to experiment. if the routers are giving you problems, try turning these features off and see if it works
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But, still a good deal. I may buy some more and build a house using these as bricks.
I am currently running the eero 6+ 3 pack mesh system, but I had one set of devices (water alarms) that required 2.4 and I had read that it was difficult to set it up one the eero. So I have a separate Netgear router for that.
When it was on sale, I also purchased the eero 6 Pro set of 3. It has the 3rd chance for the wireless backhaul. I had read in some early tests that the speeds from the 6+ were actually faster, but of course there are many factors that make uo speed. So I did not switch to it
I now have 3 of these Linksys routers (or will have) and I was going to set that up to isolate some of the network. That was my thought. I have 2, so I was able to set up the mesh last night and did some looking with wifi analyzer and the output was stronger with the Linksys but not reallyy that significantly. I have not set it up in the house yet.
I have some tapo cameras that can be unstable or take a while to link up/stay connected. Of course they are outside on the house, so i thought I would get a real strong signal through the garage with the eero 6+
So I have lots of options. Currently the eero is hardwired backhauled to donwstairs and all goes to my TP-Link switch where most of my computers I use for work are hard wired.
Any thought on the various mesh systems: eero 6+, eero 6 Pro and these Linksys routers?
I didn't like that the Linksys doesn't offer much flexibility with 5ghz channel selection, with one radio being low and the other high band, spanning only about a dozen channels each. I suspect that the dynamic wireless back haul (where the back haul can be on the fly switched from one radio to the other and thus share bandwidth with clients some of the time) may be responsible for the lack of consistency in performance. I'm not going to replace my eeros, but will keep checking how well ddwrt and openwart options progress b/c I believe the hardware is probably as good as the eeros (except the channel width), and hope one day soon to switch so as to stop posting for eero service.
I didn't do a whole lot beyond turning oFF LAN DHCP, setting a static LAN IP address and plugging into the LAN port.
Probably not knowing Cisco! USB must have been an issue as well as they only advertise "a" for Wi-Fi.
I didn't like that the Linksys doesn't offer much flexibility with 5ghz channel selection, with one radio being low and the other high band, spanning only about a dozen channels each. I suspect that the dynamic wireless back haul (where the back haul can be on the fly switched from one radio to the other and thus share bandwidth with clients some of the time) may be responsible for the lack of consistency in performance. I'm not going to replace my eeros, but will keep checking how well ddwrt and openwart options progress b/c I believe the hardware is probably as good as the eeros (except the channel width), and hope one day soon to switch so as to stop posting for eero service.
I recently added the 3rd node to the eero 6+ and it seemed to help the tapo connections on the one side of my house. So I am monitoring it. If the Linksys does get new firmware/OS I may try that. Normally I just run stock, but these are cheap enough to give it a shot.
For my other daughter in Montana I was able to take advantage of the Costco deal, so hopefully that will work out for her.
For me I am in the heart of Silicon Valley (south bay) and I can only get 50MB down from AT&T, which is an improvement over the 24 pre-Covid. I am hearing 100 might be in the works or I transition to Comcast. Both hubs sit in my front yard. The AT&T technician who used to work for Comcast stated I should get excellent speed being first on the hub So I am sure I am not stretching the speed capabilities of the zeros. I purchased to get more consistent coverage.
Again, thanks for the insight.
Deleted that comment in my post!
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Of course, user experience can vary so feel free to experiment. if the routers are giving you problems, try turning these features off and see if it works
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I recently added the 3rd node to the eero 6+ and it seemed to help the tapo connections on the one side of my house. So I am monitoring it. If the Linksys does get new firmware/OS I may try that. Normally I just run stock, but these are cheap enough to give it a shot.
For my other daughter in Montana I was able to take advantage of the Costco deal, so hopefully that will work out for her.
For me I am in the heart of Silicon Valley (south bay) and I can only get 50MB down from AT&T, which is an improvement over the 24 pre-Covid. I am hearing 100 might be in the works or I transition to Comcast. Both hubs sit in my front yard. The AT&T technician who used to work for Comcast stated I should get excellent speed being first on the hub So I am sure I am not stretching the speed capabilities of the zeros. I purchased to get more consistent coverage.
Again, thanks for the insight.
Of course, user experience can vary so feel free to experiment. if the routers are giving you problems, try turning these features off and see if it works
Assuming leaving routing options on stock settings, anyone successfully running a mesh network with this specific router with Express Forwarding still enabled?
I didn't like that the Linksys doesn't offer much flexibility with 5ghz channel selection, with one radio being low and the other high band, spanning only about a dozen channels each. I suspect that the dynamic wireless back haul (where the back haul can be on the fly switched from one radio to the other and thus share bandwidth with clients some of the time) may be responsible for the lack of consistency in performance. I'm not going to replace my eeros, but will keep checking how well ddwrt and openwart options progress b/c I believe the hardware is probably as good as the eeros (except the channel width), and hope one day soon to switch so as to stop posting for eero service.
I guess what through me off is the 5Ghz high band can do 2400mbps, which I assumed was 2x2 160Mhz but is really 4x4 80Mhz. I wonder if MU-MIMO allows the 4x4 80Hz to handle two 2x2 80Mhz clients at the same time?
And does this Linksys only use the high band for wireless mesh as it's 4x4 vs only 2x2 for the low band?
I am using them as access points only, all wired.
At 10' away from the AP I am getting 700mbits/second (computer to computer file transfer)
In fact, I have enabled Express Forwarding on my Linksys MR9000 mesh mode (2 nodes) for over two years and I get almost full bandwidth on my 500 Mbps link, both upload and downloads and the uploads are consistently in the 510 Mbps range.
FWIW, I am super duper impressed with stock firmware on these Linksys units as they are much better than OpenWRT, imho.
PS: I have node steering + client steering enabled as well.
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