Tomato Install on Linksys Router

 Nice and easy is how I describe this firmware install.



Install Notes
Connect the router at the #1 LAN port to my MacBook . I set wireless off so my ethernet port  was the only connection active.

Using Firefox the install worked fine. I did read somewhere that FireFox is not a recommended browser, but it did work fine for this release.

I downloaded the current stable release from Tomato http://www.polarcloud.com/firmware which is version 1.28.1816. Unzipping the 16.1 mb zip file revealed several bins; I wanted WRT54G_WRT54GL.bin for my router model Linksys WRT54G v.3.

I always follow the instructions (browser excepted) when installing. So my next step was the Readme.htm file for a review of important things like login credentials. It also recommended following the install to erase the NV RAM, which I did.

I rebooted the router for good measure. Changed the password. All good.


Features
The first order of business is a review of the newly enabled features for this router. They are partially covered in the screen shots included on the polar cloud website http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato/
but going over the actual install and seeing what is what is always a good idea. The feature I needed is there under Advanced > Wireless > Receive Antenna . I want to disable the receive functionality to simulate one way wifi (like satellite radio) to test one way streaming of audio files (aka wihifi). Poor man's terrestrial radio. I'll accomplish this by setting receive antennae to B and install a highly directional antenna on B and point it to space.

Review of  Wireless Modes
I now have access to the following Wireless Modes. I want to stream audio one way, that is without the client speaking to the router. A review of the wireless modes would be a good idea.

Wireless modes:
access point (AP),
wireless client station (STA),
wireless ethernet (WET) bridge,
wireless distribution system (WDS aka wireless bridging),
simultaneous AP and WDS (aka wireless repeating)

Ad-hoc
In addition to the classic routing, ad hoc networks can use flooding for forwarding the data.

MANET
A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) is a self-configuring infrastructureless network of mobile devices connected by wireless.

Delay Tolerant Networks
This rfc from 2007 relates to the discussion of DTN http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5050. The Delay-Tolerant Networking Research Group (DTNRG) is a research group chartered as part of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). Members of DTNRG are concerned with how to address the architectural and protocol design principles arising from the need to provide interoperable communications with and among extreme and performance-challenged environments where continuous end-to-end connectivity cannot be assumed.

Additional Reading
http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/difference-between-client-bridge-and-wet-modes.18832/

Forum Officio
http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?forums/tomato-firmware.33/