DD-WRT, OpenWRT & Tomato Features Include:
- Advanced QoS
- VPN Support
- Advanced Wireless Modes
- Access Control
- Traffic Analysis
- Guest Networks
- Install Torrent & VPN Clients
Types of Router Firmware
DD-WRT Firmware
DD-WRT is the most popular firmware of the three. Probably because it is relatively easy to install and configure. It also has a lot of features for most people out there. Only the biggest of tech-geeks out there would feel there needs to be more!
Ok, so it doesn’t install on as many different router models as OpenWRT (we’ll come to that in a minute), but the aforementioned benefits most likely outweigh this for most router owners.
Features include a pretty comprehensive Quality of Service interface, Advanced wireless settings, and VPN.
Support is great too! The DD-WRT forums is a den for a lot of very knowledgeable folk. So, if you ever have any questions, it’s a good place to hang out.
Tomato Firmware
Tomato firmware is probably the easiest to use of the bunch. The GUI menu system is relatively intuitive and lets the user get their hands dirty to a certain extent. But perhaps not as much as its counterparts.
Yes, there are options to configure QoS and VPN. There’s also advanced firewall features and the ability to tweak access on a user level. A big plus is the monitoring tool. Tomato firmware actually monitors in real-time which could swing it for some.
If this all sounds good to you, then hopefully Tomato can be installed on your router! One downside is that Tomato is not compatible with as many routers as either OpenWRT or DDWRT.
Of course, if you are actually buying a new router for your install, this may not be as much of a problem. But if you are looking to upgrade a router you already have, you have more chance of being out of luck than the other two options as far as compatibility is concerned.
There are multiple Tomato builds available (known as ‘forks'), including ‘Shibby’ and ‘AdvancedTomato’.
Want some Tomato with that? Get a serving here (Shibby style)
OpenVPN Firmware
OpenVPN is the original of the three and is once again based on Linux. It is a command line only deal (no GUI menu available, unless using Gargoyle – which is based on OpenWRT). Being command line, it is only recommended for the more advanced technical user out there. So think programmers, coders and network gurus here.
But hey, there are tutorials available out there (including You Tube videos) if you really want to get your hands dirty!
Although it is much more difficult to set up, if you know what you’re doing, you have more control of your router than any of the 3 firmware choices!
OpenWRT also has, by far, the largest pool of routers to choose from for installation.
Once again, Open WRT also has features that include QoS and advanced VPN functionality.
If there is a reason why OpenWRT is not the most popular of the 3, it’s because it is just so damn hard to get running (if you’re a novice). Command line scares a lot of potential users off unfortunately. This is of course, totally understandable. Not everyone wants to divert away from the comfort of navigating around user-friendly GUI menus!
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