a Department of Computer Science and Engineering

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1 Issues in Performance of Wireless Routers & Open Source Firmwares R&D Project Report Under guidance of Prof. Deepak B. Phatak Submitted By Sukh Deo( ) Prashant Kumar Singh( ) a Department of Computer Science and Engineering Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai 1

2 Acknowledgement We would like to extremely thank my guide, Prof. Deepak B. Phatak for the consistent directions. We would also like to thank, Mr. Nagesh Karmali, for guiding us whenever, we faced difficulty regarding the topic. 2

3 Abstract Wireless router is a device, that provides the Internet connection without use wired link[1]. It performed as wireless LAN. But, problem is how to increase the performance of wireless router. First, we have discuss the main issues that is related to performance of wireless router. Second, we can choose good wireless router based on requirement. Third, we can extend the wireless protocol for increasing the performance of wireless router. To increase the performance of wireless router, we can upgrade the firmware. Firmware is a piece of software that provides services to hardware. We can simply say, it is a piece of software for some hardware. When we purchase any router, its hardware may be capable of providing many features but the manufacturer simply decides not to provide these wide range of features just to keep things simple and they sell the routers with these features at a much higher price[2].

4 Contents Acknowledgement FACTORS AFFECTING RANGE OF WiFi introduction Key factor Solution Open Source Firmwares Introduction Basic Terminology Firmwares DD-WRT License Supported Devices Supported Linksys models Installing DD-WRT TomatoUSB License Supported Linksys models Installation Steps Gargoyle License List of supported Linksys Routers[3] Comparison[4] Conclusion 13 1

5 Chapter 1 FACTORS AFFECTING RANGE OF WiFi 1.1 introduction Wi-Fi is a technology that allow to an electronic device to exchange the electronic data wirelessly, using high speed Internet[5]. It use radio wave for exchanging the data. A device can use the Wi-Fi as like tablet, personal computer. Wi-Fi is not secure as much as wired link, because intruder does not require to connect the wire. For security of Wi-Fi, we can use SSL. It is required to encryption, without encryption intruder can easily detected. What is factor that depends the range of Wi-Fi. It vary indoor to outdoor. It also depend the capability of wireless router. 1.2 Key factor Range of wifi depends on the wireless router being used[7]. The following factors decides the range of wireless LAN: The specific protocol employed. Strength of the device transmitter that is wavelength.(range=wavelength/2). The nature of obstructions and interference in the surrounding area. 2

6 Figure 1.1: Wireless router[6] Example: g WAPs and routers support a range of up to 150 feet (46 m) indoors and 300 feet (92 m) outdoors. Room Infrastructure: Obstructions in home such as brick walls and metal frames or siding greatly can reduce the range of a Wi-Fi LAN by 25% or more. Because a employs a higher signaling frequency than b/g, a is most susceptible to obstructions. 1.3 Solution The following are the solution of to increase the performance of wireless router. If we want to connect more tablet in a room, it require to make Wireless chain of routers. Position of wireless router should be at the center of room. We can use good standard antenna: Some antenna leave the wave roundly and some leave waves in a particular direction, so we can use the router as per requirement. 3

7 Upgrade wireless protocol. Specific about F.C kohli: From above theoretical observations, I think, F.C Kohli auditorium may have such a design that wall absorbs more power of sound and radio wave than other auditoriums and rooms which creates hindrance in connecting a large number of tablets. For increasing the feature and protocol of wireless router, we can upgrade the firmware that are supported to hardware of router. Next chapter, we will discuss the different firmware. 4

8 Chapter 2 Open Source Firmwares 2.1 Introduction When we purchase any router, its hardware may be capable of providing a lot of services than that of already present services. This is mainly done by the manufacturers to keep simplicity[2] but we can explore these functionalities by using some third party firmwares. Some of these third party are open source and thus freely available. We can use the the services of these firmwares and thus can get extended services which our router supports. The services depends on the model of router. There is a supportability list for various firmwares for various models. Some models may not be supported by some firmwares. We can check for this supportability on the website of the firmwares Basic Terminology Firmware: A Firmware is a piece of software that assists Hardware for its smooth functioning. Flashing a router: We can replace the firmware of a router in order to provide certain additional functionalities to the router. This process of replacing a firmware is called Flashing a router Third Party Firmwares: 5

9 Third Party Firmwares are those firmwares that are manufactured by some company that is not related to the company that has built the router Firmwares There are a number of third party firmwares available to provide a wide range of services to routers. Some of the open source Firmwares are listed below. 1. DD-WRT[8] 2. Tomato USB[9] 3. Gargoyle[10][11] 2.2 DD-WRT Routers are mostly made by taking non-technical users in mind and thus making them simple to use and providing a web-access gateway. DD-WRT is the most popular third party framework. It transforms a simple router with limited functionality into a powerful router[12]. Some of the routers come with pre-installed DD-WRT e.g., buffalo. DD- WRT provides a lot of features, and due to all these features it is the most popular firmware. Some of the features provided by DD-WRT are as follows[2][13] Support for IPv6 DD-WRT supports for IP version 6 Advanced QoS Services DD-WRT provides advanced quality of service facility. Boosting Wi-Fi signal We can boost Wi-Fi signal strength. Adjustable antenna power to increase wireless spectrum It provides adjustable antennae power. Viewable performance graphs and statistics to watch network performance and measure bandwidth levels 6

10 2.2.1 License GNU General Public License Supported Devices DD-WRT supports so many routers but Linksys WRT54G series is the main. DD-WRT provides a detailed search for all supportable routers. We can us the link to search which model is supported or which model is not. It supports a wide range of Linksys routers Supported Linksys models Figure 2.1 shows few of the linksys routers that are supported by DD-WRT firmware Installing DD-WRT Installing DD-WRT may be done by the following steps. 1. Check the compatibility of router Check the compatibility of router for the firmware on the link 2. Download the firmware file If the router is supported, download the.bin file of the router. 3. Log on to the Web GUI Log-in to the Router web interface using the credentials. 4. Go to administration panel Go to administration panel in web interface. 5. Go to firmware Upgrade Go to firmware upgrade option under administration panel. 6. Upload the.bin file and start Upgrade Upload the.bin file of firmware and start upgradation. 7

11 Figure 2.1: Supported Linksys models 8

12 2.3 TomatoUSB Tomato USB is an open source project. It is a modified form of the Tomato project[14]. It also provides many useful services to router. Some of the feature that are provided, are as follows. Access Restrictions Advanced QoS Services VPN Support Support for IPv6 It provides adjustable antennae power License Code is licensed for GNU General Public License[15] Supported Linksys models TomataoUSB is compatible with various routers[16] e.g., Asus Buffalo Linksys Netgear The various supported models of these routers are as given below. Linksys E1000 v1 Linksys E2000 Linksys E3000 Linksys E4200 9

13 Linksys WRT160N v1 Linksys WRT160N v3 Linksys WRT300N v1 Linksys WRT310N v1 Linksys WRT310N v2 Linksys WRT320N Linksys WRT54G-TM Linksys WRT54-GL,-GS v1-v4 Linksys WRT610Nv2 Linksys WRTSL54GS Installation Steps The installation steps are as follows[17]. 1. Go to administration Panel 2. Select Firmware Upgrade Option 3. Browse the suitable.bin file of firmware 4. Select Start Upgrade 5. Login back to the router and confirm for installation 2.4 Gargoyle Gargoyle is a free and open source firmware. Main features provided by Gargoyle are as follows[10]. 1. Bandwidth monitoring. 2. QoS. 3. Ability to block websites by IP. 10

14 2.4.1 License Free software, mainly the GNU GPL. Figure 2.2: Gargoyle interface[4] List of supported Linksys Routers[3] 1. Linksys WRT54GL v Linksys WRT54G-TM 3. Asus WL500G Premium v Linksys WRTSL54GS v Linksys WRT54GS v Linksys WRT54GS v4 2.5 Comparison[4] DD-WRT is the most well known firmwares. (a) It is easy to install DD-WRT (b) Supports a large number of routers. (c) freely available. 11

15 Tomato is also a popular firmware. Its main features are (a) Tomato contains less features than DD-WRT. (b) Tomato is also does not supports so many routers as done DD- WRT. Gargoyle also supports only a limited number of routers. 12

16 Chapter 3 Conclusion First chapter, we have discuss about cause of performance related in wireless router. But we can not change the room environment for increasing the performance of wireless router. So we have required to choose good router base on performance and protocol. Second chapter, we have discuss for choosing the good router as well as open source firmware, that will help to increase the performance of wireless router. DD-WRT supports a large number of routers apart from that, it is also freely available. We can conclude that DD-WRT is the best firmware. 13

17 Bibliography [1] From Wikipedia. Wireless router. router. [2] [3] routers_-_tested_routers. [4] [5] From Wikipedia. Wifi. [6] wireless router. [7] From competworking. factor affecting of wifi. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] whatdoes. [14] 14

18 [15] [16] [17] installing-tomatousb-on-linksys-e3000.html. 15