DD-WRT is Linux-based firmware for wireless routers and access points. Originally designed for the Linksys WRT54G series, it now runs on a wide variety of models. DD-WRT is one of a handful of third-party firmware projects designed to replace manufacturer's original firmware with custom firmware offering additional features or functionality.

DD-WRT
Developer(s)Sebastian Gottschall / NewMedia-NET
Initial release22 January 2005; 19 years ago (2005-01-22)[1]
Stable release
v24 SP1 (Build 10020) / 27 July 2008; 15 years ago (2008-07-27)
Preview release
3.0 rolling beta[2]
Repository
TypeRouter operating system
LicenseVarious proprietary and free software
Websitedd-wrt.com Edit this at Wikidata
DD-WRT was originally designed for the Linksys WRT54G series, but now runs on a variety of routers.

Sebastian Gottschall, a.k.a. "BrainSlayer", is the founder and primary maintainer of the DD-WRT project.[3] The letters "DD" in the project name are the German license-plate letters for vehicles from Dresden, where the development team lived.[4] The remainder of the name was taken from the Linksys WRT54G model router, a home router popular in 2002–2004. WRT is assumed to be a reference to 'wireless router'.

Buffalo Technology and other companies have shipped routers with factory-installed, customized versions of DD-WRT.[5][6] In January 2016, Linksys started to offer DD-WRT firmware for their routers.[7]

Features edit

Among the common features of DD-WRT are

Version-specific features[12]
Feature Micro
(2 MB)[a]
Mini
(4 MB)
Nokaid
(4 MB)
Standard
(4 MB)
VOIP
(4 MB)
VPN
(4 MB)[b]
Mega[c]
(8 MB)
ChilliSpot    
Web management over HTTPS  
IPv6    
JFFS2[b]    
XLink Kai daemon    
MMC & SD card support  
NoCat  
OpenVPN  
PPTP client  
radvd      
RFlow (traffic information)  
Samba/CIFS client  
Milkfish SIP router    
SNMP  
Secure Shell daemon  
Wiviz  
  1. ^ "Micro" builds additionally require 128 kB of Common Firmware Environment storage
  2. ^ a b Smaller VPN JFFS builds are available for 4 MB units.
  3. ^ Only on DD-WRT v24

It is also possible to build a bespoke firmware package.[13][14]

Version history edit

Version Release date Changes Refs
16 22 January 2005 Initial release. Created as a branch of Sveasoft Alchemy, which, in turn, is based on the Linksys WRT54G firmware [15]
22 25 July 2005 ?
23 25 December 2005 Replaced the Alchemy kernel with the OpenWrt kernel
23 SP 1 16 May 2006 In this service pack, much of the code was overhauled and rewritten during the development of this release; many new features were added.
23 SP 2 14 September 2006 The interface was overhauled, and some new features were added. Some additional router models are supported.
24 18 May 2008 Allows up to 16 virtual interfaces with different SSIDs and encryption protocols. It can run on some PowerPC, IXP425-based router boards, Atheros WiSOC, and X86-based systems. It can also run to some extent on routers with low flash memory (ex. WRT54Gv8 or WRT54GSv7)
24 SP 1 26 July 2008 Critical DNS security fix for an issue in dnsmasq, site survey security fixes, longer passwords, and flexible OpenVPN configurations. It can also run on additional hardware, including WRT300 v1.1, WRT310N, WRT600N, Tonze AP42X Pronghorn SBC, Ubiquiti LSX and Netgear, Belkin, and USR devices.
3.0 beta rolling Since 2010, the DD-WRT developers have frequently published beta builds for various routers. In January 2018 WireGuard was made available for routers with 8 MB or more flash and has been updated regularly by BrainSlayer.
Due to inevitable security improvements in the Linux kernel and other packages, over such a long time, the 3.0 beta releases are now considered more stable than 24SP1 version. [16]
[17]

Router hardware supported edit

DD-WRT supports many different router models, both new and obsolete. The project maintains a full list of currently supported models[18] and known incompatible devices.[19]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Alchemy branch v16 by BrainSlayer". FreeWRT.Narod.ru. 22 January 2005. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  2. ^ dd-wrt.com:downloads:3.0 rolling betas
  3. ^ "About DD-WRT". dd-wrt.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  4. ^ "What is DD-WRT?". DD-WRT Wiki. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Buffalo Partners with NewMedia-NET" (Press release). 23 October 2007. Archived from the original on 16 January 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  6. ^ Gottschall, Sebastian "BrainSlayer" (29 October 2007). "Congratulations on the partnership w/Buffalo!". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  7. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (5 January 2016). "DD-WRT Linux firmware comes to Linksys routers". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 17 March 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  8. ^ "dd-wrt/tree/master/src/router/transmission". GitHub. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  9. ^ "dd-wrt/tree/master/src/router/tor". GitHub. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  10. ^ "DD-WRT Products, Pros & Cons". Tenwitch. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  11. ^ "All-in-One Guide to Choose and Set Up VPN On a DD-WRT Router". Best-VPN.net. 12 January 2017. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Version Features - DD-WRT Wiki". wiki.dd-wrt.com. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Firmware Modification Kit Documentation". bitsum.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.Firmware Modification Kit gives the user the ability to make changes to a firmware image without recompiling the firmware sources.
  14. ^ "Best DD WRT Router 2018 - Buyer's Guide and Reviews". Heatonc. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  15. ^ "ftp.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/stable/". dd-wrt.com. 22 August 2008.
  16. ^ "Firmware Versions". dd-wrt.com. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  17. ^ "ftp.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/". dd-wrt.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Supported Devices". DD-WRT Wiki. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Known incompatible devices". DD-WRT Wiki. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.

External links edit