Router Purchase Guide

Broadband Hamnet Router Shopping Guide

MESH Networking using WiFi
HSMM = High Speed Multi-Media

It all started with a surplus WiFi router.
The Linksys WRT54G:

Router Purchase Guide
WRT54G information courtesy Wikipedia.org 11/2012, Versions in shaded area are not usable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G

Consider printing this and keeping a copy handy to evaluate used equipment

Warning: There are a number of router models made by linksys with confusingly similar names.

Check the model name carefully. If it has a suffix or added letters in the middle, check the broadband-hamnet.org web site to see if it's compatible.

Keep on the lookout for Rogers WRT54G-RG or T-Mobile WRT54G-TM routers as they are the same as the WRT54GS. The vtun tunneling needs the extra flash/memory of the GS to work. More info about the RG and TM can be found at Simplified shopping list:   WRT54G Series

MESH Networking using WiFi
HSMM = High Speed Multi-Media

It all started with a surplus WiFi router.
The Linksys WRT54G:

LinkSys Routers: Quick Shopping List
(Only these models will work for Hamnet Mesh.)
ModelVersionRAM/FlashSerial Nos. Prefix
WRT54GS
WRT54G-RG
1.0 - 3.032/8 MB*CGN,CGN1,...CGN5
WRT54GS
WRT54G
WRT54GL
4.0
2.0−4.0
1.0−1.1
16/4 MBCGN6
CDF2,CDF3,...CDFA
CL7A,...CL7C, & CF7C
WRT54G 1.016/4 MB
(5VDC only!)
CDF, CDF1






Higher numbered versions of each model are not compatible with Broadband-Hamnet™ firmware.

Detailed model information:

WRT54G

WRT54GS


WRT54GL


Ubiquiti Radios

There is now a full release of BBHN for Ubiquiti radios.

Many of the details and fine points of the Ubiquity based mesh nodes are different from the WRT-54G
based mesh nodes.

Please read and understand the relevant BBHN web site pages before starting
a project with the Ubiquiti radios.
http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/documentation/186-ubnt-fw-release-101

The Ubiquiti radios are excellent radios with some significant advantages in terms of RF
characteristics, mounting, and enclosures. They lack some of the features of the WRT-54G such as an
attached 4 port switch and dual antennas.

Supported as of 02/01/2014. The authors of the Ubiquiti BBHN firmware are working on expanding
this list, so check the forum.
•Rocket M2
•Bullet M2 HP
•AirGrid M2 HP
•NanoStation Loco M2 (NSL-M2)
•NanoStation M2 (NS-M2)


Other Router Types

Members of the Broadband Hamnet (BBHN) community have installed the firmware on hundreds or
thousands of WRT54G series routers.

We have produced versions of the firmware for a number of other routers, but don't have much
experience with using these routers. You may find some things work differently from the way
WRT54G series routers work. The current software may not work on some of these routers.
Please report success/failure/problems to

http://broadband-hamnet.org/hsmm-mesh-forums/view-postlist/forum-2-hardware/topic-674-successfailure-for-different-router-models.html

There is software on the BBHN web site for the following routers.

  • WRT54G3G – Confirmed to work
  • WR850G – confirmed by one user with some problems
  • WA840G v1 only - unconfirmed
  • WE800G v1 only - unconfirmed
  • WRT300N_v1 (ONLY version 1. The v1.1 and higher versions don't work) -unconfirmed
  • WRT150N – several people have reported that they have failed to load software successfully on this model

Customized WRT54G Versions
There are some customized versions of the WRT54G router that Linksys produced for certain
customers. Some of these are have compatible hardware but require a different process to load
software. There are probably some custom versions of the hardware that don't work with BBHN.
There is some discussion on the BBHN web site.

Other Hardware
Some of the more advanced members of the BBHN community have installed some of the software
components used to make other hardware devices work in a BBHN network.

Please understand and respect the difference between the complete, supported, BBHN package and
other hardware software combinations. The process of installing, configuring, and using this other
hardware is very different and may be much more difficult than the process for the official BBHN
firmware on supported hardware.

We encourage everyone to experiment with such enhancements and share your results on the BBHN


website. http://broadband-hamnet.org/hsmm-mesh-forums/view-postlist/forum-2-hardware/topic-823-bbhn-mesh-ports-to-other-hardware.html


http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/images/hsmm_docs/WRT54Shop.pdf

~ A.nd.re
Toronto, Canada


Hopefully you will find some useful information here.
 Discussion 
https://groups.io/g/AREDN
https://aredn.blogspot.com/

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