Why do I want to run Tomato firmware on my router? [closed]
What is the most compelling reason to flash your router to the Tomato firmware?
Things I like about it:
- Free
- Very stable
- Very easy to install on Linksys WRT54G routers
- Allows you to increase your wifi signal strength!
- UI is simpler and faster than the stock Linksys UI
- bandwidth monitor helps me to see how much bandwidth others are using on my network, so I know why hulu is skipping, etc
- The wireless survey is a nice, easy way to see what channels your neighbors are using, so you can set your wifi to a clear channel
- Simple access restriction
The signal boost was the clincher for me. The stock firmware on the earlier WRT54G routers wouldn't let me adjust the signal strength, but Tomato lets me do that. Before I upgraded to Tomato, I couldn't get a clear signal in the back room in my house. Now, it's as clear as any other room.
Tomato is pretty much "fire and forget". The bandwidth graphs are nice, and it's really quite easy to configure. It lets you ssh in, if you want to fiddle with low level settings, but ever since I set it up, I don't think I've ever went back into the UI.
It just works, and works well.
It supports wireless bridging (WDS) if you want to set up more than one router to cover a large space.
But the biggest thing is that it's very stable. I don't ever have to reboot the router because of a freeze or a problem.