- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 47 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Short range and low power issues addressed with DD WRT"
Pros: Inexpensive, Minimal Sleek Design, Great Bang for the Buck
Cons: Only one external antenna connection
Summary: While searching for an inexpensive WIFI router with the ability to run 3rd-party, feature-rich firmware such as DD-WRT or OpenWRT, a shop owner pointed me towards the Motorola WR850G who he, himself, was using in the shop with DD-WRT. Having no prior knowledge of this particular product and going solely on his advice, I went ahead and purchased the router for a cheap $30. I promptly came home where I followed the installation instructions at dd-wrt.com, removing the basic-builtin Motorola firmware with something far more advanced. After 2 simple firmware flashes, I was ready to go. Paging through config screen after config screen, I now had complete control over the router, with the ability of boosting the radio transmission power, to overclocking the processor, configuring the linux environment like setting up cron processes, samba mounts, ssh, and so much more. I could create unique security policies with differing encryption methods for each connected wireless client. The possibilities were endless. The mods that were most important to me was the encryption and transmission power. I'm currently running my router at 80mW which is over 3 times the factory default levels and it now extends throughout all 3 floors of my entire house and surrounding property. All told, I am absolutely and completely satisfied with my purchase. For $30, this is by far, the best computer-related purchase I've ever made. I'm sure that if DD-WRT was loaded, the CNET editor's rating would match mine.
Currently, I'm now investigating setting-up a homemade biquad satellite dish antenna to extend a point-to-point WIFI connection over 10 miles using this router. Wish me luck.
