Least-Problematic Firmware for WZR-HP-G300NH

[itguy223]

Title says it all... I just ordered one of these before reading about the issues with dropouts. I need firmware that supports a USB Printer and a USB HDD attached through a hub, and I don't want to deal with dropouts or slowdowns. My options seem to be:

 

-Buffalo Stock Firmware v1.77

-DD-WRT Build 16783 (issues)

-OpenWRT Backfire v10.03

-Tomato (?)

 

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this, I should hopefully recieve the router in a couple days.

[Aveyer]

Some seem to have disconnect problems, though I've never had any drops/disconnets myself(with stock and DD-WRT). Flashing to community builds (non Buffalo official DD-WRT) are the most recent versions but will void the warranty. Ath9k driver may be used in the next released build which may solve any disconnection problems. Tomato isn't supported on WZR-HP-G300NH. OpenWRT seems to have similar reports to DD-WRT, some say it's fine and some have disconnect issues.

[itguy223]

Thanks for the quick reply.? So would you say that the latest DD-WRT (non-Buffalo) would be my best option? Could you post a link to the correct firmware? 

 

On a side note, do you know if the stock buffalo firmware would support both a printer and a hard drive?

 

EDIT: Think I've found 17201. Is it the second one listed here? This seems to be a BrainSlayer build which I don't normally use. Anything hugely different?

ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2011/06-14-11-r17201/buffalo_wzr-hp-g300nh/?

 

 

[Aveyer]

The link is correct and tha'ts the most recent so far, but remember it will void the warranty. You'd use the first file in that directory to go from stock to community DD-WRT.

If the router comes with DD-WRT pre installed you would want to go back to stock and then to community DD-WRT, the web interface messes up otherwise.

The stock firmware supports USB HDDs but not printers.

[sspeed]

Smallnetbuilder.com had a story with tests of vendor firmwares vs open source firmware and not surprisingly the vendor firmware was usually better.

 

I have no issues at all with my WZR-HP-G300NH.  It gets rebooted about once a month at most.  I had the Buffalo firmware on there and confirmed best performance with that.  However, since I run several websites off of a little Synology DS-111 in my home, I need reverse nat-ing, so I had to switch to the Buffalo DD-WRT version of the firmware.  That works equally as good, wireless performance isn't quite as good as the Buffalo firmware, but acceptable.

 

The biggest thing for not getting drops on your wireless is to use only channel 1-6-11, shut off 40mhz wide, and run inSSIDer to see where everyone else in your neighborhood sits wireless channel-wise.  Not getting drops isn't rocket science....

 

Unless you have a need for a specific feature in the DD-WRT firmware, stick with the Buffalo one...  Adding a UDB HDD is infinitely easier with the stock firmware as well, but don't expect killer HD performance from it...

[itguy223]

@Aveyer, thanks again. I don't mind voiding the warranty as I got the router second-hand for a good price on ebay.

 

@sspeed, Thanks for the info. Why should I not use 40mhz width? Am I correct in saying that my thoroughput will then cap at 150mbp/s instead of 300mbp/s? I have never had an issues using that setting in my routers. It's not about rocket science, if you haven't heard the G300NH has problems with slowdowns and dropouts, due to either the firmware or the router itself. Google it, more users than not are reporting these issues so no need to be rude. As Aveyer said above the stock firmware will not work for me as I need both a printer and a HDD attached to the router.

[sspeed]

I apologize, didn't mean saying it's not rocket science to be rude, just saying it's being made harder than it is... with wireless saturation every router is having problems, not just this one...  Here's what I wrote in another post:

 

 

 

There are a couple of problems with that...  the first being that wireless traffic is collision traffic... when traffic is on the same channel they'll wait, and go, wait and go.... channels 1-6-11 are the only channels that don't overlap each other.... if you're on #2 and a neighbor is on #1, the traffic won't negotiate, they'll simply go at the same time and have noise interferance, slowing your speed....

 

The second problem is that wireless connection rate is no indication of true speed.  If you want true speed, download LAN speed test, and test a 100mb file copy to a share and see what you get.  Odds are you'll find, especially if you live in a city where there are many wireless networks around, that shutting off 40mhz wide and connecting at around 130mbps will probably give you a faster true speed than having it on and connecting at the mythical 300mbps.

 

I would use channel 6 only, if you look at the FCC report for this router, channel 6 has the highest transmit power.

 

I live in a congested wireless neighborhood, I don't use 40mhz wide, I use channel 6, I get zero drops, and my wireless actual throughput is FAST.  I reboot the router once a month at best.  I've also installed it for others using the same methodology and have had no complaints.??

 

[pedroslima]

I`ve been trying to get mine to work with the original 16783? DD-WRT firmware. I got it running used the EXT3 formatting (3 partitions with linux swap) and I couldn't find samba installed. I can SSH the router and see the files but no samba. Can anyone confirm if it is included?

According to the wiki on DD-wrt it is, but some people here said it was stripped off.

I included the script provided in the instructions on this link and added the code on administration > router reboot but I still can't "see" the HD on my windows or mac (probably because samba isn't there).

[buddee]

Samba isn't in the buffalo dd-wrt builds, its only in the community dd-wrt builds.

[itguy223]

@sspeed, no problem. I don't need to worry about overlapping signals since I'm not in a crowded area, but I will try the LAN speed test once I get the router. I agree, even before I read the FCC documents I have always used channel 6 and turned off all "Auto Channel" features, provided that channel 6 isn't in use. (I check with inssider)

 

At the moment I am waiting for the router; once I get it I will see how it goes as far as dropouts. I bought it used and the seller said he had been using it for several monthes with no issues (but who knows...), flashed to DD-WRT. (assuming Buffalo)

[pedroslima]

FINALLY someone I can trust confirmed this to me! Thank you @Buddee. I tried going back to 1.76 and it's lame.

I continue to get drop outs (not wifi dropouts but the router stops seing the HDD).

 

Does anyone ?have a solution for me? I need a easy to install samba package that would work on my WZR-HP-G300NH?. I know how to get to 3 partition EXT3 Linux swap HDD preparation and see it through SSH with writing privileges but every time I try to download a premade package it doesn't go very well.

 

 

[sspeed]

One other thing, our wireless baby monitor can really hurt wireless performance...

[eengel821]

I saw you posted about user friendly version 1.77.  I can't find that on the download page.  Where did you get that?  Does it have the wireless dropping issues?

[internalaudit]

That explains it all. I had a big hunch that I didn't have samba server on my stock firmware but was hoping I did.

 

What community build should I install if I only require samba server for media file streaming/sharing?

 

Many thanks.