Thanks Joma, I did a google translation of the download which wasn't too good but I got the impression 1.81 may address SSL vulnerability issues which would be helpful but as explained I am reluctant in case it is quite different from European version - which is what you imply.
Yes I have suspected DDWRT is an endless road and can do without the hassle. To be fair the stock firmware has not been too bad. I have upto 7 clients functioning reasonably well. I did have problems with dropping connections but I beleive this was actually an upstream cable modem problem - the 300 is running in router mode. Since changing the modem the router ran well for 4 months so I have little ground for complaint.
My main frustration is its restrictive nature with respect to assigning IP / mac addresses where there is an IP conflict with two clients which is proving difficult to resolve. I had hoped DWRT or Open would give one more control over such issues but if they do it appears to be at a significant cost with respect to reliability.
