How to use the DD-WRT firmware to monitor your bandwidth

Previously I’ve shown you how to monitor your bandwidth using applications you install on your PC/Mac (Windows | macOS). The method I outline in this very brief tutorial uses the DD-WRT firmware. Instead of capturing your uploads and downloads on each computer, which works very well if you live in a single-computer household, this method monitors your usage at the router level. So there’s no need to install software on each PC/Mac and then walk around with a calculator to add it all up. …

How to flash the Linksys WRT54G v8 with the DD-WRT Firmware

This tutorial will walk you every step of the way through flashing your Linksys WRT54G (version 8) router to use the DD-WRT firmware.

According to Wikipedia, the Linksys WRT54G v8.0 is “currently one of the most commonly available (routers) at US retail establishments, such as Best Buy and Target”. Due to hardware limitations, the 8.x versions (8.0, 8.1 and 8.2) are only able to run the “micro” version of the DD-WRT firmware (you can find a firmware version feature comparison chart here). Even so, the micro version of the DD-WRT firmware provides dozens of features, many of which are not available with the default Linksys firmware.

This walkthrough is based on the WRT54G v8.x tutorial on the DD-WRT wiki. The biggest difference between this one and the one on the DD-WRT wiki is that I’ve elaborated a bit, and provided screenshots for each step. …