Wow this thread I started a while back is still going. I'll try to read the stuff and post here a bit later on. But for now in case someone else didn't mention it there's a new Sveasoft public stable firmware (probably version 6, version 5.xx was for subscribers) going to come out shortly (I'd say in a month or so, hopefully Feb sometime) with a bunch of added features. Its in release candidate testing at the moment.
Some of these may overlap with the features listed in OP for 4.0
One of the more notable things is the 251mw power boost. Which is pretty high heh.
Another thing thats pretty cool is that the newer versions firewall builder have support for building rules for the linksys WRT54G/GS now. That means you can customize the firewall to your hearts content. Keep in mind that the firewall stuff in the sveasoft firmware is the normal stuff for a linux box (iptables if I remember correctly. Here's a link with some more info on iptables http://www.sns.ias.edu/~jns/security/iptables/ ). I would imagine you could make the router 100% stealthed this way no ports responding to anyone, although I haven't played with the firewall builder all that much. Also, there's a windows version of firewall builder out now too.
Anyway, I'll try and update the OP at some point soon.
Here's some answers to peoples questions that have been asked. Note that some of these have been answered, I just thought they were worth saying again.
192.168.2.10 00:02:6C:2DB:C2 jungle
First is the IP you want it, second is the MAC address separated by : you can find the MAC in one of the status pages that shows what DHCP's are given out at the moment, and then finally the name of the computer on the network, again you can find this on one of the router status pages.
I dont know about the DNS Masq stuff sorry.
Here's a download link for the windows version: http://www.netcitadel.com/p/cat_fwb_gui_download.html
b) Antennas are important in trying to extend range. You can get custom antennas for both the cards and the router, or make your own. Theres a huge amount of info on the net about making your own from for example pringles cans and some stuff. Or you can just buy them from ebay or another place. Or even try the linksys range extender although those are more expensive than the routers.
c) immediatly below or above the router is the worst place to get a signal. If you are on a few floors above, this could very well be the reason. Try adjusting the antenna orientation, or maybe a wall mount.
Some of these may overlap with the features listed in OP for 4.0
One of the more notable things is the 251mw power boost. Which is pretty high heh.
Another thing thats pretty cool is that the newer versions firewall builder have support for building rules for the linksys WRT54G/GS now. That means you can customize the firewall to your hearts content. Keep in mind that the firewall stuff in the sveasoft firmware is the normal stuff for a linux box (iptables if I remember correctly. Here's a link with some more info on iptables http://www.sns.ias.edu/~jns/security/iptables/ ). I would imagine you could make the router 100% stealthed this way no ports responding to anyone, although I haven't played with the firewall builder all that much. Also, there's a windows version of firewall builder out now too.
Anyway, I'll try and update the OP at some point soon.
Here's some answers to peoples questions that have been asked. Note that some of these have been answered, I just thought they were worth saying again.
I just did the exact same thing here, not 30 mins ago. It worked just fine. I had a wired desktop and a wireless lappie. The desktop had xp pro, laptop had xp home. I did remote desktop access into the pro desktop. Sat down at the laptop, did remote desktop, then ran photoshop on the desktop and printed off some stuff. Worked like a charm. Make sure to reset the router to defaults after upgrading firmware. Its also worth doing a uber reset by holding down the reset button on the back for 30 secs.
I dont know about ACL, what that is, but I know the switch chip in there can do some sorta VLAN. I have links earlier in the thread about checking out how to do it.
Make sure you are doing the proper ports forwarded to the proper IP, and if its udp or tcp or both. Also make sure you are patched up with civ3. I would imagine there's help on the civ3 support or forums about the proper ways to play behind a router.
Yes, I love static DHCP. One of my favorite features. Here's a sample line:
192.168.2.10 00:02:6C:2DB:C2 jungle
First is the IP you want it, second is the MAC address separated by : you can find the MAC in one of the status pages that shows what DHCP's are given out at the moment, and then finally the name of the computer on the network, again you can find this on one of the router status pages.
I dont know about the DNS Masq stuff sorry.
With firewall builder now supporting windows and sveasoft, I'm certain you could configure these kinda things with firewall builder. It uses linux iptables and you can do pretty much anything you can imagine with that.
Here's a download link for the windows version: http://www.netcitadel.com/p/cat_fwb_gui_download.html
Not really. It is a bit faster CPU chip onboard and some additional memory (could be usefull for adding some packages into custom firmware if they get really big). The speedbooster thing isn't all that much faster btw. You are talking going from 30ish maximum megabit throughput on a G model to 40ish maximum megabit throughput on a gs model. There were some reviews that detailed this kinda tests. If you want details post and I'll dig up some links.
Yeah, there are some documentation links in the original post and posted by a few people in this thread. As well, sveasoft forums has some FAQ's sections that can help with some things.
Works with any NIC that is 802.11b or 802.11g compliant (and of course the speedboosted ones). Actually linksys in many of thier older models made crappy NICs and I'd steer clear of them. There are many that are better quality with more power and range. I'm not sure if thier current set of GS wireless NICs are any good. You might want to check for reviews.
Yes, you can increase the power of the transmitter and thus increase range. Keep in mind several things. a) the range is from TWO parts. One is the wireless router, the other is from the wireless card. Make sure you have a quality card with high power. Same with router. If you have a crappy older linksys card you will get crap range on it.
b) Antennas are important in trying to extend range. You can get custom antennas for both the cards and the router, or make your own. Theres a huge amount of info on the net about making your own from for example pringles cans and some stuff. Or you can just buy them from ebay or another place. Or even try the linksys range extender although those are more expensive than the routers.
c) immediatly below or above the router is the worst place to get a signal. If you are on a few floors above, this could very well be the reason. Try adjusting the antenna orientation, or maybe a wall mount.
If you screw it up and lock yourself out, yeah reset to defaults. If you brick the router, even that might not help, but there are a number of ways to unbrick it. They range from trying to TFTP in the first few secs after a power on (a good reason to make sure to set in the configuration for a couple second boot wait when you power on), to opening it up and shorting a couple pins on the flash chip so it reports a corrupted memory to the cpu then it goes into emergency boot config waiting for TFTP.
Thats added in the version 5.xx and 6.xx series of firmware. They are both currently in unstable testing releases. Its called a Captive Portal. I think sveasoft is using chillispot. I think there are some other alternative projects that have a captive portal if you must have it right now and cant wait for a stable public sveasoft version.
Correct. On many connections that are asyncronous, when you upload you totally kill your download rate. This is due to queues of packets and some complex stuff that you can google if you want to know about it. QOS allows you to set priorities so you can basically drop down from your max bandwidth 10% or so and then do mostly full speed downloads while you do nearly full speed uploads. And give priority to like HTTP web browsing so your transfers dont slow down web, and priority to VOIP or games etc. Many people use this for VOIP so they can do stuff on the internet while they talk on VOIP with like vonage without dropping packetc and getting a bad connection. As for details of using this, sorry I'm not currently using it (I'm waiting for the next sveasoft release to get into it since its going to be considerably more advanced in that), although the sveasoft forums have lots of posts by people who have gotten QOS to work.