Worth it to "upgrade"?

[Modular]

I've got this Microsoft MN-700 that I've had for a few years. It works just fine, but has really limited functionality (especially when it comes to its firewall). I was thinking about biting on a Linksys WRT54GL for better security both through my wired as well as wireless networks. I've also read that it has the possibility of supporting a a print server, which would be great for me.

Has anyone made a similar jump? I'd like to know if this is really worth it or not in terms of security mostly. The MN-700 is no longer supported by Microsoft, so there won't be any new firmware coming out. I get the feeling that as time goes on, security on a non-supported product really becomes less and less effective, especially since I can't choose what ports to open through the MN-700.

Anyways, any advice is appreciated.

 

[JackMDS]

It worth while if you want to stimulate the economy, or that there is something that the MN-700 can not provide and the WRT54L can.

Neither has a printer server on.

If the MN-700 does not support WPA+AES the WRT54L has an edge.

 

[vorgusa]

How important is security to you? if you are in a house and not an apartment and you do not do much on your network that is sensitive then going out and getting a printserver might be more beneficial.

 

[Tennoh]

How about you try and use one of those 3rd party firmwares on your MN-700? I believe dd-wrt and open-wrt support the MN-700. 3rd party firmwares are the primary advantage of the Linksys 54GL, but that doesn't mean other routers can't do the same thing..

 

[SunnyD]

Honest, the MN-700 and the WRT54* routers are internally identical. Same Broadcom chip, same hardware, just a different firmware. I recently retired and sold my MN-700 after getting a WRT300N. I'd prefer a WRT350N, but hey, I wasn't about to spend $200 on a router.

Tennoh is correct, DD-WRT will run on the MN-700, HOWEVER, you need to do a serial flash with a JTAG flasher initially on the MN-700, as the way Microsoft wrote their boot loader, it prevents unsigned flash images from being uploaded.