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That reminds me of the Linksys WRT54G. Some people predicted that it would disrupt ISPs because it was so hackable. http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2004/pu
by winestock 14y ago
That reminds me of the Linksys WRT54G. Some people predicted that it would disrupt ISPs because it was so hackable.
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2004/pulpit_20040527_000456.html http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2004/pulpit_20040527_0004...
The manufacturer responded by replacing the Linux firmware with a proprietary real-time operating system. That allowed them to use hardware that was less powerful than the original both in terms of electricity consumption and computational performance. Furthermore, most people have better things to do than reprogramming their wi-fi routers.
Reading Cringley's predictions in that article is cringeworthy.
- jwn 14y agoLinksys also then released the WRT54GL, which used the same hardware/software as the original WRT54G, and could still run OpenWRT/DD-WRT.
- dsr_ 14y agoThe Wonder Shaper script he mentions is an anti-bufferbloat workaround. Not that that was the stated purpose, but that's what it does.
- SkyMarshal 14y agoI just bought the WRT54GL a couple months ago, after suffering through several newer model routers the previous year. Needless to say, it's brilliant. Fast, stable, consistent (for a change). And not only in my anecdotal experience - it still gets higher average reviews on Newegg and Amazon than any other modern router, despite being an almost decade old tech product. It may not have met Cringley's predictions, but it is a really interesting case study in what years of software optimization on stable, robust hardware can achieve, vs the competing model of throwaway software on frequently updated hardware.