SveaSoft has published the new Talisman/Basic release of their replacement firmware for the Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GS wireless routers. It's available for v1.1 and newer revs of the router hardware (see the label on the bottom, if it's v1.1 or newer you'll see the numbers there).

Subscribers to Sveasoft's firmware service can download it now. It's only $20 a year, and if you're a hardware/software geek with a WRT54G, it's worth the $20 a year just for the fun of messing with it, not to mention the great functionality.

This firmware is excellent, and includes a large number of technical enhancements and improvements over both the default Linksys firmware and the previous SveaSoft firmware versions.

Just some of the extra features the SveaSoft firmware provides above and beyond what the default firmware gives you:

Increased output radio power (from 0 to 500mw - the router's default is 28mw)
Improved QOS capabilities
Advanced Routing Protocols - BGP, RIP2, OSPF, able to run simultaneously
Read-Write file system with standard SysV startup and shutdown scripts
in /usr/local/etc/init.d
Unlimited port forwarding, port range forwarding, and port redirection
Unlimited port triggering
Advanced QoS bandwidth management
PPTP server
Improved PPPoE handling
Enhanced Web Interface based on CSS
Repeater mode (WDS)
Bridge mode (client) - either routed or direct bridged
IPv6 support
Advanced IPv4 filtering
Ebtables L2 filtering
Safe parameter backup and restore with support for RW parition backup/restore
Enhanced DHCP server
Enhanced DNS server
Unlimited DHCP static leases with MAC ignore capability
Enhanced onboard time services
WPA security on WDS/repeater mode links
WPA security on bridge/client mode links

  • Enhanced status reporting