tszefr web store FAQ section

A number of manufacturers offer wifi routers. Invariably they provide the firmware and ability for the owner to make various adjustments. Generally manufacturer supplied firmware is inconsistent between brands and often does not provide features that a user could benefit. Several Open Source projects have set out to provide replacement firmware, often providing easier usage and enhanced features. The different kinds of firmware that we favor are Tomato, DD-WRT, and OpenWRT.

Tomato is replacement firmware for various wifi routers, generally with Broadcom Chipsets. One of the earliest of these type is the Linksys WRT-54G. While not considered blazingly attractive, Tomato is renowned for its ease of use. Tomato as of 2015 might best be thought of as a Family of replacement firmwares, as the original developer left the code for the Open Source Community, and several developers have forked the code, usually providing enhancements not in original Tomato. We think one of the best is Tomato by Shibby.

OpenWRT is a pure open source project providing replacement firmware for wifi routers. This is probably the most advanced flavor out there, and might be thought of as a hacker's distro. It can be a challenge to install OpenWRT, and it may not even come with the expect web interface. That would make it user unfriendly in our book, so we make sure to have that in place. OpenWRT is generally far more customizable than other firmwares, with a large selection of packages on hand for a user to install if desired. In general, we will go for fully functional but not try to throw in the kitchen sink.

We ship only within the USA, and generally use USPS Priority Mail service for fast delivery, often on the 2nd day within continental USA. Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories will normally take longer. Google Checkout may offer Express Mail. We do not recommend this service but will use if you order it. We strive to get all orders posted within one business day.

DD-WRT is a variety of router firmware that is offered in both commercial and Open Source versions. We offer only Open Source. DD-WRT is attractive and easy to use. The project offers a comprehensive data base of router models, and does provide images for various chipsets other than the popular Broadcom type. DD-WRT does make an excellent replacement for manufacturer firmware.