[Elspode]

So...when we got the laptop awhile back, we also snagged a Linksys wireless router from Sams at the same time. Did I know that some were tremendously more desireable than others? I did not. But now that I have it in service, and have spent some time trying to improve its performance without spending money, I find that I should have checked it out first.

It seems that the WRT series of Linksys wireless G routers were made with 8 megs of flashable ROM and a *Linux operating system*. Why is this cool? Because the Open Source crowd has created hacked operating systems that let you do neat things with them...the neatest being that you can *increase the output power* of these things.

I need to increase the output power on mine, because I am getting terribly marginal signal in my kid's apartment across the driveway, and I can't spend $100 on a bridge or other nifty signal gizmo right now. However, beginning with v5 of these boxes, Linksys cut the ROM down to 2 megs and changed the OS to VxWorks, effectively making it no longer possible to hack these boxes and subvert them to your whims. Bastards.

There is an alleged method to install a stripped down version of one of the most popular of such firmwares, but despite having followed the instructions implicitly, I was unable to do it. So...any of you out there enough of a computer geek to give me any ideas, here?

To let you know how desparate I am, today, I took the little coax-connected remote antenna on my kid's 'net card and stuck it into a coffee can through a hole in the bottom at a calculated position, making a "cantenna".

It improved the s/n by 100%...