The document discusses tasks for configuring a Linksys WRT54g wireless router, including configuring it as an access point using basic settings, discovering the settings of a router with unknown configurations, and upgrading the router's firmware to DD-WRT and configuring it as a client. Instructions are provided for locating chips on the router, connecting via Ethernet, obtaining an IP address via DHCP, downloading and installing new DD-WRT firmware, and resetting to default credentials.

1. Hacking Linksys WRT54g Wireless
Router
Milan Milosevic
Group Members:
AJAYI Temitope Omotosho, BOYINBODE, Olutayo Kehinde, SALEHIN, Asif Gazi,
Lajpat Dhingra, Maheshwari Hitesh Kumar, Timothy Chadza, Purna Bahadur Roka,
Anna Zakrzewska, OLAJUYIGBE, Ebenezer Oluwaseun, Giorgi Gvianishvili
ICTP. Trieste, Italy – February 13, 2008

2. Tasks:
1. To configure a Linksys router as an Access
●
Point using basic configurations. Easy !
2. To discover the settings of a Linksys router
●
configured with unknown settings
3. To upgrade the firmware of a LinkSys router
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and consequently configure it as a client

3. Ideas:
Try it regular way?
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Brute force?
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Use Google !
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http://www.linksysinfo.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47259

5. Warning !
this WILL void your warranty
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you could make your WRT54G even deader
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than it already is

7. We can start:
locate the flash chip
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at each corner of the chip is a large white
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number
little white line every 5 pins that should help you
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count
Do not plug the power in just yet
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Plug a patch cable into one of the 4 LAN ports
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8. Configure your network
IP: 192.168.1.2
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NETMASK: 255.255.255.0
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don't need a gateway address
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ping 192.168.1.1
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9. Do it !
Locate pin 15
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Stick the point between pins 15 and 16
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Plug in the power and watch your ping screen
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Pings starting to succeed theory !
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Try it again... and again... and again...

10. Different solution?
Unplug power
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Ground pin 16
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Plug it again
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Try it again... and again... and again...

11. Dinner time :)

12. Forget everything ! ! !
and
st
Get back to the 1 idea ! ! !

13. The Solution:
# /sbin/ifconfig eth0
# /sbin/dhcpclient eth0
or
# ln -s /sbin/ifconfig ifconfig
Do not plug the power in just yet
–
Plug a patch cable into one of the 4 LAN ports
–
Configure the network:
–
[root@localhost media]# dhcpclient eth0
Use DHCP
–
#dhclient eth0 [root@localhost media]# ifconfig eth0
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0C:6E:13:01:06
inet addr:192.168.1.188 Bcast:10.1.1.255
Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::20c:6eff:fe13:106/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500
Metric:1
RX packets:584152 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
frame:0
TX packets:508898 errors:0 dropped:2 overruns:0
carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:745903995 (711.3 MiB) TX bytes:44541763
(42.4 MiB)
Interrupt:19 Base address:0x8800

14. So easy !
The default gateway is the IP address of the
●
router
it was 192.168.1.20
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We logged in the router and changed the
●
necessary configuration

15. Tasks:
1. To configure a Linksys router as an Access
●
Point using basic configurations. Easy !
2. To discover the settings of a Linksys router
●
configured with unknown settings
At the end
EASY
3. To upgrade the firmware of a LinkSys router
●
and consequently configure it as a client

16. Next Task
To upgrade the firmware of a LinkSys router and
consequently configure it as a client

17. DD-WRT is a typical free Linux- based firmware
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originally designed to work on Linksys WRT54G
Download of the DD – WRT firmware:
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http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/stable/dd-wrt.v23
There are several files – use dd-wrt.v23_sp2_vpn
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18. Unzip
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You will discover 9 files; which one is required?
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Only need the bin file dd-wrt.v23_vpn_generic
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Use web interface
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Find option for upgrading
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Browse the folder you downloaded and click to
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the bin file and start the upgrade

19. now wait for about 5 or more minutes
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but how long?
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Note that any disturbance can blow off your
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router
we closed the window
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using the previous IP address 192.168.1.20 we
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had our router upgraded

21. Finally we required user and admin password
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We simply did a hardware reset and obtained
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the default User: root with password: admin
Now you are done and can move to the next
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step.

25. References
http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/down.php?path=downloads
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%2Fstable%2Fdd-wrt.v23+SP2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DD-WRT
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http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Installation
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