I remember going to three BestBuy's to find the right serial number WRT54G routers to flash OpenWRT. It's now going on 20 and finally they are going to come up with reference hardware.
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Boy... I remember those. Never really hunted around for them like that but with OpenWRT on my old one it was so much better than the stock firmware. Probably kept that same hardware for way longer than I would have otherwise.
Not that the industry learned though. I was helping someone out that had an ASUS router. Their newer one died so they had brought back the old one they had. Exact same model, older hardware version. But the old one could not run any firmware newer than 2018... They got a new router for Christmas.
It's only been maybe 3 years ago that I finally retired my Linksys WRT54G with OpenWRT. No manufacturer could come close to this amazing open source firmware.
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I was more of a ddWRT fan, but I remember my first multi-WAP wifi mesh system with wired backhaul using 2x 54Gs and a 54GL.. Those were the days.
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I used dd-wrt and later openwrt for many years. I just got tired of flashing and fiddling and tossed my hardware a couple of years ago when I pried open my wallet and went with Unifi Dream Machine. No regrets.
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I have two compatible ones around here somewhere. The last time I plugged it in and used it was when our internet was out a couple years ago. I connected it to the neighbor's WiFi and use it as a wireless bridge to connect my whole home network so we could work from home. lol
I often think about this closed hardware/open source firmware model in terms of other devices. (I also ran Cyanogen mod on my Android phone for a bit.)
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One of my side hustles was setting up guest AP's in small shops in Wisconsin while I was doing a large call center project up there. I was able to purchase a gross (144) of Buffalo 54G routers right after they were ordered to be destroyed due to copyright violations. Flashed Tomato firmware on them since it supported a captive portal and secure remote admin. I would flash and configure, and my business partner would drive out and install. From a longevity perspective it would take one good thunderstorm to knock out the router's wifi radio. Those days are long gone.
That was my first main router and used it for a long time, until it could no longer handle the bandwidth. I think I still have it, probably still works. I don't think I ever used OpenWRT though (maybe tested it once), I used DDWRT for a while and then switched to Shibby Tomato at some point for simplicity (and more updated firmware).
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I used ddwrt for many years - probably from 2007-2015. I ran it on WNDR 3400 routers and meshed them using WDS.
A couple routers are still being used by former neighbors that I gave them to.
I do believe I have stumbled on nerd heaven here. In my basement, somewhere, is an old T-Mobile Cellspot converted into a full fledged ASUS RT-AC68U with hacked firmware to upgrade it to a full fledged AiMesh router. I had 2 but gave one to my daughter, and she's still using it. I think it ran AsusWRT.
At the time I think I saved over 100.00 by not buying the legit version.
I don't condone hacking and this a purely fictional story 
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Yup lots of people were doing that. The author of the custom firmware that people were using had to post a big notice on the forums saying it was un-supported and any post referring to it would be removed. I think Asus put some stuff in firmware updates eventually that would detect that hardware and disable and/or brick the router.
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I converted more than a few of those WRT54Gs back in the day...
I'm pretty sure I have an unopened WRT-54G in my basement. And a DD-WRT standby one is still hiding somewhere ready to go from my pre-Ubiquiti days. Over the years it was my home router, RV router / wifi bridge; routers for my friends and a couple friends small businesses. Other than lightning they were rock solid.
Had to go look, if anyone needs one.
I had forgotten about Tomato. I did do that at some point.
I tossed my WRT54G in the shed not long ago.
Next step is the e-recycler
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