5 Tips For Getting The Most Out of Your Tomato Router
Optimizing Your Tomato Router: 5 Performance Enhancements
Tomato firmware significantly enhances router capabilities, and further customization can unlock even greater performance. This article details five key adjustments to optimize your Tomato-powered router for increased speed and efficiency.
If you are unfamiliar with Tomato, a comprehensive installation guide is available to get you started. Please ensure you have completed the installation process before proceeding with these advanced tips. This guide specifically references Tomato version 1.28.
Tip 1: Adjusting the Transmission Power
Optimizing your router’s transmission power can improve wireless signal strength. Increasing the power can extend your Wi-Fi range, but it can also introduce interference.
Navigate to Wireless > Basic Settings. Experiment with different transmission power levels to find the optimal setting for your environment. Start with medium and incrementally increase or decrease as needed.
Tip 2: Implementing QoS (Quality of Service)
QoS prioritizes network traffic, ensuring critical applications receive sufficient bandwidth. This is particularly useful for streaming, gaming, or video conferencing.
Access Bandwidth > QoS. Configure rules to prioritize specific devices or types of traffic. For example, you can give higher priority to VoIP traffic to ensure clear phone calls.
Tip 3: Enabling Packet Steering
Packet steering directs network traffic to specific CPU cores, potentially improving performance. This feature can be especially beneficial on routers with multi-core processors.
Go to Advanced > CPU Steering. Enable the appropriate steering mode for your router’s hardware. Experiment with different modes to determine which yields the best results.
Tip 4: Fine-Tuning DNS Settings
Using a faster DNS server can significantly reduce website loading times. The default DNS servers provided by your ISP may not always be the most efficient.
Under Basic > Networking, modify the DNS settings. Consider using public DNS servers like Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) or Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1).
Tip 5: Regularly Rebooting Your Router
Like any computer, routers benefit from periodic reboots. Rebooting clears the router’s memory and can resolve minor performance issues.
Schedule a regular reboot through Administration > Scheduled Jobs. A weekly reboot is generally sufficient to maintain optimal performance. We demonstrated these examples on a Linksys WRT54GL router.
Enhancing Your Wireless Signal Strength
A weak wireless signal can be frustrating, preventing connectivity in certain areas of your home. Fortunately, several straightforward adjustments within the Tomato router interface can resolve this issue. Often, simply relocating your wireless router to a more central location within the desired coverage area proves effective.
Should repositioning not yield sufficient improvement, increasing the transmit power represents the next logical and economical step. To begin, access your Tomato router through a web browser.
Navigate to the Advanced settings and then select Wireless from the sidebar menu. On this page, locate the "Transmit Power" section. The standard setting in Tomato is 42mW (milliwatts).
While Tomato allows for a maximum transmit power of 251mW, it is generally advisable to remain below 70mW. Exceeding this level may lead to router overheating and a reduced operational lifespan.
2) Enhancing Router Performance Through CPU Overclocking
Important Disclaimer: Proceed with the following instructions carefully. We are confident in the safety of this process when executed precisely as described. However, we cannot be held accountable for unintended consequences, such as accidental keyboard input from pets during command entry. Acknowledged? Let's proceed.
Increasing your router’s CPU clock speed can yield several benefits, including quicker website loading times, accelerated file downloads, and reduced latency. At a minimum, overclocking improves the responsiveness between devices on your local network and the router itself. The risk involved is minimal when performed correctly, and it doesn’t necessitate a deep understanding of CPU multipliers or front-side bus configurations.
It's crucial to recognize that each router model possesses unique CPU limitations regarding clock frequencies. Consult the DD-WRT Wiki for detailed specifications pertaining to your specific router’s CPU capabilities and supported speeds. For illustrative purposes, we will use a Linksys WRT54GL, which has a default CPU clock speed of 200 MHz as configured by Linksys. Fortunately, this model can typically be overclocked by up to 50 MHz without requiring additional cooling solutions.
The WRT54GL supports the following clock frequencies (measured in MHz): 183, 188, 197, 200, 206, 212, 216, 217, 225, 238, 240, and 250. These represent the permissible settings for adjusting the CPU speed.
The process is straightforward. Enabling SSH access on your router and executing three simple commands is all that’s required. Begin by logging into your router’s administration interface. Navigate to the Administration section within the sidebar menu. Scroll down to locate the "SSH Daemon" setting. Ensure the "Enable at Startup" checkbox is selected.
Further down the page, you’ll find the "Password" field. Enter a secure password for SSH access and then click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page. This will activate SSH access.
With SSH access now enabled, a program is needed to facilitate remote access to the router via SSH. We recommend PuTTY for Windows users, while Mac and Linux users can utilize their built-in Terminal applications. This example will demonstrate the process using PuTTY on Windows.
Enter your router’s IP address into PuTTY and confirm that "SSH" is selected as the connection type. Click the "Open" button to establish the connection.
You will be prompted to enter a username. Type "root" and press Enter. Next, you will be asked for a password. Input the password you previously configured for SSH access. Now, execute the following three commands, pressing Enter after each one. Replace the "xxx" placeholder with your desired clock frequency. The valid frequencies are: 183, 188, 197, 200, 206, 212, 216, 217, 225, 238, 240, and 250. Only enter one of these frequencies.
nvram set clkfreq=xxx
nvram commit
reboot
The router will now restart. Upon completion of the reboot process, the CPU will operate at the clock frequency you specified. Enjoy the improved performance!
Enhancing Network Device Discovery
This optimization technique is specifically designed for Windows operating systems and necessitates that all computers reside within the same workgroup. Windows, by default, assigns a workgroup name of either WORKGROUP or MSHOME, contingent upon whether you are utilizing a professional or home edition. While retaining the default setting is permissible, ensuring consistent workgroup membership across all network devices is crucial.
This method enables your Tomato router to function as a server, logging the presence of each connected device and providing this information promptly upon request. Consequently, the discovery of devices on your network should become significantly faster and more streamlined.
Configuring WINS Server Settings
Initially, modify the WINS (Windows Internet Name Service) server IP address within the DHCP configuration menu. Navigate to the Basic settings and scroll down to the "DHCP Server" section. Set the "WINS" IP address to 0.0.0.0. Confirm your changes by clicking Save.
Enabling Master Browser and WINS Server
Proceed to the USB and NAS link located in the sidebar. Then, select the "File Sharing" sub-link. Verify that the workgroup name configured here matches the workgroup name used by all devices on your network.
Subsequently, activate both the "Master Browser" and "WINS Server" checkboxes. Save your settings by clicking the Save button.
Verifying WINS Server Functionality
It is now important to confirm that your computer is correctly utilizing the WINS server you have just configured. Open a command prompt window and execute the command "ipconfig --all".
You may need to scroll through the output to locate your current network adapter details. Within these details, search for the line labeled "Primary WINS Server". Adjacent to this label, you should observe your router's IP address.
If the router's IP address is not displayed, attempt to restart your computer and rerun the command. Occasionally, the WINS server information may not be updated until a new IP address is obtained from the DHCP server.
Implementing Access Restrictions for Enhanced Productivity
While seemingly counterintuitive, limiting access can significantly boost work efficiency and safeguard against online distractions. The Access Restriction feature within Tomato routers empowers administrators to establish network usage rules. We will demonstrate how to configure a rule that prevents access to specific websites during designated hours, specifically weekdays from 6 PM to 10 PM, to promote focused work periods.
Begin by logging into your Tomato router’s administration interface and selecting the “Access Restriction” option from the left-hand navigation menu.
You will be presented with a blank configuration page. Click the “Add” button to initiate the creation of a new restriction rule.
A new page will appear, allowing you to define the parameters of your rule. In the “Description” field, enter a descriptive label, such as “Work Time”. Utilize the dropdown menus under “Time” to specify the start and end times – 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM, respectively.
Subsequently, deselect the checkboxes corresponding to “Sun”, “Fri”, and “Sat” within the “Days” section. Ensure the “Normal Access Restriction” radio button is selected under “Type”. Choosing “Disable Wireless” would entirely disable the router’s Wi-Fi functionality, which is not our intention; we aim to restrict access for a single device, not all connected users.
Under “Applies To”, select “The Following” from the dropdown menu. Tomato will then request either the MAC address or IP address of the target computer. For consistent application of the rule, especially if the computer doesn’t have a static IP, it’s recommended to use the MAC address. To locate the MAC address in Windows, open a command prompt and execute the command “ipconfig --all”. The 12-character string labeled “Physical Address” represents the MAC address. Input this address into Tomato, omitting hyphens (Tomato will automatically insert semicolons), and click the “Add” button.
Your access restriction setup should now resemble the configuration shown below.
Crucially, ensure the “Block All Internet Access” checkbox remains unchecked. Selecting this option would completely prevent the computer from accessing the internet. This will reveal additional options for filtering traffic based on protocols like RDP or ICMP.
For this example, we will focus on blocking access to specific websites by entering their names into the “HTTP Request” text box.
The “HTTP Request” field supports special characters to refine your rules:
facebook.com$ (blocks all URLs ending with facebook.com)
^facebook (blocks all URLs starting with facebook)
^photos.facebook.com$ (blocks the subdomain photos.facebook.com precisely)
Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page. Tomato will process the rule, and the specified websites will be blocked accordingly. Increased productivity can now be realized!
To summarize, the defined rule restricts HTTP requests containing “reddit”, “twitter”, “facebook”, and “linkedin”, as well as those beginning with “plus”, from the computer with the MAC address 00:19:D1:81:02:AF. This restriction is active from 6 PM to 10 PM on weekdays. Attempting to access these sites will result in a connection reset error in your web browser.
Establishing Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations
Quality of Service rules prioritize certain types of Internet traffic over others. Consider QoS as a method for managing network congestion, similar to how emergency vehicles are given priority on a busy highway. When critical data arrives, less important traffic is temporarily slowed to ensure faster transmission for the prioritized data.
Determining which traffic receives priority is entirely customizable. We will guide you through the setup process within Tomato, acknowledging that there is no universally "correct" configuration. Individual preferences regarding protocol and traffic importance vary. Therefore, we will demonstrate the fundamentals of QoS rules, allowing you to tailor them to your specific needs.
The initial step involves defining speed classes, which dictate the bandwidth allocation for different protocols and traffic types. Navigate to QoS in the sidebar and then select Basic Settings. Activate QoS by checking "Enable QoS," unlocking the subsequent options.
To ascertain our network's maximum bandwidth, we will conduct a speed test. Visit a reputable speed test website, such as Speedtest.net. Choose a server geographically close to your location and initiate the test. Record your upload speed in kilobits per second. If the results are displayed in megabits per second, multiply by 1024 to convert to kilobits. For instance, an upload speed of 0.76 Mbps translates to 778 Kbps. If the speed test results deviate significantly from your ISP's advertised speeds, perform multiple tests and calculate the average.
Input your maximum upload speed into the "Max Bandwidth" field under "Outbound Rate/Limit." Tomato will automatically adjust the speed classes accordingly.
Next, record your download speed from the earlier speed test. Convert this value to kilobits per second and enter it into the "Max Bandwidth" field under "Inbound Limit." Unlike the upload speed configuration, Tomato will not automatically adjust the speed classes in this case, requiring manual adjustment. You can utilize the provided speed classes or customize them to your specific network environment, which is recommended. These settings have proven effective in our testing environment. Save your changes at the bottom of the page.
With the speed classes established, we will now apply them to specific protocols and traffic. Click Classification under QoS in the sidebar to begin associating speed classes with protocols.
Configuring QoS rules can be complex, as individual preferences regarding protocol prioritization differ. You can manage this process independently, or continue with us to observe our QoS setup.
Having both the Classification and Basic Settings pages open in separate tabs is beneficial for reference. Our first, and most crucial, rule prioritizes WWW traffic. Tomato generally configures this rule effectively by default, requiring minimal adjustments. This rule assigns the highest priority (622 - 778 kbit/s in our setup) to outbound traffic utilizing ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS). To qualify for this class, traffic must not exceed 512 KB of outbound data transfer, preventing large file uploads from monopolizing bandwidth.
We will now configure a rule for Xbox Live. First, specify the source IP address as the static IP of your Xbox console (e.g., 192.168.0.34). Then, assign the highest priority to this traffic. Xbox Live utilizes port 3074, so any traffic originating from or destined for 192.168.0.34:3074 will be categorized within this class. We also employ the "xboxlive" L7 (Layer 7) filter for added precision. Exercise caution when adding numerous L7 filters to multiple classes, as it may strain your router's resources.
If you experience unsatisfactory Internet speeds after implementing your QoS rules, we recommend revisiting the configuration and redefining your rules and classifications. It may require several iterations to achieve optimal results, but the effort will be worthwhile.
This concludes our list of Tomato tips. Your WiFi performance should be enhanced, along with improved device discovery. QoS rules will contribute to faster Internet speeds and increased productivity through access restriction rules. Coupled with your overclocked router, packet transmission should be exceptionally swift! For further guidance, explore our guide on setting up OpenVPN on Tomato to access your network remotely.
Images by Dugbee and spisharam