NETGEAR HAS LAUNCHED its second Open Source router in the WGR614L, it’s fully functioning with 802.11g wireless and aimed at those communities of Linux bods who like to tinker.

Besides the free firmware being of an Linux flavour with Tomato, DD-WRT and soon OpenWRT kooky names, it also features a 240 MHz MIPS32 CPU with an external 2 dBi antenna.

Other notable features of the router are a 10/100 WAN port, four-port 10/100 LAN switch, an SPI firewall, with support for 40-, 128- and 152-bit WEP encryption, WPA, WPA2-PSK, and a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) too.

All of which is more or less what’s expected, only no longer relying on The Man for firmware needs, now the Holy Open Source of happiness backs it.

There’s a dedicated community for this bit of kit which can be found at www.myopenrouter.com, catering for the firmware, articles and source codes, with a user base for responses by Open Source experts.

Aimed at the not-so faint hearted, tech-minded folk rather than the play-it-safe librarian from Dunstable.

Netgear Open Source Wireless-G Router - WGR614L

"There has been a growing demand for more powerful platforms to support a rapidly growing segment of open source enthusiasts that are seeking to create more robust, commercial-grade applications for their wireless routers,” Netgear wireless product manager, Som Pal Choudhury, said.

Netgear rolls out the open source WGR614L Wireless-G Router backed by only a single year hardware warranty with a very affordable $69 price tag, although no date or price has been set for the UK yet. µ