Google Posterity Post — flashing DD-WRT onto a Belkin FD4230-4 router

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I’ve had this little router for years, bought it for $20 with a $20 rebate, and since upgrading the OS to DD-WRT it’s performed flawlessly.

I have a Belkin wireless router (model number: F5D7230-4 v1444). For some reason, the Virtual Server (or Port Forwarding) did not work correctly. It’s obviously a firmware problem. I checked the firmware version and my router had the latest firmware from Belkin. I wrote to Belkin Customer Service but who knows how long I have to wait to a response from them.

Thus I tried to find a custom firmware for my router on the Internet and I came across a firmware project called DD-WRT. The project was targeted at making custom firmwares for Linksys WRT54G/GS routers. However, there is a micro version which can be used on Belkin F5D7230-4 v1444. I decided to give it a try.

I downloaded the latest generic micro version of DD-WRT and flashed it to my router. After flashing, the Virtual Server on my router works perfectly and that’s why you can read this post. There are lots of features in DD-WRT firmware and I have not scratched the surface yet.

One thing to note is that the flashing was not an easy task. The DD-WRT Wiki has one section devoted to the installation on the Belkin F5D7230-4.

Instructions on how to flash the Belkin F5D7230-4 v1444:

  1. Download the latest generic micro firmware from dd-wrt.com (dd-wrt.v23_micro_generic.bin as of this writing).
  2. Reset router to factory defaults. Unplug the router.
  3. Connect your computer directly to one of the LAN ports on the router.
  4. The router starts up with IP address 192.168.2.1. Set your computers IP address manually to the following setting: IP Address: 192.168.2.2, Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0, Default Gateway: leave blank.
  5. Go to www.linksys.com and goto their download page. (You may want to do this first before you reset to the factory defaults in case resetting screws up your internet connection.)
  6. Download the firmware for BEFW11S4 – EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router w/4-Port Switch.
  7. Extract the Tftp.exe program from the zip file.
  8. Start Tftp program and set server to: 192.168.2.1 and for the file part, put the location of your “dd-wrt.v23_micro_generic.bin” file.
  9. Set retries to 20.
  10. Power up router.
  11. Click upgrade and then hit the reset button on your router. If program doesn’t catch the Belkin’s tftp window, just hit reset again. The Tftp program will let you know when it is upgrading and succeeds.

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