{"id":470,"date":"2008-10-27T17:03:13","date_gmt":"2008-10-28T00:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/?p=470"},"modified":"2022-12-28T11:58:39","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T19:58:39","slug":"detailed-specs-for-the-asus-wl-520gu-uber-hacking-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/detailed-specs-for-the-asus-wl-520gu-uber-hacking-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"Detailed specs for the Asus WL-520GU uber hacking platform"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/2950279643_374493fa81.jpg\" alt=\"Asus WL-520GU Wireless Router\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In my <a href=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/building-a-wifi-radio-part-2-choosing-an-embedded-platform\/\">previous post<\/a> about the <a href=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/building-a-wifi-radio-part-1-introduction\/\">Wifi Radio project<\/a> I&#8217;m working on, I concluded that the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.asus.com\/products.aspx?l1=12&amp;l2=43&amp;l3=0&amp;l4=0&amp;model=1671&amp;modelmenu=1\">Asus WL-520GU<\/a> wireless router was the perfect choice for an embedded wireless platform, thanks to its builtin 802.11g WiFi, Linux support, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jdoqocy.com\/click-3238164-10440897?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newegg.com%2FProduct%2FProduct.aspx%3FItem%3DN82E16833320023%26nm_mc%3DAFC-C8Junction%26cm_mmc%3DAFC-C8Junction-_-Network%2B-%2BWireless%2BRouters-_-ASUS-_-33320023&#038;cjsku=N82E16833320023\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\">extremely low cost<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tqlkg.com\/image-3238164-10440897\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"\/>.  (In fact, the price after rebate has dropped since my last post &#8211; now would probably be a good time to buy one if you&#8217;re thinking about hacking it into something eventually).<\/p>\n<p>Here are the specs on this router, based on an inspection of the hardware and the stock firmware Linux kernel boot log (the complete log is <a href=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/wl520gu-stock-firmware-boot.txt\">here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CPU: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.broadcom.com\/products\/Wireless-LAN\/802.11-Wireless-LAN-Solutions\/BCM5354\">Broadcom BCM5354KFBG SoC<\/a> @ 200MHz (240MHz?)\n<ul>\n<li>Builtin 802.11g wireless transceiver<\/li>\n<li>Builtin 10\/100 ethernet switch<\/li>\n<li>Core supports 2 serial ports, only 1 is available on the PCB (installed 4 pin header shown in photo above)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>RAM: 16MB Samsung K4S281632I SRAM<\/li>\n<li>Flash: 4MB MX 29LV320CB<\/li>\n<li>One USB 1.1 port (<a href=\"http:\/\/wiki.openwrt.org\/OpenWrtDocs\/Hardware\/Asus\/WL520GU\">USB 2.0 support is broken<\/a> according to the folks at OpenWRT)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sige.com\/\">SiGe Semiconductor<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sige.com\/uploads\/briefs\/DST-00074_SiGe_SE2528L_brief_Rev_Sep-10-2008.pdf\">2528L<\/a> discrete RF Power Amplifier IC<\/li>\n<li>One external TX\/RX whip antenna (RPSMA), internal diversity RX antenna on PCB<\/li>\n<li>Internal 3.3V DC-DC converter<\/li>\n<li>PCB Dimensions: 4.0&#8243; x 5.6&#8243;<\/li>\n<li>Supply: 5V @ &lt;2A<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are some images of the PCB, click for a larger version.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/2950279305_9982c60573.jpg\" alt=\"Asus WL-520GU Wireless Router\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/2950279477_6197e58763.jpg\" alt=\"Asus WL-520GU Wireless Router\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a closeup of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.broadcom.com\/products\/Wireless-LAN\/802.11-Wireless-LAN-Solutions\/BCM5354\">Broadcom BCM5354 SoC<\/a> &#8211; the brains of the router.\u00a0 It is surrounded by a 4MB MX flash chip above and a Samsung 4MB SRAM chip on the right.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/2951132866_6d8d72ebc8.jpg\" alt=\"Asus WL-520GU Wireless Router\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Overall this is a great little router and an even better platform to build an embedded Linux system, provided you don&#8217;t need USB 2.0 support.\u00a0 If you do, look at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.asus.com\/products.aspx?l1=12&amp;l2=43&amp;l3=0&amp;l4=0&amp;model=1712&amp;modelmenu=2\">WL-500gP v2<\/a> instead, it has two working USB 2.0 ports (in addition to much more flash storage and RAM).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my previous post about the Wifi Radio project I&#8217;m working on, I concluded that the Asus WL-520GU wireless router was the perfect choice for an embedded wireless platform, thanks to its builtin 802.11g WiFi, Linux support, and extremely low cost. (In fact, the price after rebate has dropped since my last post &#8211; now &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/detailed-specs-for-the-asus-wl-520gu-uber-hacking-platform\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Detailed specs for the Asus WL-520GU uber hacking platform<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[443],"tags":[83,72,66,82,162,73],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-projects-2","tag-asus","tag-embedded","tag-linux","tag-wifi","tag-wifiradio","tag-wireless"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pioCd-7A","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":367,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/building-a-wifi-radio-part-2-choosing-an-embedded-platform\/","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":0},"title":"Building a Wifi Radio &#8211; Part 2, Choosing an Embedded Platform","author":"Jeff","date":"October 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the second part of an ongoing series about building a low cost, open source streaming internet radio.\u00a0 if you haven't already, check out part one for some background about the project. Onward... In part one, I discussed the merits of streaming internet radio and the motivations for my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/hammer_01-large-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":888,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/asus-wl-520gu-for-1999-after-mir\/","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":1},"title":"Asus WL-520GU for $19.99 after MIR","author":"Jeff","date":"December 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Newegg.com has the ASUS WL-520gU Wireless Router on sale again for $19.99 after MIR. This is the cheapest I have seen it this year.\u00a0 You can do a lot of cool stuff with this device, aside from using it as intended - as a very low cost wireless router +\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Asus\"","block_context":{"text":"Asus","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/tag\/asus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wifi Radio Project","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/2950279643_374493fa81.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1938,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/wl-520gu-for-3499-after-rebate-neweggcom\/","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":2},"title":"WL-520gU for $34.99 after rebate @ Newegg.com","author":"Jeff","date":"June 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Newegg.com is currently offering the Asus WL-520gU for $34.99 after rebate. This is the lowest price I have seen in a while, so if you've been debating picking one of these up to play with, it might be a good time to buy. The WL-520gU is the very hackable wireless\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Asus\"","block_context":{"text":"Asus","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/tag\/asus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.ftjcfx.com\/image-3238164-10440897","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":480,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/building-a-wifi-radio-part-3-hacking-the-asus-wl-520gu\/","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":3},"title":"Building a Wifi Radio &#8211; Part 3, Hacking the Asus WL-520GU","author":"Jeff","date":"October 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the third part of an ongoing series about building a low cost, open source streaming internet radio.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t already, check out part one and part two for some background about the project. Hacking the Asus WL-520GU Wireless Router: In the last part of this series, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.awltovhc.com\/image-3238164-10440897","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1389,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/looking-for-asus-wl-520gu-wireless-router-hacks\/","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":4},"title":"Looking for Asus WL-520gU Wireless Router Hacks","author":"Jeff","date":"March 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you created a project or hack based on the Asus WL-520gU or WL-500gP Wireless Routers? It doesn't matter if it was inspired by my project or developed independently - I'd love to hear from you! I'm putting together a talk for NOTACON and I'd like to feature as many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1655,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/video-hacking-the-asus-router-for-the-tweet-a-watt\/","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":5},"title":"Video: Hacking the ASUS router for the Tweet-a-Watt","author":"Jeff","date":"April 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As I mentioned last week, Adafruit Industries is hacking the Asus WL-520gU wireless router to talk to the Tweet-a-Watt. Their hack is based on the work I did to create my Wifi Radio project. Check out the video below to learn more about their cool hack!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15806,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions\/15806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}