How to enable Wake on Lan (WOL) with Advanced TomatoUSB wifi router firmware

Posted on in Categories Hardware, Howto, Networking, Open Source last updated March 29, 2017

I recently installed TomatoUSB advanced firmware on my Asus RT-AC66U wifi router. This router act as my wireless Ethernet bridge. TomatoUSB advanced has additional features like

  • SSH
  • Multiple WAN support (3G/4G/Static IP/Cable/ADSL2)
  • Tor
  • Virtual Wireless
  • DMZ
  • IPv6
  • FTP/Media server via USB
  • BiTorrent Client via USB
  • UPS support
  • OpenVPN client and server
  • Tinc VPN server and much more.

I also connected my 2 bay NAS to this server. Sometimes I need to wake up my NAS using WOL.

What is WOL?

Wake-on-LAN (WOL) is an Ethernet networking standard that allows a server to be turned on by a network message. You need to send ‘magic packets’ to wake-on-LAN enabled ethernet adapters and motherboards, to switch on the called systems.

Option #1 Use ssh and ether-wake command on your wifi router

I log in to my TomatoUSB powered router using the following command:
$ ssh [email protected]
$ ssh [email protected]
$ ssh [email protected]
Sample output:

Fig.01: ssh session
Fig.01: ssh session

ether-wake command syntax

The ether-wake command send a magic packet to wake up sleeping nas server. Of course MAC must be a station address (00:11:22:33:44:55) or a hostname with a known ‘ethers’ entry. I prefer MAC address:
ether-wake MAC                ## Send a magic packet to this MAC
ether-wake -b MAC                  ## Broadcast the packet
ether-wake -i eth0 MAC             ## Interface to use (default eth0)
ether-wake -i eth0 -p PASSWORD MAC ## Append 4/6 byte PASSWORD to the packet
For example:
# ether-wake 00:11:32:11:15:FC

Option #2 Use Advanced TomatoUSB web interface

This is much easier option. Fire the web-browser and type your wifi routers URL:
https://192.168.2.252
Click on Tools > WOL tab > Type 00:11:32:11:15:FC in MAC Address List box > Wake up button:

Fig.02: Web interface for WOL (click to enlarge)
Fig.02: Web interface for WOL (click to enlarge)

That is all. Now I do not have to go to another room to wake up my little NAS server.

Also, see my previous posts on the same topic

You can also use etherwake on Linux or Unix-like system:

  1. HowTo: Wake Up Computers Using Linux Command [ Wake-on-LAN ( WOL ) ]
  2. Ubuntu Linux: Install Wake On Lan Client For Server
  3. FreeBSD: Wake Up Servers Using Wake-on-LAN ( WOL ) Command
  4. Mac OS X: Wake Up Servers Using Wake-on-LAN ( WOL ) Command Utility
  5. Simple Shell Script To Wake Up NAS Devices Using Linux or Unix Computer
  6. How To Wakeup Backup Nas Server and Mirror Files Using Rsync in Linux

Next time I intend to write about how to install (flash) Advanced TomatoUSB wifi router from Linux, FreeBSD or MacOS desktop.

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. He has worked with global clients and in various industries, including IT, education, defense and space research, and the nonprofit sector. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+.

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2 comment

  1. Well, May be you said was clearly….but it’s too complex to me, I think I need a BOYFRIEND who is computer sientist.

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