tomato (firmware)

Tomato is a family of community-developed, custom firmware for consumer-grade computer networking routers and gateways powered by Broadcom chipsets. The goal of the project is to provide users with an alternative to the firmware pre-installed on their equipment by the manufacturer, providing:

  • Additional features, making fuller use of the device's hardware
  • Enhanced security
  • More frequent updates
  • Greater control over its configuration and behavior
Tomato Firmware
Original author(s)Jonathan Zarate
Developer(s)Tomato Project
Initial releaseDecember 2006 (2006-12)
Final release
1.28 / June 28, 2010 (2010-06-28)
Written inC++
Operating systemLinux
PlatformMIPS, ARM
TypeRouting software
LicenseFreeware
Backend: GNU General Public License
Frontend: proprietary[1]
Websitewww.polarcloud.com/tomato

FreshTomato
Stable release
2020.8 / December 19, 2020 (2020-12-19)
Repositorybitbucket.org/pedro311/
PlatformMIPS, ARM
Websitefreshtomato.org

History

Tomato was originally released by Jonathan Zarate in 2006, using the Linux kernel and drawing extensively on the code of HyperWRT. It was targeted at many popular routers of the time, most notably the older Linksys WRT54G series, Buffalo AirStation, Asus routers and Netgear WNR3500L.[2] His final release of the original Tomato firmware came in June 2010, by which point its popularity had grown large enough that development and support continued through the user community, resulting in a series of releases (dubbed "mods") by individual users or teams of them that continues to the present day.

Fedor Kozhevnikov created a notable early mod he called TomatoUSB, which ceased development in November 2010.[3] It was then forked by other developers[4] and remains the nearest common ancestor to all of the forks with any recent activity. Arguably the project's largest recognition to date came when Tomato was chosen by Asus as the base used to build the firmware currently preinstalled on their entire line of home routers, ASUSWRT.[5][6]

As is often seen in projects founded on volunteer effort, the Tomato ecosystem slowly became more fragmented over time and thus more vulnerable to attrition. As of 2020 there is only a single extant fork under active development: FreshTomato.[7]

Features

Several notable features have been part of Tomato long enough to be common to all forks, among them are:

  • The graphical user interface (accessed via web browser), including:
    • Access to almost the entirety of the features provided by the hardware (manufacturers typically omit many of these from their firmware to prevent misuse and reduce support costs)
    • Extensive use of Ajax to display only the settings that are germane to the device's current setup, reducing confusion and keeping related options near each other using fewer pages/tabs
    • A CSS-based custom interface theming
    • SVG-based graphical bandwidth monitoring, showing total network inbound/outbound activity and that of each connected device through pie charts and line graphs that update in real-time
      Tomato live bandwidth monitor
  • A personal web server (Nginx) that uses the device's "always on, always connected" design to allow users to host their own websites from home for free
  • Access and bandwidth restriction configurable for each device or the network as a whole, providing control over the speed and amount of traffic available at any time to any device
  • Unrestricted access to the internal system logs and the ability to store them for easier troubleshooting and security audits
  • CLI access (BusyBox) via the web-based interface, as well as via Telnet or SSH (using Dropbear)
  • Wake-on-LAN
  • Advanced QoS: 10 unique QoS classes defined, real-time graphs display prioritized traffic with traffic class details
  • Client bandwidth control via QoS classes
  • The Dnsmasq software built-in, which provides:
    • DHCP server (with static allocation of IP addresses)
    • Local DNS server (usually forwarding requests to the DNS provider of choice)
  • Wireless modes:
    • Access point (AP)
    • Wireless client station (STA)
    • Wireless Ethernet (WET) bridge
    • Wireless distribution system (WDS also known as wireless bridging)
    • Simultaneous AP and WDS (also known as wireless repeating)
  • Dynamic DNS service with ezUpdate and services extended for more providers
  • SES button control
  • JFFS2
  • SMB client
  • Wireless LAN Adjustment of radio transmit power, antenna selection, and 14 wireless channels
  • 'Boot wait' protection (increase the time slot for uploading firmware via the boot loader)
  • Advanced port forwarding, redirection, and triggering with UPnP and NAT-PMP
  • Init, shutdown, firewall, and WAN Up scripts
  • Uptime, load average, and free memory status
  • Minimal reboots - Very few configuration changes require a reboot
  • Wireless survey page to view other networks in your neighborhood
  • More comprehensive dashboard than stock firmware: displays signal strengths of wireless client devices, reveals UPnP mappings
  • Configuration persistence during a firmware upgrade

Feature comparison
Mod name Base
version		 Mod
version		 Latest
release		 5 GHz
(802.11
a/n/ac/ax)		 IPv6 USB
support		 Memory card
support		 VPN
protocols[lower-alpha 1]		 SFTP Virtual LANs
TomatoVPN
(SgtPepperKSU)[8]		 1.27[lower-alpha 2] 1.27vpn3.6 Jan 2010 No No No No OpenVPN No No
Tomato 1.28[lower-alpha 3] 1.28 Jun 2010 No No No No No No No
Tomato ND 1.28[lower-alpha 4] No No No No No No No
SpeedMod
(hardc0re)		 1.28[lower-alpha 2] 120 Jul 2010 No No No No No No No
TomatoUSB
(Teddy Bear)[9]		 1.28[lower-alpha 4] Build 54 Nov 2010 Yes Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/FTP),
DLNA server		 No OpenVPN Via
Optware		 Yes
slodki 1.28[lower-alpha 4] 1.28.02 Feb 2011 No No Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/FTP)		 SD,
SDHC,
MMC		 OpenVPN Via
Optware		 No
DualWAN[10] 1.28[lower-alpha 2] 1.28.0542 Jan 2012 No Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/FTP),
DLNA server,
3G Modem		 No OpenVPN,
PPTP		 Via
Optware		 Yes
Teaman[11] 1.28[lower-alpha 4] v0025 Jun 2012 Yes Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/FTP),
3G Modem		 SD,
SDHC,
MMC		 OpenVPN,
PPTP (server)		 Via
Optware		 With GUI
EasyTomato[12] 1.28[lower-alpha 2] 0.8 Jun 2013 Yes Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/NFSv3/FTP),
DLNA server,
3G Modem		 SD,
SDHC,
MMC		 OpenVPN,
PPTP		 Via
Optware		 With GUI
Victek RAF[13] 1.28[lower-alpha 2] 1.28.9013 R1.3 Jul 2014 Yes Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/NFSv3/FTP),
DLNA server,
3G Modem		 SD,
SDHC,
MMC		 OpenVPN,
PPTP		 Via
Optware		 With GUI
Toastman[14] 1.28[lower-alpha 2] RT: 1.28.7511.5
RT‑N: 1.28.0511.5
ARM: 1.28.9008.8		 Jan 2017 Yes Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/NFSv3/FTP),
DLNA server,
3G Modem		 SD,
SDHC,
MMC		 OpenVPN,
PPTP		 Via Entware‑ng
or
Optware‑ng		 With GUI
Shibby 1.28[lower-alpha 2] v140‑MultiWAN May 2017 Yes Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/NFSv3/FTP),
DLNA server,
3G/LTE Modem,
UPS monitoring		 SD,
SDHC,
SDXC,
MMC		 OpenVPN, PPTP,
L2TP (client),
tinc (server)		 Via Entware
or
Optware‑ng		 With GUI
AdvancedTomato V2 1.28[lower-alpha 2] 3.5-140 Nov 2017 Yes Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (CIFS/NFSv3/FTP),
DLNA server,
3G/LTE Modem
and UPS monitoring		 SD,
SDHC,
SDXC,
MMC		 OpenVPN, PPTP,
L2TP (client),
tinc (server)		 Via Entware
or
Optware‑ng		 With GUI
FreshTomato‑ARM
and
FreshTomato‑MIPS		 1.28[lower-alpha 2] 2020.8[15] Dec 2020 Yes Yes Printer sharing,
NAS (SMB2/NFSv4/FTP),
DLNA server,
3G/LTE Modem
and UPS monitoring		 SD,
SDHC,
SDXC,
MMC		 OpenVPN, PPTP,
L2TP (client),
tinc (server)		 Via Entware
or
Optware‑ng		 With GUI
Mod name Base
version		 Mod
version		 Latest
release		 5 GHz
(802.11
a/n/ac/ax)		 IPv6 USB
support		 Memory card
support		 VPN
protocols		 SFTP Virtual LANs

Feature comparison (cont.)
Name
Static ARP
Bandwidth limiter
NFS server
BitTorrent client
Guest WiFi
PPPoE server
Tor client
Multi‑WAN
Siproxd VoIP
LED control
Theming [16]
Per-IP traffic stats
TomatoVPN
(SgtPepperKSU)		 No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Tomato No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Tomato ND No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
SpeedMod
(hardc0re)		 No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
TomatoUSB
(Teddy Bear)		 No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No
slodki No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
DualWAN Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
Teaman Yes Yes No No With
GUI		 No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
EasyTomato Yes Yes Version 3 No With
GUI		 No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
Victek RAF Yes VLAN Version 3 No With
GUI		 No With
GUI		 With
GUI		 No No No With
GUI		 With
GUI		 by script No No Yes Yes Yes
Toastman Yes Yes Version 3 No With
GUI		 No No With
GUI		 No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
Shibby Yes VLAN Version 3
(with GUI)		 With
GUI		 With
GUI		 No With
GUI		 Yes With
GUI		 Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes by script Yes Yes Yes
AdvancedTomato V2 Yes VLAN Version 3
(with GUI)		 With
GUI		 With
GUI		 No With
GUI		 Yes With
GUI		 Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes by script Yes Yes Yes
FreshTomato‑ARM
and
FreshTomato‑MIPS		 Yes VLAN Version 4
(with GUI)		 With
GUI		 With
GUI		 No With
GUI		 Yes With
GUI		 Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes by script Yes Yes Yes
Name
Static ARP
Bandwidth limiter
NFS server
BitTorrent client
Guest WiFi
PPPoE server
Tor client
Multi‑WAN
Siproxd VoIP
LED control
Theming [16]
Per-IP traffic stats
  1. Firmware supports listed protocols in client and server modes unless specified
  2. Tomato standard and ND
  3. Tomato standard only
  4. Tomato ND (New Driver) only

Supported routers

The Tomato by Shibby,[17] AdvancedTomato[18] and FreshTomato [19] projects offer lists of supported devices on their respective websites.

See also
  • List of wireless router firmware projects

References
  1. Zarate, Jonathan. "Tomato Firmware, tomato/release/src/router/www/tomato.js source file". Sourceforge.net. Retrieved 23 September 2014. Copyright 2006-2010 Jonathan Zarate For use with Tomato Firmware only. No part of this file may be used without permission.
  2. "Tomato Firmware | polarcloud.com". www.polarcloud.com. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  3. "Tomato by Shibby » About Tomato (ang.)". tomato.groov.pl. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  4. List of Tomato Mods on the TomatoUSB website
  5. "Asus ASUSWRT". Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  6. "Asuswrt-Merlin » About". Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  7. "FreshTomato source code". Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  8. TomatoVPN official website
  9. TomatoUSB Mod (Teddy Bear) Home page.
  10. DualWAN Mod Home page.
  11. Teaman Mod Home page. Augusto Bott is the author of the VLANs GUI, Per-IP Traffic Stats (author of cstats, which keeps per-IP data/track/history), Client Monitor Graphs (author of IPTraffic) and author of the Guest SSID GUI.
  12. "EasyTomato Home Page". Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  13. Victek RAF Mod Home page
  14. Toastman Mod Home page. Tomato builds with many useful added features. Lean, stable, and fast with minimal bells and whistles, with a focus on QoS and Administration. Based on TomatoUSB and RT (selected features included from other firmware, plus new mods).
  15. "FreshTomato - Alternative open source firmware for Broadcom-based routers".
  16. "About Tomato Theme Base". Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  17. "Tomato by Shibby » Router List". tomato.groov.pl. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  18. "AdvancedTomato » Downloads". advancedtomato.com. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  19. "FreshTomato » Downloads". freshtomato.org. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
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