DDWRT vs. TOMATO
Having used a WRT54GS (v1.1) since my old BEFSR41 died, I've been around the block when it comes to firmware for this little powerhouse. First, an example of my home network.
I have about 20 devices connected to my router, all eating my precious (limited) bandwidth. Renting the finished basement to a friend who loves technology makes my power company rich. Currently I have two PS3s (mostly upnp clients), two home servers (Linux), four laptops, three switches, three smart phones, an X-box 360 (not in use), a net-book, a desktop, a small NAS, a couple of SIP ATAs, an Ethernet connected camera, and a Wii. Many of these devices are always on. Needless to say, I have more than the average household requirements from my router. I've been reliant on static DHCP and DNS for nearly half a decade. It needs to preform quickly and, most important, flawlessly.
While seeking the firmware that would handle everything a needed I gave Tomato a shot, I stopped my search years ago and used DD-WRT for the past few years. I recently ran into some annoyances with DD-WRT (needing to reboot) and hit up Google for some alternatives. Tomato had raised its user's impressions substantially. I decided it had been a while since I had last tried this firmware, and decided to give it another shot. I pulled out a laptop that I hadn't used in a while, and was able to update without using the CAT-5 I had put aside for connecting directly to the router. I must say, I'm impressed. every feature I used from DD-WRT (excluding DD-WRT's buggy snmp) works without issue on Tomato. The lack of snmp is a bit of a letdown, but their on device reporting compensates for the shortcoming.