well, this rule is not ALWAYS true! sometimes they changed flash chip, sometimes even cpu revision,

https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php … 40#p208240

I agree that this could be "the exeption that proves the rule"

Hello.
I noticed there is QCA9880-2R4E , see here

http://wikidevi.com/wiki/D-Link_DAP-2695_rev_A1

Please let me know if this chip is v2 version. Thanks!

2R4E is also in the Sitecom WLR-8100. I'm pretty sure it's v2.

Hi, is there anybody who already bought either a "Sitecom WLR-8100" or any other device with a v2 QCA9880 chip ?
If so, can you confirm that the ath10k driver is working properly on OpenWrt? What was your process of installing OpenWrt? Would be great if you could extend the Wiki.

Another question to the OpenWrt developer community: Which 802.11ac devices are expected to be supported by OpenWrt next? Are there any favorites / devices which will be supported most definitely in the future?

(Last edited by clemens on 30 Aug 2013, 19:01)

I dropped a guide in the other thread with some info that should build ath10k from a openwrt buildroot.

I get the same error with backports-20130712 , backports-20130802 and backports patched to ath10k git
(even with hw id detection patch) when i load ath10k module. Maybe i did something wrong or there is code missing with pci sleep function or some pci bug/missing feature on that platform ... dunno

I'm about to restore my device to original firmware, but am a bit hesitant due to the issue of header + u-boot or not in the TP-Link firmware as outlined in this post: https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php … 83#p110583

I've found two different firmwares on the TP-Link web pages and both contain "boot" in their filename and when examined with a hex editor at least one of them looks as outlined in previously mentioned post.

Is there anyone who has succeeded in reverting to original FW by cutting away the header+u-boot partition of the file?

I decided to test anyway and used the FW Archer_C7_v1_130329_up_boot.bin and cut away header and u-boot with success.

This is how I changed the FW on the router:
* Download the FW from http://www.tp-link.com/resources/softwa … 130729.zip
* Extract and copy the .bin file to the router with SCP. Put it in /tmp
* Run this command on cmd-line to cut away the header: dd if=Archer_C7_v1_130329_up_boot.bin of=tplink.bin skip=257 bs=512
* Flash router from cmd-line: mtd -r write /tmp/tplink.bin firmware

(Last edited by nicjo814 on 6 Sep 2013, 17:30)

OK guys, news news news! (ok maybe not that much of news but still highly relevant)

Intel's Centrino 7260 802.11ac mini cards are out. Theyre not as fast (867mbps instead of 1300mbps), but could these be installed in place of the qca9880 since iwlwifi is already up to speed on this card?

If so, how would one go about getting it working after installation?

I wouldn't hold your breath, very few Intel WiFi cards support AP mode in Linux.  Its likely the Atheros will be working well before the Intel.

Really? all of the Intel cards I've owned all worked in AP mode through the Windows utility. Is this a hardware or software compatibility issue?

I've got one coming in the mail right now. I could test to see if the AP mode works on my Windows laptop. If it works in AP mode on Windows, is there any reason it won't work on Linux or OpenWRT?

This isn't a compability issue or a bug if some kind but it's just the lack of AP support in linux drivers.

Hi.. i read through all of this and still not sure on a few Things

Story: i'm researching for a "small" project. I need to link up 4 Buildings that are all at an inersection... distance between Building are 80 meters but there are 100% clear sight.

Requirements: 1gb throughput... or very damm close to that.

Q: what is current throuhgput?
Q: can the router Work in "extender mode"?
Q: can i use the lan ports to split up the Network?

end goal is a Network for 178 appartments... from one point there will be a router that beams the signal to first "extender" here there will be 2 wired connections that Again are split up in about 18 connections each by a switch with vlan option. same will happen at the other extenders

is this doable?

supplemental Q's

will it help if i replaced the external antenna with directional ones?

and would it help if i replaced the internal with sma connectors and put external antenna's on those?

Hello guys!

I own a TL-WDR7500 I've got a serial connection, saw a U-boot working, but can someone tell how can I backup an original firmware? Or maybe someone saw it on the net?
I don't have a login\password to access the serial console. Hidden web page for linux command doesn't work also.
Can someone unpack shadow file from Archer's firmware, I hope I'll decrypt it to gain root access.

boelle
I think you'll just loose time trying to solve your problem with the SOHO equipment. you should use a specific devices from Ubiquity or Mikrotik.

any special reason? is the range in wdr7500 not big enough?

had a look at Ubiquity... to expensive...

Mikrotik does not support AC so those are deff a no-go as i need to get as close to 1 gigabit over air

Ubiquity does have one AC access point... but at twice the Price... and does not clearly say if it can be used as range extender

root:$1$GTN.gpri$DlSyKvZKMR9A9Uj9e9wR3/:15502:0:99999:7:::

that is the content of TP-LINK Archer C7 /etc/shadow file

With recent ath10k patches from their git I am now able to get the error msg on TP-Link Archer C7 - previously it Oops'ed

[   12.290000] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x12000000-0x121fffff 64bit]
[   12.300000] PCI: Enabling device 0000:01:00.0 (0000 -> 0002)
[   12.300000] ath10k: ERROR: qca988x hw1.0 is not supported
[   12.310000] ath10k: Unsupported chip id 0x043200ff
[   12.310000] ath10k: could not register driver core (-122)
[   12.320000] ath10k_pci: probe of 0000:01:00.0 failed with error -122

damn wrong PCI IDs pretending to be HW2.0

I used to do a nifty trick for long-distance stuff back in the day. You can pick up some of those TV satellite dishes from scrap yards or the like, and since the transmitters use coaxial or BNC cable, you'll only need to get an adapter to the coax cable for the wifi antenna to attach to the router. Anyhoo, just point a couple of those at eachother. I've gotten a mile line-of-sight out of that on 802.11g.

Downside to this is that FCC and other organizations will really frown upon it because it's WAY more signal strength than they're meant to put out. You'll also want to stick to the original firmware to do the linking between networks, set each one to a different IP address, then disable DHCP on all the routers except the one that's connected to your ISP.

You could buy directional antennas and point them at eachother, but they dont all have the same kind of range capability, and those cost more than going to a scrap yard

would something like the solution in this THREAD work with the Intel card maybe?

For reference, here's the hostapd documentation

(Last edited by pyr0ball on 11 Sep 2013, 03:38)

Hello people,

First up I'm really sorry about being so thick when it comes to this WDR7500 router. I'm in awe of what you're able to do hacking hardware for OpenWRT. I purchased the WDR7500 to put OpenWRT on, and learn.

The problem is that I've scoured the Internet, studied this thread and the OpenWRT wiki, loaded versions of tftpd onto a windows and a linux machine and tried to get a transfer going during the router boot sequence. None of this has worked. I simply don't know enough to get the combination or sequences correct. For example I've not witnessed the ttl change from 64 during boot.

I know there is lots of advice on this thread, and if I had more experience, I would be able to follow it and flash the router, but unfortunately, it hasn't worked and I have spent days in frustration not knowing what to do.

I'm wondering if someone who knows the exact process for flashing a chinese firmware WDR7500, to an English OpenWRT firmware could please give an up to date step by step dummies guide.
I've tried making tftpd work but nothing happens. What are the steps, what are the exact commands to issue?

Thank you sooo much
Don

@qc/Don
I can recommend to hook up a serial interface via a little hardware hack, it is quite easy to do and will give you great power over your router under most circumstances. Once you have the serial connection running you can execute the magic commands to flash another firmware. This is what I did on my Chinese WDR7500 (6 antenna version), and it is working very well.
Another option is to build a custom firmware that can be flashed from within the official firmware, but I can tell you that it is quite easy to lock yourself out and I found that recovery is not as easy as it sounds. Without a serial interface I would have been lost.

that is what i had in mind... ie first router have 3 antenna's.. one will point at base station... and the other 2 will point at 2 other Building... router at NeXT Building will point one antenna at the first and the NeXT... 3rd antenna will provide wifi for the courtyard at that Building... same for 3rd and 4th Building... and base station is inside courtyard of 1st Building so wifi there also.. just if someone is outside with a tablet or something.

from each of the 4 routers i will run 2 wired connections to the cable tv box and run shielded rj45 NeXT to the tv cable...

me now Wonders what features openvrt would add that is usefull?

For that kind of setup, the only thing it will add is a bit more stability on the wireless bridging, but you'll lose the 5ghz band because of the ath10k drivers not supporting the qca9880 chipset.

Stick to the original firmware for this setup

Should be able to buy a V2 card here soon. Should be a drop in replacement for the V1.

http://www.compexshop.com/product_info. … cts_id=438

(Last edited by andytara12 on 17 Sep 2013, 03:36)