Hello all, this is a guide to installing openwrt on a WR841N(D) v9 (other versions and TP-Link router models should be similar)
Initial TP-Link Setup
The first thing you need to do is install the router in between your computer and your internet access. Then you can access the router by either using the mini CD provided with the router or by using the web GUI. The web GUI can be found at http://tplinklogin.net/ . *When accessing through the GUI I was prompted for a name and password. For mine they were both “admin” but yours might be different. A quick google search for default password with your model and version number should solve that problem.
Download Openwrt Image
For WR841N(D) (all versions) you can find your image here: https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr841nd
For other router models you have to search the table of hardware: https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start?data … el*%7E%5D= for your router version. From there click on the “Device Page” link.
Scroll down to INSTALLATION and choose the image beside the version number that matches the version number on your router. This is important!! If you chose the wrong version the router will not accept the image.
Installing Openwrt Image on Router
After the image has downloaded you must access the web GUI. It can be found here: http://tplinklogin.net/ (If you are having trouble accessing the web GUI refer to *). Now we need to navigate through the menu to Firmware Upgrade, or something along those lines. Here is where we install the Openwrt image we downloaded in the previous step.
On WR841N(D) v9 it brought me to a page with a box that I could link a file on my computer to, an upgrade button and all the information about the router model version and patch. put the image file in the box and hit upgrade to begin the flashing of the router.
**PITFALL**
Please note that some TP-Link routers have a rudimentary safety against software modification. They will only accept a new file if the name of the file matches what a proper upgrade file would look like. On WR841N(D) users it will look something like this: “wr841nv9_en_19_12_4_up(150910).bin” without the quotations. Change the number beside the v (here it’s v9) to whatever version your router is.
Installation Successful
If your installation was successful, congratulations you now have a router with openwrt firmware and all the networking possibilities that the openwrt unlocks. Navigate to 192.168.1.1 to access the new web GUI. It will prompt you for a root password and once you have created a password you are ready to begin customizing your router.
If you are like me, it took a couple tries to install the firmware successfully, I’d be happy to help with any questions or problems you may be having.
Where to go From Here
Ok great, so I now have a router with openwrt but what does this mean? Well why don’t you check out these links to see all what openwrt can do for you:
Follow my experiences with Openwrt and trying to install a mesh network within my community:
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=64240
Check out Features:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenWrt
Great Resource!:
https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/faq/after.installation