OpenWrt Forum Archive

Topic: TP-Link Archer VR400

The content of this topic has been archived on 25 Apr 2018. There are no obvious gaps in this topic, but there may still be some posts missing at the end.

Post #1
slack---line
13 Dec 2016, 07:01

Hi,

Bought a TP-Link Archer VR400 hoping to flash it with OpenWRT.  I wasn't paying attention and thought it was the same as the Archer C5 but its not since its got ADSL/VDSL (which I need as I've Fiber-To-The Cabinet) and only one USB port.

Struggling to find hardware details, none are on the above product page and nothing in the User Guide.  The DD-WRT Documentation suggests using the FCC ID but there aren't any.

Anyone come across these routers and/or know anything about the hardware and the status of OpenWRT support?

With the default factory firmware there appears to be an SSH server running but I can't figure out what the username/password combination are to log in.  If anyone has experience of similar devices and can suggest combinations that would be appreciated and might allow me to identify what hardware there is.

In the mean time I've also requested this information (hardware and SSH username/password) from TP-Link Tech Support, I'll update when I hear from them.  I've tried looking for the source code in the GPL Code Centre but the device is not listed (something I'll be letting Tech Support know when I hear from them).

Thanks in advance.

(Last edited by slack---line on 13 Dec 2016, 09:39)

Post #2
slack---line
14 Dec 2016, 10:14

I've received responses from TP-Link technical support, so updating here, although not looking too promising.

Hardware

One person from tech support wrote...

Sincerely sorry that we cannot provide the information of RAM, processor, processor speed  , and others involving the commercial confidentiality.

...which seems nonsense to me.  Another from Tech Support provided the following...

For the chipset of the processor and wireless:
CPU: BCM63167UKREBG
Wireless    : BCM63167UKREBG+BCM4352KMLG

SSH Access

Feels like they're messing me about by refusing to provide username and password.  They claim SSH access is limited to their Tether App but thats not my understanding of how SSH works, if there is a valid username and password for making an SSH connection that connection can be made from the command line or used for example for sFTP...

Our router cannot support SSH commander. So you cannot visit the router via commands.

The firmware can support SSH because we added the support of Tether 2.0.
Tether 2.0 is an APP used to manage and configure routers; to guarantee the safety of the communication process; we use SSH to encrypt the data. So the SSH is available on the firmware.
What’s more, we have already considered the security issue, and have already blocked the related SSH tunnels and commands, which makes this SSH available only to the Tether APP.  Other SSH clients cannot control the router via commands.
So please rest assured that the SSH will never cause any safety issue on your device.

I think I'll just refund this and get an alternative, if anyone has recommendations for VDSL Wifi Routers I'm all ears.  The Linksys WRT####AC family look nice (and pricey!), need to see if any have VDSL (I do have a VDSL modem I could place before the router but would rather have an all-in-one device).

Post #3
nitroshift
14 Dec 2016, 10:17

WRT1x00AC series are not VDSL.

nitroshift

Post #4
slack---line
15 Dec 2016, 11:25

Thanks, yes I found that out when researching yesterday but have a VDSL modem I can stick between the socket and the WRT1900ACS I've now purchased.

Looking forward to getting stuck into OpenWRT again, been a long time since I used it on my old WRT54g(v1).

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