TP-Link TL-WR1043 V2.1: Upgrade to OpenWRT & DD-WRT and Reverting back to original OEM firmware
I own a TP-Link TL-WR1043 V2.1 wireless router, I would like to test if it is able to run on OpenWRT or DD-WRT. it is first tested on OpenWRT, DD-WRT later, so far it has been working flawlessly for me.
About TP-Link TL-WR1043 V2.1 Wireless Router
TP-Link TL-WR1043 V2.1 is a 300Mbps Wireless N Gigabit Router, it has more memory (64MB) compared with the TL-WR1043 V1.x. Here is the comparison:
|
HW Version |
CPU |
Ram |
Flash |
Network |
Gigabit |
USB |
Serial |
JTag |
|
1.x |
Atheros AR9132@400MHz |
32MB |
8MB |
4x1 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
2.x |
AtherosQCA9558@720MHz 64MB |
64MB |
8MB |
4x1 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Extend WIFI Range with Another Router
- Primary wireless router configure as AP. If you already setup a wireless internet connection in your house, usually your modem is configured as AP mode.
- Secondary wireless router (TL-WR1043ND or other DD-WRT compatible router) flashing with DD-WRT
Flashing TP-Link TL-WR1043ND with DD-WRT
Integrating PuTTY in WinSCP
Most of the time, I use both WinSCP (Windows Secure CoPy) & PuTTY together, especially when work with Openwrt and DD-Wrt. It is very troublesome to start each program individually. So I decided to integrate PuTTY into WinSCP.
WinSCP is an open source free SFTP client, SCP client, FTPS client and FTP client for Windows.
PuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Windows and Unix platforms.
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
I would suggest to download the portable version for both WinSCP & Putty. With the portable version, you can easily copy WinSCP & PuTTY from one computer to another computer without erase the settings.
Here is the link for partable WinSCP & Putty:
http://portableapps.com/news/2012-07-29--winscp-portable-4.3.9-released
TP-Link TL-WR1043ND restore from DD-WRT to Original Firmware
- TP-Link TL-WR1043 stock firmware: http://www.divshare.com/download/19132686-eec
- WinSCP: http://winscp.net/
- PuTTY: http://www.putty.org/
- WinSCP is an open source free SFTP client, SCP client, FTPS client and FTP client for Windows. Its main function is file transfer between a local and a remote computer. I use this sofware to transfer files from my WinXP computer to the router.
- PuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Windows and Unix platforms. I use this software to SSH to router & perform flashing command.
- Open up a browser and navigate to http://192.168.1.1 (you should use your own IP)
- Login in to DD-WRT.
- Goto Services tab and enable SSH
- Goto Administration/Management and enable SSH
Copy firmware file to Router
- Unzip the downloaded firmware file to any folder, now you have wr1043nv1_en_3_13_10_up(120210).bin in your computer
- Run WinSCP
- Transfer wr1043nv1_en_3_13_10_up(120210).bin to /tmp of router
- You may want to rename the firmware filename to shorter one, I renamed it to a.bin
Start Flashing
- Run PuTTY (SSH to router)
- Enter command as blow
|
cd /tmp mtd -r write a.bin linux |
The router will reboot upon flashing successfully
DD-WRT on TP-Link TL-WR740N Router
Here is the link. You must download both factory-to-ddwrt.bin & tl-wr740nv4-webflash.bin.
1. Enter 192.168.1.1 from IE to login to the router. Select System Tools then click on Firmware Upgrade.
2. Choose factory-to-ddwrt.bin which you download to your computer previously.
3. Click Upgrade button to start firmware upgrading.
4. The router will restart automatically after completed upgrade.
Screen shot for upgrade firmware: http://www.divshare.com/download/18183284-fed
5. Login to router again. Now DD-WRT prompt you for changing user name & password.
6. Enter the new router user name & password then click on Change Password button.
7. Enter new user name & password to login to the router.
8. Click on Administration from DD-WRT menu then select Firmware Upgrade.
9. Choose tl-wr740nv4-webflash.bin & click on Upgrade button
The router will upgrade to DD-WRT dated 03-19-12-r18777 which is much more powerful than before.