Tag Archive for: router

How to install OpenWrt on the Linksys MR8300 Wireless Router

The Linksys MR8300 is not a bad wireless router, but one of its best features, as with the WRT1900ACS, is that it is supported by different open source firmwares including OpenWrt. So, if you’re like me and want to use this router with the open source router firmware to unlock all of its power instead of the limited stock firmware, read this guide to learn how to install it. It’s not a hard process, but you need to be careful with some of the steps, but don’t worry, I’ll guide you through the whole process.

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How to install OpenWrt on the Linksys WRT1900ACS Wireless Router

The Linksys WRT1900ACS is a good wireless router, but one of its best features is that it is supported by different open source firmwares including OpenWrt. So, if you’re like me and want to use this router with the OpenSource router firmware to unlock all of its power instead of the limited stock firmware, read this guide to learn how to install it. It’s not a hard process but I had several issues when I installed the firmware on my router so I’ve written in this guide all the solutions I had to apply. I hope they will help you too.

If you have previously installed DD-WRT on your Linksys WRT1900ACS router and want to switch to OpenWrt, read how to rollback to the stock firmware before installing OpenWrt.

If you have a different router and you want to check if it’s supported by OpenWrt, you can check it in the table of supported devices. On the other hand, if you want to buy a router to install OpenWrt, you can have a look at the ‘Ideal for OpenWrt’ table.

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How to set a Static IP on a DD-WRT router

In a previous post I showed you how to set a static local IP on Armbian. However, there are situations where IP address assignment cannot be done on the device itself. This is the case, for example, of many smart devices such as the Yeelight smart lights, where it is not possible to set a static IP address using the manufacturers app. For cases like this, the best option is to configure the static local IP directly on the router. This is done via Static DHCP (also known as DHCPreservation) which is a feature that makes the DHCP server on your router to always assign the same IP address to a specific device on your LAN.

In this post I will show you how to do it on a DD-WRT router assigning a static IP to an Orange Pi Zero without making any changes to the device itself.
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How to setup a VPN on a DD-WRT router

If you have read my previous article on VPNs you already know the advantages of using a VPN and the risks of not using one and hopefully you are using one now. If you haven’t subscribed to a VPN yet I leave you a link here that gives you some free months.
Many VPN providers, such as NordVPN, which is the one I’ve been using for years and recommend, provide apps for iPhone, Android and other systems to access their VPN servers. However, there are devices, such as an AppleTV, that do not have an app or other direct way to connect to a VPN server.
For this type of cases, having your home router connected to a VPN is the best solution. Furthermore, it’s much easier to have your home router connected to a VPN than to install a VPN application on each of the devices that connect to the Internet in your household.
Not all routers have the same way of connecting to a VPN or supporting the same protocols. Here’s how to set up a VPN on a DD-WRT router using the OpenVPN protocol. If you want to know more about DD-WRT or how to install it on a Linksys WRT1900ACS I recommend you to read this other post.
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How to upgrade DD-WRT

Sooner or later after installing DD-WRT on your router you will need to upgrade it. Fortunately this task is easier than the initial installation.

First, you will need to download the appropriate file for your router. To do this, you can go to any of the following addresses and look for the model of your router:

ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/

https://download1.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/

https://dd-wrt.com/support/other-downloads/?path=betas

In my case, as I have a Linksys WRT1900ACS, I browsed up to this folder:

ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2018/07-28-2018-r36410/linksys-wrt1900acs/

In the corresponding folder you will find two files. The factory-to-ddwrt file is to flash the router from OEM to DD-WRT, which is the one we used in the first installation. The webflash file is to upgrade when already running DD-WRT and is the one we need now. In my case I downloaded:

https://download1.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2018/07-28-2018-r36410/linksys-wrt1900acs/ddwrt-linksys-wrt1900acs-webflash.bin

Next, access the router’s GUI (by default is at 192.168.1.1), go to the Administration tab and click the Firmware Upgrade tab.

Click the Browse… button and select the file you have previously downloaded.

Finally, click the Upgrade button and wait until the router restarts.

 

Some handy links

Wiki dd-wrt: Upgrading to a Newer Version of DD-WRT
How to install DD-WRT on the Linksys WRT1900ACS Wireless Router
Linksys WRT1900ACS product page [Amazon UK]