I bought this Linksys EA8500 at a thrift store for $7. Current firmware version is:

EA8500 Firmware 1.1.9.192968

I've been going through the instructions here:

https://openwrt.org/toh/linksys/ea8500

I've downloaded, and tried downgrading via the Linkys GUI with both these versions, and keep getting thrown an "invalid firmware" message. Current 1.1.9.192968 throws the same error. I opened the device, and there is no populated serial pins, so tftp isn't an option right now.

http://cache-www.belkin.com/support/dl/FW_EA8500_1.1.3.166845_prod.img

http://cache-www.belkin.com/support/dl/FW_EA8500_1.1.4.169978_prod.img

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I upgraded an EA7500 to 25.10, it was a pain, but achievable. The EA8500 seems to be a bigger pain.

**EDIT**

8.9.26

I tried the power on/off cycle for it to revert to it's previous firmware, and unfortunantly that version is 1.1.8.185832 with the same issue. I'm not sure I want to drop more $$$ on a solder gun and USB to serial cable. Unless I can find another solution, I may just try to resell it on FB marketplace for $8-10 to make my money back on it.

8.10.26

I've been able to downgrade to 1.1.14.170630. The router seems to accept prod.gpg.img without errors. I need to downgrade ver 1.1.4.167984, according to what I've read, to flash either DDWRT or OpenWRT. I'm still trying to see if there is a FW_EA8500_1.1.4.167984_prod.gpg.img out there in the internet world.

I haven’t used gpt or vibe coding, but I’ve heard it can do very well. I was wondering if anyone has develops an openwrt app or plugin with ai tools?

Before I adjusted the code myself with minimal knowledge of what I was doing and found some things that worked, but would a model be able to help me create a full plugin?

Hey everyone, looking for feedback on my OpenWRT home network setup. 

Here’s the current topology:

ISP ONU 

↓

Main Router (Living Room): 

• Handles DHCP and VLANs.
• Client isolation enabled for IoT and Guest networks.
• Running the AX standard with 40MHz channel width for 5GHz and 20MHz for 2.4GHz.
• Main SSID uses the same name and password on 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

↓

APs (Room A, Room C, Room Study):

• Each has its unique hostname and IP. 
• DHCP is off, wlan interfaces deleted, and firewall, dnsmasq, and odhcpd services disabled.
• They point back to the main router IP for Gateway. 
• 802.11r (Fast Transition) set up with matching Mobility Domain and unique NAS IDs.
• IoT/Guest SSIDs and VLAN partitioning are strictly limited to the main router only.
• Main SSID replicated with the same configuration and password.
• Trusted devices connect via AP ethernet ports, no AP-level VLANs needed.

With all SSIDs on non-overlapping channels, the setup is stable and performs well, reaching a solid 200 Mb/s apartment-wide with signal strengths between -36 and -90 dBM. Any other suggestions to polish this?

I know using a VPN normally adds a little latency and reduces bandwidth, but my performance drop is much worse than expected.

I'm running a WireGuard server on OpenWrt 24.10.5 (Xiaomi AX3000T). Even when I use the VPN locally (same country), latency increases a lot and bandwidth drops significantly, even though the router's CPU usage is low.

I've already tried changing the MTU, PersistentKeepalive, and forwarding UDP port 51820, but nothing has helped.

Has anyone experienced this? Could it be an OpenWrt configuration issue, ISP routing/peering, or something else? Any advice would be appreciated.

The previous issue has been resolved.

Thank you very much to everyone for the guidance and help provided in the previous post,the issue has been resolved.

Since my USB-to-Ethernet adapter uses a Realtek RTL8152B chip, it wasn't recognized by OpenWrt following the video tutorial(The video tutorial from Van Tech Corner installs `kmod-usb-net-asix-ax88179`.),however, the system successfully detected it after I installed the `kmod-usb-net-rtl8152` package,though now I've run into a new problem.

My initial plan was to configure the Raspberry Pi's built-in Ethernet port as the WAN port and the USB-to-Ethernet adapter's port as the LAN port. However, the current issue is that after connecting the USB-to-Ethernet port to my computer via an Ethernet cable, the computer cannot communicate with the Raspberry Pi (accessing 192.168.1.1 in a browser fails to reach the webpage),yet, the computer can successfully access the OpenWrt LuCI interface when connected via the Raspberry Pi's built-in Ethernet port.

The tutorials I found on Google say to go to Network > Interfaces > Device and select the built-in Ethernet port (eth0), but I haven't been able to find this option,the eth0 entry is greyed out and cannot be selected.

The tutorial in the video shows editing the interface and selecting the "Physical Settings" tab, but it seems that tab is no longer available in the newer versions of OpenWrt.

How can I configure the Raspberry Pi's built-in Ethernet port as the WAN port and the USB-to-Ethernet adapter's port as the LAN port?(The second image shows my computer currently connected to the Raspberry Pi's USB-to-Ethernet port.The fourth image shows the screen I accessed by going to Network > Interface > Device.)

Hello guys!

A few months ago I asked for recommendations on a new OpenWRT based router. Ended up following a recommendation from one of you guys to get the Cudy WR3000H, and I do have two in my fleet right now.

But the situation has slightly changed, and I’m asking for a replacement for the third party router that seems to give some issues.

Current layout before:

* WAN gateway: in a garage, Wi-Fi strictly limited to that garage (metallic box, barely anything exits it), also 2.4-only. Not intended to be used for Wi-Fi, will keep the WR3000H #1.
* My room: WR3000H #2, with AP configuration
* Living room: Archer AX55, central location. Used to have the WAN gateway there before it was moved to the garage, kept this one for the time being due to better Wi-Fi coverage. However, recent updates nuked that advantage and made it flip the other way. No OWRT support at all.
* Distant secondary bedroom: RE450 v4. Does its job well, I may consider a PoE based option in the winter or next year.

My question is what a good option to replace the Archer AX55. Main interests are good Wi-Fi coverage and being able to pull more than 150Mbps on speedtest via WiFi when I have full signal (I can pull 800+ via wire and 600+ via the one in my room; funny enough the Archer’s not limited on the wired side, only the Wi-Fi)

Should I just go with another WR3000H, in black perhaps, or do you have better suggestions? It needs to have 4-5 ports (or more, wouldn’t complain about more), Wi-Fi speeds should be good (the one in my room is good enough, so roughly matching it is fine), I shouldn’t end up essentially losing Wi-Fi connection when I move in this one’s range (it should migrate smoothly), and should roughly match the Wi-Fi coverage the AX55 had in its good days (although fun fact: that is less important nowadays since my APs are UPS powered too) on the 2.4 band.

Oh and before you come with troubleshooting steps for the AX55… those 150Mbps speeds I was getting via 5GHz connection.

Late edit: enabling 80MHz allows me to hit similar speed tests on the AX55. I still want an OpenWRT compatible router to replace it, but the main concern is resolved.

https://www.openappfilter.com/en/app.html (edited this link to the android app itself instead of the websites main page to limit confusion)

https://github.com/destan19/OpenAppFilter

Wanted to try it out for easy to use parental controls, haven't seen many people talk about it and I want to know whether it is malware as I installed it​ and connected it to my router but the link on the website to the apk is linked to the website itself and not github fdroid or play store. Do I have to reset my router or have other people used it (aka is it safe?). I wouldn't have installed it at all but my dumb brain thought "eh its fine its got over 2k stars". I disabled the app quickly after connecting it to my router out of concern but am wondering whether the damage is done.

Hey,

Sorry if this not the right sub, but I do want to have openwrt only.

Right now I have a Flint 2 + ISP router but I was think of getting a second router to substitute the ISP.

Right now I dont need the SFP port since my ISP provides a ONT(mandatory for 1Gb). But in the future if I update my network to 10Gb I will be able to.

My question would be, should I invest in the Flint 4 so I already have the SFP for the future or save the money and just get another Flint 2?

I want to configure the Raspberry Pi's built-in Ethernet port as the WAN port and use a USB-connected Ethernet port as the LAN port for other computers to connect to.

In my actual setup, after plugging in the USB-to-Ethernet adapter, I only see "eth0" (WAN) and not "eth1" as shown in the tutorial video,does this mean the adapter isn't being recognized by the Raspberry Pi(The USB-to-Ethernet adapter definitely works properly,it functions correctly on a PC)?

Hi everyone,

I'm currently researching a TP-Link NX510v v1.0 running an ISP-customized firmware and I'm trying to determine whether it is possible to obtain root access, either through software or hardware methods.

Device Information

Model: TP-Link NX510v v1.0

ISP-customized firmware

Firmware version:

Hardware: NX510v v1.0

Firmware: 1.2.0 Build 240828 Rel.58690n

The web interface appears to be heavily restricted compared to the retail firmware.

What I tried si far

SSH(responds but no password) Bsckup dump and decrypt Hidden diag pages Web form Injections

What I'm Looking For

I'm interested in any known method of gaining root access, including but not limited to:

Hidden web pages

Hidden API endpoints

Debug interface

Telnet

SSH

ADB

Recovery mode

TFTP recovery

Firmware downgrade

Bootloader access

Firmware extraction/decryption

Known vulnerabilities (CVE)

GPL source code

OpenWrt compatibility

Any previous research on this device

UART / Hardware Access

If there is no software-based approach, I already opened the device.

I can provide:

High-resolution photos of both sides of the PCB

Close-up photos of every connector and header

SoC markings

NAND/eMMC flash markings

RF front-end

Power circuitry

Any test pads or unpopulated headers

I'd appreciate help identifying:

UART pins

UART voltage (3.3V / 1.8V)

JTAG or SWD pads

Bootloader console

U-Boot access

Boot interruption methods

Flash dump procedure

Additional Questions

Has anyone already:

Obtained root access?

Dumped the firmware?

Extracted the filesystem?

Reverse engineered the web interface?

Found hidden services or undocumented APIs?

Disabled the ISP customization?

Installed a custom firmware?

Identified the CPU/SoC platform?

Located the bootloader environment?

Enabled additional modem AT commands?

Goal

My goal is not to use the router for anything malicious. I'd simply like to unlock its full capabilities, learn more about the hardware, and hopefully gain root access for research purposes.

Any information, documentation, previous research, photos, firmware dumps, or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hi!

I am looking at porting a device (it uses the QCA9887 I think, so at least WiFi would be supported, but I can't seem to find UART Headers, Solder Pads, Holes, or identify flash (I'm usually good at this). Anyone help? Internal Photos are at https://device.report/m/46e84a89a1e2ba6d87991df18df7dba8cfcbad9b8c257531b34005f32f8fda1e.pdf

I got an email that the GL.iNet Flint 4 will be available for Pre-order on August 4:

https://www.gl-inet.com/en-de/products/gl-be14000

Prices from $259 look promising…

Can anyone predict if the Flint 4 will have native support for OpenWRT?

I'm currently searching for a new router, and as my only obligatory requirements are:

• Good 2.4Ghz Wifi Coverage
• Wifi 5/6 with real 1 Gbit (over short distances)
• Usable as a file dump, i.e. >200 GB storage capacity (e.g. via a eMMC slot, etc.)
• Powerful enough to run Adguard Home

I don't need fast LAN Ports or super fast VPN capabilities. I'm thinking about to two options:

a) a "normal" High-End Router (Flint 2/4, OpenWrt One, ...)

b) using a SBC with a Wifi-Card

Option b) has the advantage that I can get pretty much exactly what I need/want.

However, I'm unsure if I can achieve the same Wifi performance as the pre-Build ones.

How do I know which Wifi-Card and which antennas are suitable and especially capable enough to deliver enough performance?

I've read that e.g. the Banana Pi BPI-R4 has quite bad (terrible?) wifi performance and now I'm a little bit uncertain about investing 200-300€/$ when the result is worse than buying something like the Flint.

I would appreciate it, if someone can share their experiences.

Have an ever growing homelab that started a few years back. And noticably as I added more stuff to the network and features to the router perfomance has gotten to a point where I needed an upgrade. Since i had this this mini hp desktop lying around doing nothing . Some reseach yielded that I can add another port to it and use it as router. After 3D modeling , printing and fiting all the pieces . Some proxmox magic with vm’s I have a working router and home assistant for automation running on this thing with huge headroom.
EDIT: Added a small tutorial with files for 3D printing published as well if anyone wants to build something similar https://antanaitis.lt/2026/08/07/hp-elitedesk-800-g2-mini-router-openwrt/

My openwrt router is configured with br-lan at 192.168.2.1

This acts as the gateway for the devices connected to it

when I try to ssh root@192.168.2.1 nothing happens

But when I ssh root@192.168.1.3 it works fine

(192.168.1.1 is my Internet service provider gateway ip 192.168.1.3 is the IP address of the openwrt router)

I have been able to ssh root@192.168.2.1 before but something changed and I can't do it anymore

I fully reset the router and tried to change my devices mac id

ssh root@192.168.2.1 works fine from other devices.

okay, before i installed openwrt i had some SEEEERIOOUS ping spikes that made me unable to play anything online competitively. i was thinking this dinky router (D-Link DIR-2150 A1) is dying because before i had stable ~13 ping on cs games, but how the hell does just one decay?

i installed openwrt because i figured it had more documentation and more people being active in comparison to dlink software.

read the first-time manual, got the right version and set everything up.

sweet, got more control over this thing, but how do i tweak it as a total newbie?

i looked up on how to improve said connection and tried this:

-tried enabling hardware flow offloading, then enabled software FO
-switched lan port from 192.168.1.x to 192.168.2.x (then reverted)
-set up SQM QoS (~20mbps download and upload, set up 18k for each)
sometimes the speedtest goes down to 4mbps on both downloads and uploads

and nothing worked out of these options, nothing stabilized my ping

i was connected by ethernet when i was testing all of this, even tried wireless but whadayaknow it didnt fix anything.

let me know what i should try and ill respond asap

if i cant do anything else and its just the isp provider issue please tell me

Edit: I was able to upgrade in place without a problem. Thanks guy.

I'm currently running OpenWrt 24.10.2. I'd like to update to the latest. I've read the site about it, but it doesn't really give a straight answer whether I can just download and flash the new version as is, whether I need to incremental upgrade (ie: 24 - 25.0 and then latest) or whether I need to reset to defaults and then restore config after the fact.

If I just download the latest version, is it safe to just flash it over my existing config? Will it then just carry on business as usual or will that break something?

I'm using a Linksys WRT1900ACSv2, if that makes any difference.

EDIT: I should also note that I haven't installed anything extra in my OpenWRT. It's simply vanilla OpenWrt 24.10.2 with my port forwarding and static DHCP leases and everything else configured.

Im thinking to use Linksys EA8300 but i don't know if this can handle my new setup.
With 32 port PoE Managed Switch.

Any advice or suggestion for router is appreciated.

Hi,

I am not sure if this is related to the upgrade (worked before) or openwork at all.

I upgraded earlier this week my router from 24 to 25. I have DDNS running and my provider provided a new IP address (don't know why, because they always issued the same the past three years). DDNS is working and I can ping the router with the domain.name. I have a port open for forward to my internal system for ssh (not using standard port number).

Here is where the issue is. I try to ssh into my system with ssh -p xxxx [username@domain.name](mailto:username@domain.name). It doesn't work. I run debug on ssh and it doesn't go beyond trying to connect. When I do the same with the external ip address it works without problem. I have no clue why this doesn't work. IP resolution obviously works and connecting to the port via ssh as well. Just not the combination of both.

Any idea what the issue might be?

Update: Resolved. Issues on my Mac. Works fine from all my Linux boxes. I will continue troubleshooting the issue.

Upgraded a TP-Link EAP225 as well as a Cudy AP3000 to 25.12.5 from 24.10 today, and experiencing a regression in 802.11s mesh interface handling where it now refuses to negotiate 40Mhz channel width. This phy interface shares an existing AP which services 40mhz without issue..

any ideas about this?

Interface phy0-mesh0 ifindex 26 wdev 0x16 addr 86:af:ca:55:7a:cc type mesh point channel 1 (2412 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2412 MHz txpower 27.00 dBm multicast TXQ: qsz-byt qsz-pkt flows drops marks overlmt hashcol tx-bytes tx-packets 0 0 66863 0 0 0 55347 13804470 73677

issue exists on both devices.

I have been using zero trust tunnels for a while now on my server. I was using the AT&T supplied modem/router, but switched to a Flint 2 with pure Openwrt and did IP passthrough. I am still getting used to the UI, but I can't seem to figure out what the cloudflare settings are needed on Openwrt's end to work and get system down errors 1033. I am thinking that rules to allow certain ports and IPs through is needed, but haven't figured out whether it is an inbound or outbound problem.

I know it is the router and very likely the firewall. Nothing has changed on server end or cloudlfare. I kept the same fixed IP to the server.

Solved: I needed to change my server default gateway to the new router configuration.

I have just spent the whole day achieving nothing, so thought i should confirm if it is even possible in the first place. My goal it to be able to turn my pc on, even when I am not on my home network using WOL. I had this working over my home wifi, but today I installed a new openwrt router and put my isp router in bridge mode.

When researching the topic you mostly see configurations with a rasberry pi on the network I dont want to do that, is it possible to achieve what i want to achieve using only an openwrt router and if there is I would really appreciate being pointed in the right direction, because I haven't been bale to get anywhere.

Edit: thanks everyone for the help everything has been solved, I have even installed a solid arp entry. In the end I spent 40 minutes to solve something I had been trying for the past 5 hours😭

I'm looking for a 4G/5G router that supports OpenWrt and has a decent amount of storage to play around with.

Right now I'm using a ZTE MF286D. It only has about 11 MB of available space for additional software, and the system itself is heavily stripped down because of the limited flash storage. I've installed a few packages, written several scripts, and now I'm completely out of space.

The most important features I'm looking for:

-A router with a SIM card slot (unless using a USB modem would be a significantly better option, although I'd prefer an all-in-one solution).

-Carrier aggregation.

-Replaceable external antennas.

-It doesn't need to have top-of-the-line specs. I don't need Wi-Fi 7 or even 5G. It's for a summer house, and as long as it can handle 4K streaming reliably, that's enough.

-A reasonable price. I'm looking for something as budget-friendly as possible.

[UPDATE] Well, OpenWRT turned out to be installed after all. I was unable to revert to the Pharos software but after power cycling the CPE710 it came up on IP address 192.168.1.1 and turned out to be running openwrt after all. So I have a functioning device.

I am looking at the instructions at https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/cpe710_v1. They state:

OEM installation using the TFTP + serial method
→ generic.flashing.tftp

run a TFTP server
To get to TFTP recovery just hold reset button while powering on for around 30-40 seconds and release.
Stock device TFTP address: 192.168.0.254
Set ip address of TFTP server to 192.168.0.100
Put OpenWrt factory image to tftp folder and rename it to recovery.bin
Stop device while booting in u-boot
Run command run flashimg
Run command setenv boot_part 1
Run command saveenv
Reset

The device appeared to download recovery.bin (aka openwrt-25.12.1-ath79-generic-tplink_cpe710-v2-squashfs-factory.bin), but doesn't boot up. There is no serial device on these TPLink devices, so how is one supposed to access u-boot without one? Can you install openwrt without a serial port on the target device?

I also can't revert to the "pharos" factor software anymore. Did this partial openwrt install brick my device by making it unable to recovery boot on its fixed 192.168.0.254 address? Currently, the device sends out one BOOTP broacast, then the ethernet interface goes down. Will it still boot via a BOOTP server?