Latest version of OpenWRT (19) runs noticeably better on this device, with better HW offloading support and based on a nearly mainline, modern Linux kernel and a brand new device-tree for the Atheros SoC.

What reasons do you have to stay on dd-wrt?

> What reasons do you have to stay on dd-wrt?

mostly that i've used it before. can i gui-flash to openwrt from dd-wrt? i've done tftp flashes before but they're pretty fiddly with getting the stupid 30-30-30 or whatever timing right. also i think these routers try to "pull" from a tftp server rather than having you push to one that they bootstrap - i've never been able to get the "pull" variant to work.

would be hell of a lot easier if the router could be booted into something like android's (arm's?) fastboot or flashmode mode so i can just push an image.

Going from dd-wrt to openwrt should be as simple as a firmware flash from the web gui, and an nvram reset. Worst case, you can flash a "revert to stock" image from ddwrt to go back to factory, then flash openwrt as if the device was factory.

Openwrt also has a handy failsafe built into a lot of models. It boots a stripped down http server where you can upload recovery firmware.

Used to swear by dd-wrt, now I prefer openwrt.

Flashing the OpenWRT “factory” (as opposed to sysupgrade) image in the web UI should probably work fine, but don’t quote me on it.

That’s how I flashed from stock to OpenWRT on 3+ Archer units anyway. Make sure not to keep settings.

>i actually prefer to run Tomato, but archer c7 is not broadcom :(

Not being Broadcom is a very good thing.

reading more about it, you're right. i always figured that since broadcom was so widely supported by multiple aftermarket firmwares, that it was the most mod-friendly. guess it was just the most throughly reversed :/

Broadcom is absolutely the worst, because it's the most open-source-unfriendly. It's only had a lot of reverse-engineering attention because it's so ubiquitous (not just for routers, but for laptops too), but it's all no thanks to Broadcom.

Atheros and Intel I believe both have good open-source support.

I’m running OpenWRT and the Archer c7 is on the list of supported devices. I’d say give it a try.

I use Gargoyle on my Archer C7 v2. This thread (https://www.gargoyle-router.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11896) says that C7 v5 is supported.

Did you notice your wireless signal strength considerably lower when going to dd-wrt?

I put openwrt on my c7 V5 and could barely get any bars.

Flashed back to the stock and was back in business.

Another thing I've read is the third party firmwares don't get hardware access to NAT resulting in speed hits.

Cheers

yes, and i had throughput issues when running in full-width G/N mixed mode compared to my previous Tomato/Asus RT-N16 setup. my phone would also drop out and reconnect intermittently with the c7. but in dedicated AC it seems to be doing well thus far. i cannot say for sure whether this was due to DD-WRT or not as i did not do a thorough comparison to stock.

> Another thing I've read is the third party firmwares don't get hardware access to NAT

i read that too :(

Thank you for the reply, once we loose the last of our 2.4 devices maybe I'll re-try in AC only.

Where can one find the dd-wrt you used for your c7? I have the same device and have been unable to get it to flash anything other than official firmware.

These are the instructions I successfully followed on my C7 V2: https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/TP_Link_Archer_C7#Ins...

Here is the exact `factory-to-ddwrt` image I used (this will depend on which version you have): ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2019/10-15-2019-r41328/tplink_archer-c7-v2/