Tp link librecmc wifi router on an isp modem with public address?
Librecmc https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/free-software-wireless-n-broadband-router-gnu-linux-tpe-nwifirouter is a tp link tl wr841nd wifi router. It has no modem. Earlier I have made a post about the tp link free hardware router. I have adsl2 internet. Lan dchp is server. My isp says, they can turn the isp router into a modem with a public ip address and dhcp disabled. My understanding was, that because the tp link does not have a modem, I can not make use of the modem with a public ip address solution. Am I wrong? My isp provider tells me, that it may work also with an router that has no modem. It depends on the features of the router. Will the tp link wifi router work on my internet service if the isp provider's router is set to modem and public address? The tp link router will have the librecmc installed.
I am a member!
The TP-Link WR841ND is not a free software friendly router in and of itself as there are many revisions of which many/most/all are not free software friendly. You need to have a very specific revision in order for it to contain the right board. ThinkPenguin's model #s refer to said revision and if another revision/chipset/etc are used then a new model number is issued. The board is not being used in any TP-Link WR841ND router currently sold in stores. There is a new TPE-NWIFIROUTER2 coming out this week (or next) which contains the same board for those who are interested in getting a router with this specific board for the presupposes of having support for LibreCMC (and running 100% free software embedded distributions).
That said the TPE-NWIFIROUTER does not have a built-in modem. Your ISP will have issued you a router with a built-in modem (probably). As it is set to 'router mode' this router will issue a private IP address to any devices connected to it (by default).
What you want to do is set the ISP issued router to 'modem mode' and disable the DHCP server. This will result in the router acting as a modem instead and issuing a public IP address to any device which connects to it (keep in mind most ISPs will only issue one public IP address so it is important that you only connect one device to the ISP issued router/modem once its set to 'modem mode'). That said this is what you want to do.
Once the ISP issued router is set to 'modem mode' you can connect the TPE-NWIFIROUTER. Then connect your computers to the TPE-NWIFIROUTER (via wireless or an ethernet cable). These computers will be issued a private IP address (such as 192.168.1.x). The TPE-NWIFIROUTER will be given a private IP address by the ISP issued router/modem (provided you have set it to 'modem mode').
Thank you.
There are some matters I want to clarify. On thinkpenguin's homepage it said, that the router has to be a certain version. I wrote thinkpenguin and asked for details. Thinkpenguin, I guess you are part of thinkpenguin, answered tp link tl wr841nd v.8.2. Thank you. I got one, and now I want to try to use the router as free hardware. Because I write from europe, I chose not to buy the librecmc. Adding taxes and shipping will likely double the price. And I do not know if I can get the router to work and if the wifi router can manage the required distance. I am not skilled on networks. My isp has told me, because I want to use my own equipment, they will not provide any instructions. Now I gather information in order to get to know how to set up the router.
I want to know, what I have to do, when the isp turns their router into a modem with a public ip address?
First I want to test the tp link router with firmware on the isp router being in router mode.
Then I want to instal librecmc v.1.2.1. I welcome instructions.
I am a member!
I'm not sure what you think you got, but it's probably not the correct version. Attempting to flash it with librecmc will likely brick the device.
I'm the CEO of ThinkPenguin, Inc. We have a US and UK facility. There is no double taxation going on. Taxes are higher in Europe, but the shipping is roughly the same. If your in Europe the price will definitely not double. Prices are shown in USD currently as we have not implemented a currency conversion mechanism and prefer not to increase costs by maintaining two versions of the site.
If you turn the ISP provided router into a modem the only thing you should need to do is plug it into the librecmc flashed router. The librecmc flashed router will then be given a public IP address by the ISP issued device (which is now acting as your modem).
What thinkpenguin does is important. I did not know that thinkpenguin ships from uk. I bought a tp link tl wr841nd v.8.2. I do not say it was easy to find it. Because most sellers can say they have a tl wr841nd for sale, but not which version. I found a seller that in advance could tell me what version I would get. If it bricks after installing librecmc, then it bricks. Still the wifi router is the version that according to you is compatible with librecmc software.
I plan to connect the tp link router, firmware installed, to the isp router. Then install librecmc on the tp link. Test again. And if it works, then ask my isp to turn their router into a modem with a public ip address and I will connect the tp link librecmc wifi router.
Instructions and pieces of advice are welcomed.
I am a member!
If you actually managed to get 8.2 then it should be fine. I may not have investigated suppliers in Europe as thoroughly as I thought, but I usually am very thorough. There weren't any sources in the US I could locate with the 8.2 version in the past month or so. At least not in any significant quantity and not at a price point at or near what we're selling them for. I did investigate sources world-wide (mainly China, but one in the EU as well). None of them were actually the same router though (or for that matter with the same or close enough board). I did find some different companies using the same board, though not currently using it, and no stock available. Ultimately no luck in any place for a router with this particular board. Fortunately we did get in touch and team up with a company that while they didn't have it knew/understood what board we needed and made it happen (though we did have to wait maybe 2-3 months for it to arrive to us in the US and still not yet ready to roll completely, with any significant sales, but very shortly we will be...). In the mean time you can still get the v1 of this router which is identical to the board which will be in v2 from us.
Go to www.librecmc.org for directions and source code. Everything is published and free software so you should be able to replicate it provided you have the right hardware.
My router has printed tp link tl wr841nd v.8.2 on the box and the router.
I contacted about a handful sellers until I found one who could and would grab the router from the stock before selling. He would not break the box because I would not buy if not version 8.2. As stated, the version number is also printed on the box. That meant he was able to provide the version number to me. Likely the seller bought a batch when version 8.2 was common and did not get them all sold. You are putting to much into this. Because you cannot buy 10k or 100k version 8.2 routers from a seller, does not mean that no version 8.2 routers are out for sale.
Getting the version 8.2 has been an arbitrary matter. First I thought any tp link tl wr841nd would do. Then your website said only a certain board would be librecmc compatible. I asked thinkpenguin about what specific board is librecmc compatible? I did not expect you to answer, because I consider that piece of information a business secret. You answered my question. I also asked librecmc the same question, but he did not answer. On librecmc's website it says any version 8.x will run librecmc software. You say only version 8.2 will. Can you answer, is version 8.2 the only version 8.x manufactured or else why does it say version 8.x on librecmc's website and you say only version 8.2 is compatible?
I am a member!
" no version 8.2 routers are out for sale."
Correct. However there not readily available on the market. I contacted roughly 50 - 70 different sources and none of them had v8.2. It may be that I missed some if it was a person/entity that only had 1-10 available. However these low quantities are going to dry up quick as there is no significant quantities remaining anywhere. This is not an item where there were significant quantities produced with year+ time spans that used the same board. Some things you can find years later. This is not one of them. If you got lucky with one item that's fine. But it's not something realistic for most people and it's not something your going to 'get lucky' on in the near future. They were only recently discontinued and are already near-impossible to locate significant stock of.
The question on 8.x is a bit more complicated. You may not actually have a fully free router if LibreCMC works on another 8.x revision. LibreCMC is itself a distribution, and there are other components, such as the boot loader. The boards also may differ in other ways. For example some boards we tested do not have a working serial interface. Just having this board is in fact not good enough either as there are digital restrictions in the firmware. Both TP-Link and other companies have begun to use this to prevent users from re-flashing routers. Again- that isn't an issue with any of this TP-Link 8.2 router we've tested.
As I've said- we're no longer using the TP-Link router as a base. There is simply no significant stock left anywhere.
As far as business secrets we don't have many of those. If your technically competent it wouldn't be that difficult to copy our business. The reality is most people don't have experience to do it properly (not to mention financial resources).
The reason we don't post information in many cases is two fold. One is people don't understand the variety of problems you can encounter with model numbers. As you yourself stated you originally thought you could get any TP-Link router. Companies often advertise revisions incorrectly, chipsets used, etc. Even databases designed to assist users in locating free software friendly hardware include incorrect information as the result of users not understanding there own actions. There is a bluetooth/wifi mini pcie half height card which is a perfect example of this. I've repeatedly been told it is free software friendly when it is not. The reason for this is people are using non-free operating systems alongside Trisquel. I've even had people who worked @ the Free Software Foundation swear to me that the bluetooth part of the chipset was free. However, after they listened to me and followed my advise on how to properly test the card concluded I was right.
Another example of a problem is the way people perceive things. People fail to take into account things like taxes and other fees. They think they can order something from China or the US and pay 1/10 of what they'd pay locally. The problem comes when they go to collect the package and discover that the $10 item has a $10 USD customs fee and another $2.50 USD in taxes. Ultimately the better deal with the local one. Other times they fail to take into account quality, delivery speed, and other factors. Do you want something that works 95% of the time and delivery within a week? Or something that takes a month, isn't what was advertised, and can't be returned (cost of return shipping exceeds the cost of the goods).
Another great example is people thinking that because something works with a given distribution that it'll always work with every computer. That isn't the case though. As an example there are computers for which the USB ports don't work. There is an intermediate component that must work and work properly in order to use a USB device. If it doesn't that doesn't equal fraud on the part of the advertiser.
Thank you for your answers. They are informative and they do not write themselves.
-Both TP-Link and other companies have begun to use this to prevent users from re-flashing routers
When librecmc works on tp link tl wr841nd that was not tp link's intention?
I am a member!
TP-Link had no involvement in getting LibreCMC to work on this router. That was mostly the results of two projects:
1. OpenWRT (not free software though, LibreCMC is derived from OpenWRT)
2. LibreCMC (the project which we sponsor, and distribution which is derived from OpenWRT)
3. ThinkPenguin (we sponsor the LibreCMC project)
LibreCMC was started prior to ThinkPenguin's involvment, but was not released until we, ThinkPenguin, got involved and pushed things forward. One of the original founders and lead developers of LibeWRT (Robert Call) is involved and he left this other project years ago as it was going in a direction he didn't like. He planned to start LibreCMC. However other factors made working on it very difficult. Every developer needs to eat after all. In any event we (ThinkPenguin) basically hired him as our CTO. The project is now being worked on by him with our sponsoring it. We're selling the routers and contributing back a percentage of the profits to the project just as we do with Trisquel.
In any even the combination of all this is what has made LibreCMC "happen". In order to make the project move forward we need to make as many sales of the routes as possible. Each router does not bring in a substantial amount of money and as such you need to sell a lot of routers to offset the time being put into it. Right now the project is bringing in less than enough to make it worthwhile. However- we're hopeful that'll change. Right now it's less than minimum wage (by US standards). Minimum wage is not really enough to live off. It's what you would call poverty by 1st world standards. Fortunately he's got other paid work.
I have installed librecmc on the tp link router. Maybe you can tell if it bricked.
First I tested the tp link router with firmware by lan cabel connecting it to the isp router. Tp link ethernet and wifi connection worked. Then I logged into the tp link's web interface and installed librecmc. No errors during installation.
After installing librecmc I turned the tp link router off and on. My computer can ethernet and wifi connect to the tp link router, icon on computer display shows. But I cannot access internet. If I want to access a website it says 'no server'.
If the tp link router is not bricked, can you tell how to log into the tp link router and what settings to make?
> If the tp link router is not bricked, can you tell how to log into the
> tp link router and what settings to make?
If you use the Network Manager System Tray icon and display Connection
Information you should be able to get the routers address. Then
putting something like :
in your web browser address bar should get you the admin pages for the
router. If you can't find the address try that value anyway because
it's the default with LibreCMC's upstream. Then you'll know if
you've been successful.
As to what settings, I suggest you try the LibreCMC or OpenWRT
websites.
I am a member!
It doesn't sound like it is bricked. Your ISP is probably refusing to issue a 2nd IP address. Since you didn't release the IP address before flashing it the ISP doesn't know you've changed devices. While you technically have changed devices the MAC address has changed, so from the ISP's perspective, you have changed devices, or added another device (and thus won't issue you another IP).
To solvet his problem turn off the modem and router. Wait 20-30 minutes and turn the modem on. Wait 60 seconds and then turn the router on. You'll probably be able to connect to the internet now. If it still doesn't work repeat the steps, but instead of waiting 20-30 minutes wait a few hours and try again. Basically what is happening is your ISP will realize your modem/router are disconnected and release the IP address and at that point should be willing to give you a new IP address.
Here is our end-user documentation (should be applicable if you have the same underlying router, including revision #):
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/librecmc-free-software-wireless-n-broadband-router-gnu-linux
You can also check out http://www.librecmc.org/ for more technical documentation, source code, etc.
Thank you for your answers. It worked.
I switched off the tp link router and isp router modem for 5 hours. Turned on the isp router modem and the tp link router, and I got internet access.
Using url 192.168.1.1 I can log into the tp link router. Tp link asks me to set a root psswd. Shall I do that, and how many letters can it be?
Next step is to contact my isp provider and make them turn the isp router modem into a modem with a public ip address? When that is done, the tp link router should work by connecting it to the isp modem with public address? No further config?
> Thank you for your answers. It worked.
> I switched off the tp link router and isp router modem for 5
> hours. Turned on the isp router modem and the tp link router, and I
> got internet access.
> Using url 192.168.1.1 I can log into the tp link router. Tp link asks
> me to set a root psswd. Shall I do that, and how many letters can it
> be?
It's a normal GNU/Linux password so any length you like (or at least
mine is set to a looong randomly generated password). However as it's
via web avoid the URL special characters (%&?) just in case there's a
bug in the web interface.
>
> Next step is to contact my isp provider and make them turn the isp
> router modem into a modem with a public ip address? When that is done,
> the tp link router should work by connecting it to the isp modem with
> public address? No further config?
We need to know the technical details of your connection. I've only
dealt with somewhere in the midteens of different ADSL routers here in
the UK and none of them had a true 'become a modem' mode. So what
your ISP means by what they're saying is at present a matter of
guesswork. Ask them for the connection parameters/details for your
side of the router/modem.
Leny
My isp cannot provide further details about their modem with public ip address feature. Isp told me, that 90 percent of routers will work on their modem with public ip address.
Next week isp will set the isp router modem to modem with public ip address and I will find out if it works.
Probably wise to do a search on your ISP's name and 'modem mode router setup' just to see if anyone has extracted the details from them, perhaps add your modem model number if there are too many results. However, if 90% of routers work with it, then LibreCMC definitely will. I'd suggest making sure you know how to tether your mobile or borrowing a 3g USB dongle against you needing support, but the search above should find enough for you if there's anything special to do.
The isp router modem has been turned into a modem with a public address. The tp link librecmc is connected and mainly it works.
First and shortly I lan cable connected the tp link router and the computer. The connection seemed fast. About wifi it works but it seems that transfer rate vary and in general is lower than via lan cable. Wifi does not disconnect. Lower transfer speed I relate to distance and walls between tp link router and computer. Are there settings I can make to improve data transfer rate? Maybe I can position the tp link router antennas better.
The librecmc user interface I mostly do not understand. There is no librecmc manual? I would want to know how to config firewall and set 1. and 2. dns server?
Mine hasn't arrived yet so I can only give generic advice which is:
'For more WiFi speed set it to 40MHz mode, that does 300Mbp/s. Usually
with routers (and upstream) the firewall is already configured.'
For other stuff try asking on IRC channel #librecmc at
irc.freenode.net. Or consult the upstream docs at
https://openwrt.org/ as at this stage I would guess LibreCMC still
uses uci (command line) and LuCI (web) for router config.
OR maybe someone who actually has one will chip in - Anyone?
Leny
More testing has shown, that wifi transfer rates vary and sometimes the wifi disconnects. Placing a router antenna at another place did not improve the wifi connection.
I think, I will return to the isp router. You wrote, set mode to 40mhz. In wireless network master -> device config -> advanced settings -> ht mode, I can select 20, 40 below 2. and 40mhz above 2. Which one shall I select?
> More testing has shown, that wifi transfer rates vary and sometimes
> the wifi disconnects. Placing a router antenna at another place did
> not improve the wifi connection.
> I think, I will return to the isp router. You wrote, set mode to
> 40mhz. In wireless network master -> device config -> advanced
> settings -> ht mode, I can select 20, 40 below 2. and 40mhz above
> 2. Which one shall I select?
I'm *guessing* here but the below / above 2 is probably a reference to
which channel you've set your WiFi to run on. The variable speed and
drop outs you mention could well be interference from other stations
from time to time. Which suggests you should do a WiFi survey and
find a better channel, then set your 40MHz mode appropriately. I am
unable to help you with the WiFi survey as I use an open source router
to do mine.
The tp link wifi turned worse. It began to disconnect again and again. I rather think it is a matter of distance between tp link router and computer. I tried to make a 40mhz setting. Then the wifi could not connect. I tested the lan cable connection tp link and computer again. It seemed to be fast and transfer rate did not vary.
When you have got your free router, will you write your testing results?
> The tp link wifi turned worse. It began to disconnect again and
> again. I rather think it is a matter of distance between tp link
> router and computer. I tried to make a 40mhz setting. Then the wifi
> could not connect. I tested the lan cable connection tp link and
> computer again. It seemed to be fast and transfer rate did not vary.
> When you have got your free router, will you write your testing
> results?
I will, but mine will be a rather specialised setup which might need a
custom firmware build. (Mine shipped today, when I looked I'd left it
in my cart and not paid for it. Doh! :-) )
However, I'm *certain* we would have heard from other people if the TP
router had problems with WiFi. So I suspect your problem is lack of
knowledge on your part. Thus I will very firmly point you at those
resources above again. That is, ask on IRC channel #librecmc at
irc.freenode.net for a first move or try the uci and LuCI
documentation at https://openwrt.org/ (you might need wikipedia as a
companion to this depending on your level of knowledge). As you have
decided to forego dealer support by going DIY (Do It Yourself) it is
behovent on you to ask in the right place and do any reading / legwork
necessary.
Tonlee
In my own experience,.When it comes to the overseas shipping from ThinkPenguin to my location the cost is about the same. Trust me on this, I had purchased video cards, Wifi Modules and some other products that I'm still using without issues, good quality materials. I speak as a consumer.....
I have a wndr3800 runing openwrt,and I'd like to change to librecmc
I followed this instruction http://librecmc.org/librecmc/wiki?name=Build+HOWTO
and got a bunch of files in bin/ar71xx including librecmc-ar71xx-generic-wndr3800-squashfs-factory.img which I think is the image.
When I try to flash the image via openwrt web admin page,it prevents me from doing so,and gives a notice which reads "The uploaded image file does not contain a supported format. Make sure that you choose the generic image format for your platform. "
Can anybody please help me?
Thanks!
You are probably better of, if you start a new post about your router.