Great price on this one..
Update : Try Using HAPPY code Non-eBay Plus users to bring the price to $99 - Thanks to tablewhale
Also, you can use 10% Off eBay giftcardto make it even more cheaper approx $89 :)
Dual Band N300 + AC2300 Wireless | Smart WiFi Technology | USB 3.0 | 4x Gigabit Ethernet Ports
Original PARTY19 10% off eBay Plus Deal - eBay Plus 10% off
Original PLUG 5% off Sitewide on eBay Deal Post - Non eBay Plus 5% off
Required eBay Plus to use "PARTY19"
Thanks mate for updating.. :)
ok, I got it, because I am not eBay plus member.
Any issues using this with TPG?
It's just a wi-fi router. ISP doesn't matter. But depending on your connection type (NBN FTTN? FTTP? ADSL? Cable?) you may be better off with a router/modem combo.
Didn't realise this was just a router. Would rather get a modem/router in one.
Get a modem and then a Ubiquiti Unifi Wireless LAN router instead. You'll get much better wifi performance than this deal.
@soupiejr: Do you have a link or part number to which Ubiquiti Unifi Wireless LAN router you would go for?
@jv2018:
It depends on how big the area you're trying to cover is. I'd go for UAP-AC or UAP-AC-LR for slightly longer range. Both will give you good AC and N coverage.
@jv2018: Ubiquiti don't offer a unifi wireless router. They offer routers in the Unifi line (e.g. USG) and access points, but not an all-in-one. They don't target the consumer market.
For most forms of internet you will need a modem ; adsl, fttn, FTTC (fttp I'm not sure).
Generally getting a good modem router is a more flexible option unless you know it will never move (or you already have a cheap $50 modem router and want a less simple set-up)
FTTP and FW you just need a router
Fttc you just need a router aswell the NBN supplies the box/modem
My understanding with TPG NBN is that if you need to use VOIP then you have to use their supplied modem/router. This also means your analogue home phone has to be plugged in wherever your modem/router is connected. They will not give you the voip settings to put into your own modem/router and you also can't navigate the settings of their modem/router to find the settings yourself. Their modem/router also doesn't support third party voip settings, my understanding is that those settings are just inaccessible. Which is why I won't be going with TPG when I change to a NBN connection. Too restrictive for my usage circumstances.
TPG use VLAN Tagging to distinguish traffic type - 100 for Internet, others for VOIP and Video. To a professional, this can aid prioritization, throttling and quota monitoring, but is gobbledygook to a consumer.
Not what ScaryZombie was getting at. If you want to use your TPG VoIP account you need to use their supplied modem/router as they wonn't provide you with the login details to use the account with other hardware.
(Although you'll need a router with VLAN support too for TPG ISPs.)
they wonn't provide you with the login details
without knowing credentials, how would you use their service with soft VOIP clients?
Long ago, I ditched my ATA SPA3102 for the Groundwire iOS app (for use with PennyTel).
@AlexF: That’s the point - you can’t.
And we’re taking about TPG and their various brands, Pennytel obviously have to give you login details or their business wouldn’t be viable.
Quite old 2015 release.
Still good specs for the price.
Would this make a decent dedicated VPN router ? (Assuming I could ever figure out how to set one up).
Thanks bought one.
Cheapest ac2600 router on eBay and seems to have ddwrt support
While I've just bought one too, with the intent to flash it, consider that recent models reportedly have locked firmware, and even removed pins on the PCB, needed for ddwrt flashing. However, nothing a soldering iron can't fix.
Just don't expect a warranty 😃.
I got one of these a few months back. It'll force you to update the firmware before you can even reach the admin page and the newer firmware does not accept DD-WRT images, however there is an option in the admin to revert to the factory firmware which allowed me to flash it.
If this doesn't work you'll need to solder onto 3 pads on the motherboard and transfer the new image over serial. It's not a big job and you could use one of those USB soldering irons to achieve it but of course it will void warranty.
The stock firmware is appalling so I do recommend replacing it!
Interesting. That may explain some comments I've seen about directly accessing the firmware page of a new unit. Perhaps an initial firmware upgrade can be circumvented.
Thank you for the info.
If I don't connect the modem to the internet, can I upgrade the firmware following mrjcd install instructions?
The image shows a board with pins o the PCB, but @sammyrc34's comments suggest these are likely to have been removed.
@mathew42: Yeah there are versions without pins, in which case you'll have to solder onto some pads. Here's a forum post where someone has noted the RX, TX and GND: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1080209&sid=…
Lynksys EA8500 router arrived today. Connected directly to a computer and not internet.
Firmware is 1.1.4.168206.
[Solved] I need to use the Kong EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img firmware based on Question with Linksys EA850 firmware.
More details on whirlpool.
is this now working fine for you? I'm about to give it a go myself.
@ovonate: It has been working okay since Saturday. I haven't had time to look at performance, but kids haven't complained.
what's the review on this router? NBN compatible?
It's a router, not a modem, so being nbn compatible need not apply.
If you're on fttn for example, you may have a modem/router in one. If that does the job, you don't need this. Though if you want something with better specs say wifi wise (as usually your rsp provided modem /router is cheap), you can use this by disabling the router function in your rsp modem/router.
If you have fttp which comes with an NTD from nbn, you can remove the router your rsp may provide and plug this right into the NTD.
So the question is, what are your needs. I'm still on ADSL myself. I always prefer having a basic rsp modem and then a beast of a router.
Fttc also had an ntd supplied
We should create acronyms for eBay Plus (eBP) & Non eBay Plus (NeBP) or any other format.
eb+ ?
Or so it stands out more and is more identified, eB+ ?
I am on Telstra cable so this is a better router than the modem/router I got with the cable.
If you intend on plugging in USB drives to use it as a NAS, keep the stock firmware as the throughput is faster than if you change to DD-WRT.
I can write to my USB HDDs at 80MB/s (which is the maximum 1Gb Ethernet can transfer).
The code HAPPY reduced it to $99, non ebay plus.
Did you try using that? as it doesn't work for me
Thanks mate.. I will update
Also not work for me.
We have NBN FTTN. The NBN port is in the Master’s bedroom which is in one corner of the house and the lounge, where the TV is, is in the other corner of the house. Will this improve wifi performance in the lounge? Or should I just buy one of those Xiaomi wifi extenders to be installed halfway? Or buy both? Thanks.
WiFi Extender will regenerate signal but halve data throughout - it effectively acts as backbone client Station which then acts as Access Point to end-user client Stations (ie. your laptop). Only one broadcaster can use a channel at a time, so, best WiFi Extension setup requires different channels are utilised for backbone and end-user data - WiFi Systems use this.
WiFi signal strength and quality affects the bandwidth you’ll attain - it depends on Access Point and Station physical positions, (antenna) directions, distances and wall type, then, number of Streams, channel-width, Beamforming and MU-MiMo supported by Station, and then (very importantly, but out of your control) channel sharing with you neighbours - their multitude of fixed and mobile/hotspot Access Points - again, only one broadcaster can use a channel at a time.
In other words, no one can predict your result and (frustratingly) it’ll likely change over time. If you want guaranteed (minimum) bandwidth, use Ethernet cables.
This wireless router is as good as it gets for $99. However, with much improved 802.11ax (supporting 2.4GHz band, which, although crowded, is much better at penetrating walls) superseding 802.11ac (which only supports 5GHz), at this late stage of technology lifecycle, it’s hard to recommend.
Can you use this router with a 4G mobile phone tethered via USB?
DD-WRT supports USB tethering, which is also available for this router. See the comments above, as flashing may not be trivial.
hoping to do this myself with dd-wrt installed on it. will report back if it's successful.
An update for anyone seeking to update the firmware of this router to DD-WRT.
I've received mine today. It appears to be a V1 HW model (no version noted with the model on the sticker), and it had an older firmware (1.1.4.168206). I was able to connect to it via LAN, and was not forced to update the firmware.
Importantly, this older version of the firmware DOES allow a direct upgrade to DD-WRT. I downloaded an old version of Kong's build here, EA8500-factory-to-ddwrt.img, and was able to flash immediately. I also flashed twice, once from original firmware, once from DD-WRT, as there are two separate partitions with firmware.
So, this seems to be an older unit. Although I'm not complaining. I'm now running a DD-WRT EA8500, easy. :)
Hi sammy, noob here. I'm having so much issue with this router. Wiresless signal drops every 2 minutes for 10-20 seconds each time. Would flashing resolve this issue? Any suggestion? Thank you
Sorry jk88, I'm not sure how to help. I've not had any WiFi issues with the default OS, ddwrt, or openwrt which I'm now using. Both the 2.4 and 5GHz networks are working with a range of devices.
Also, I swapped to openwrt since there were a couple of features I couldn't get working properly in ddwrt.
Only thing I can suggest is checking channels and such. Inssider home is one app that can help with that, if you can't find another.
Which features specifically weren't playing nice? I'm looking to use the iPhone tethering for 4G WAN, hopefully that's good.
Hi Sammy, did the 2 separate partitions exist out of the box? If not, how did you split the original single partition? What are the advantages of dual partitions? Can you dual boot this router just like a pc with dual OS?
@Joe888
Yes, two partitions exist out of the box. With the original, two copies of the firmware exist. One as a primary of sorts, one as a backup. You can boot into the backup one from original firmware, there's a button somewhere to do it.
Otherwise, yes you can dual boot the router. The trigger to switch between partitions is to power-cycle-reset the device three times in a row. Or you can use the button in the original firmware gui, or any of the openwrt/ddwrt tools for uboot. Those tools are probably easier actually.
I considered dual booting between two custom firmwares, but didn't really see any need to in the end. I'm probably going to stick with openwrt as installed now. Given that, I also saw some value in putting the original firmware back onto one partition, as a backup in case I break openwrt. It's a nice additional failsafe.
Sammy, with that DD-WRT build, did you just upload the file to the software update to install it?
Yup. Although as mentioned, I swapped to OpenWRT later. As long as you install the "EA8500-factory-to-ddwrt.img" firmware first, you should be able to install whatever you like.
Sweet. Is there really any value in keeping the OEM firmware installed I wonder?
@ovonate: In case you upload something broken accidentally? Always nice to have something that will load.
When flashing from the DD-WRT firmware, which menu option did you use?
I tried "Firmware Upgrade" but it didn't work on the second partition.
hey guys i got my router set up this morning. working great on dd-wrt :)
i used the build from here
http://desipro.de/ddwrt/K3-AC-IPQ806X/
use this file:
EA8500-factory-to-ddwrt.img
after that upgrade to the latest version which seems much faster using this file
https://download1.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2018/0…
@opelcalibra,
Thanks for your info. Can I skip your 1st link and jump to your 2nd link to update the OEM firmware of this router to DD-WRT?
Probably it's basically the same thing. If you get stuck turn off the router hold down reset and turn it on. It will switch back to the original firmware
Probably worth noting the readme says to use file EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img, NOT EA8500-factory-to-ddwrt.img for non-US models.
This is true, however, perhaps people have received the US model like me?
Mine didn't have any region or version noted on the label. It just states, Model: EA8500. As I understand it, this denotes the US model.
I have received it and flashed to DD-WRT directly without any issue.
As above said, it came with firmware version 1.1.4.168206, which means it is old enough to be flashed to DDWRT directly.
I firstly flashed it using Kong's build at here: http://desipro.de/ddwrt/K3-AC-IPQ806X/ , using EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img
As it is a bit old, then I flashed the newer kong's build downloaded from here: http://mrjcd.com/Malachi/KONG-EA8500/ .
I have chosen Kong_r37010M-092218-3rdupdate and it works great and didn't find any issue so far. And if you want to know at least what are tested ok, I am using its openvpn server and client, NAS with USB 3.0 hard disk, QOS, 2.4G and 5G wifi.
FYI, this router's rom have two partitions. When you flash it, it is actually flashing the another partition (the one it is not in use). Then the router will boot up using the newly flashed partition after restart. When you flash it again, it will make both partitions with DD-WRT. It is suggested to flash it once again after confirming the current firmware working alright, as the config files are sharing for 2 partition and it may not be compatible to each others if they are not the same builds. The router actually will switch to boot up another partition if it failed to boot up 3 times. So if you want to switch partitions manually, you could just turn it on then off after 15sec, for 3 times.
And anytime if you want to go back to Linksys stock firmware, check here for the instruction: http://mrjcd.com/EA8500_DD-WRT/EA8500revert.html
Hi Kai,
Why didn't you just flush it with Kong's newer build without flushing Kong's older build?
Was the older build a requirement for its newer build?
The online instruction said that EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img must be used for going from stock firmware to ddwrt. EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img is also a Kong build but just a bit older. I never tried using Kong's newer build directly. But I believe it would be not accepted (will say error) while it is still in Linksys stock firmware. EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img is specially modified to cheat the stock system to accept an unapproved rom.
The process that I did was:
EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img -> Kong_r37010M-092218-3rdupdate -> Kong_r37010M-092218-3rdupdate
I've just installed EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img from original firmware. Then, from DD-WRT I installed it again assuming it would install to the other partition, but it's rebooted into the factory firmware.
Any ideas why that would be the case?
I ran the 2nd install from DD-WRT's menu Admin > Firmware Upgrade.
@sammyrc34 any input on this?
I don't know for sure, but it seems that somewhere along the line, flashing to the alternate partition on the EA8500 DD-WRT image was disabled. When or how this changed, I've no idea. The closest I found was somewhere in 2017, according to comments in DD-WRT threads.
However, if you want to manage each partition individually, OpenWRT offers different commands, flashimg and flashimg2 which target the individual partitions.
Still, I don't recommend flashing both. This default behaviour essentially leaves you with a rescue firmware, in the event something goes horribly wrong. In the event you land back into the Linksys firmware accidentally, there's a button "Restore previous firmware", which boots into the other partition. I do recommend leaving it as such.
If anyone manages to get USB 4g iPhone tethering working with dd-wrt and this router I would be VERY interested. Can't seem to get that set-up properly.
I got it to work on Kong DD-WRT.
Used these instructions posted here.
Just remember to unlock phone to get the 'trust this device' popup.
What phone are you using and which Kong build?
I'm on Kong_37010M-092218-3rdupdate (from here) and it isn't connecting to my iPhone's USB hotspot. I do get the "trust" pop up, just no hotspot connection.
I've also tried 2 dongles I have at home with SIMs in them and no good either (one Sierra one ZTE). Frustrating!
it isn't connecting to my iPhone's USB hotspot. I do get the "trust" pop up, just no hotspot connection.
Try restarting the phone. I had the same behavior.
I'm using this one "EA8500WW-factory-to-ddwrt.img" 2018-02-15 15:17 from here
Using iPhone 6s and ios 10.
Doesn't seem to like USB 3 port. Works on usb 2/sata port. After a while it stops working and need to restart iPhone to get connection back.
It was actually broken in Kong's builds with android phones that I've tried. Others confirmed issues with ddwrt in forums.
It's this reason I chose openwrt instead.
I'm most likely to give ROOter / OpenWrt a go because I've spent all day on getting this working, with no luck on dd-wrt!
I considered ROOter too… It might be the better choice if you don't want to go installing additional OpenWRT packages etc. I only chose vanilla OpenWRT as I've used it before.
Big success with ROOter/OpenWRT in general. No issues using the Sierra Wireless 320 USB dongle, easy set-up.
Worth noting though I did go from dd-wrt -> back to original Linksys firmware (on both partitions) -> then to openwrt on one partition. Not sure I really need to flash both, kind of like having the Linksys recovery partition. If anyone else does this install, keep in mind the ROOter start-up and install takes quite a while. I was thinking I had bricked the router or the install screwed up, but it just takes some time. Be patient.
Thanks for everyone's help!
The code is not working for me.