HOWTO : DD-WRT on TP-Link TL-WR1043ND
TP-Link TL-WR1043ND comes with 1 Gigabit WAN and 4 Gigabit LAN as well as 1 USB port. The USB port is for storage purpose. It is a 300Mbps N Wireless router.
This router can flash to DD-WRT to enhance its features. One interested thing is that it can support 3.5G USB modem after flashing to DD-WRT. As far as I know, it supports Hauwei 3.5G modem only. After flashed to DD-WRT, your router can act as a VPN server. It also supports WDS.
Step 1 :
Download the DD-WRT for this router. Beware, other version of DD-WRT does not work on this router; otherwise, your router will be bricked.
The current version of DD-WRT at the time of this writing for this router is V24 preSPs2 r14144.
If you are the first time to flash the router (not upgrading), download the file "factory-to-ddwrt.bin". If you are upgrading the DD-WRT of this router, download the file "tl-wr1043nd-webflash.bin" instead. IF YOU WANT TO UPGRADE TO NEWER VERSION OF DD-WRT, THIS TUTORIAL IS USELESS!
Step 2 :
Connect the router and computer via the LAN port. Point your browser to
Step 3 :
Flash the DD-WRT firmware from the official webpage as usual. DO NOT UNPLUG THE CABLE AND SWITCH OFF THE COMPUTER AS WELL AS ROUTER WHEN FLASHING THE FIRMWARE.
Step 4 :
After the router is rebooted, telnet to the router :
Username is "
Issue the command :
After the router is rebooted, unplug the power cable of the router and wait for a while. Then plug in the power cable again. Now, your router is ready to use and it is DD-WRTed.
Step 5 :
Use your browser to point to http://192.168.1.1. Then change the username and password. Be careful, do not mis-type the username. However, you can change the username and password later.
Step 6 (Optional) :
Flash back to factory firmware.
Download the modified factory firmware at here. Extract and save it to a USB stick. Insert the USB stick to the USB port of the router.
Telnet to the router. Make sure the USB stick is connected and mounted.
The screen will display :
After a few minutes, the following is shown :
After these steps, the router will be flashed back to factory firmware.
** Beware, I did not try this Step 6 myself. Or, your router will be bricked. **
**IMPORTANT**
That's all! See you.
This router can flash to DD-WRT to enhance its features. One interested thing is that it can support 3.5G USB modem after flashing to DD-WRT. As far as I know, it supports Hauwei 3.5G modem only. After flashed to DD-WRT, your router can act as a VPN server. It also supports WDS.
Step 1 :
Download the DD-WRT for this router. Beware, other version of DD-WRT does not work on this router; otherwise, your router will be bricked.
The current version of DD-WRT at the time of this writing for this router is V24 preSPs2 r14144.
If you are the first time to flash the router (not upgrading), download the file "factory-to-ddwrt.bin". If you are upgrading the DD-WRT of this router, download the file "tl-wr1043nd-webflash.bin" instead. IF YOU WANT TO UPGRADE TO NEWER VERSION OF DD-WRT, THIS TUTORIAL IS USELESS!
Step 2 :
Connect the router and computer via the LAN port. Point your browser to
http://192.168.1.1. Enter "admin" for username and password.Step 3 :
Flash the DD-WRT firmware from the official webpage as usual. DO NOT UNPLUG THE CABLE AND SWITCH OFF THE COMPUTER AS WELL AS ROUTER WHEN FLASHING THE FIRMWARE.
Step 4 :
After the router is rebooted, telnet to the router :
telnet 192.168.1.1Username is "
root" and password is "admin".Issue the command :
mtd -r erase nvramrebootAfter the router is rebooted, unplug the power cable of the router and wait for a while. Then plug in the power cable again. Now, your router is ready to use and it is DD-WRTed.
Step 5 :
Use your browser to point to http://192.168.1.1. Then change the username and password. Be careful, do not mis-type the username. However, you can change the username and password later.
Step 6 (Optional) :
Flash back to factory firmware.
Download the modified factory firmware at here. Extract and save it to a USB stick. Insert the USB stick to the USB port of the router.
Telnet to the router. Make sure the USB stick is connected and mounted.
mtd -e linux -r write /mnt/ linux The screen will display :
root@ router_name:/tmp# mtd -e linux -r write /mnt/0x20200.bin linux
Unlocking linux ...
Erasing linux ...
Writing from /mnt/0x20200.bin to linux ... [w], which the [w] will change between [w] and [e]After a few minutes, the following is shown :
Connection to host lost.After these steps, the router will be flashed back to factory firmware.
** Beware, I did not try this Step 6 myself. Or, your router will be bricked. **
**IMPORTANT**
Make sure the SSH and Telnet are disabled on the flashed dd-wrt router; otherwise, you will be hacked.That's all! See you.