Small Linux Appliance - TP-Link TL-WR703N

[T Gillett]

Hello All

For anyone interested in getting started with one of these TP-Link TL-WR703N devices, following is a brief HowTo on getting it going with OpenWRT.

Regards
Terry


A. Flashing the TL-WR703N
-----------------------------------------
The device can be reflashed using the web interface of the device.
As shipped from the factory, the web user interface is in Chinese language, but it is fairly easy to find the
firmware up load page.
The OpenWRT firmware image can be downloaded from here:

http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin

1. Power the device up and connect a PC configured so it can see the device on its default IP address on 192.168.1.1
2. Point your web browser to this address to get the login page. Credentials are 'admin' and 'admin'
3. When you are logged in, select the last item from the menu on the left.
4. Select from the sub-menu items till you find the page for firmware upload.
   The URL is http://192.168.1.1/userRpm/SoftwareUpgradeRpm.htm
   It will show a text box to specify the file to be uploaded. A screen shot is attached.
   Be careful as there is a similar page that is for uploading a saved configuration page.
5. Click on the button to the right of the text box to start the upgrade process.
6. The process takes a few minutes, then the device will restart (blue LED flashes).
7. After the device has restarted (the blue LED stops flashing and is steady on) you should be able to telnet to 192.168.1.1

B. Using OpenWRT and Webif
--------------------------------------------
1. Telnet to default address of 192.168.1.1
2. Set the root password and exit
3. SSH to 192.168.1.1
4. Edit /etc/config/network to set IP, gateway and dns so it can get to the internet through your LAN. Example file below.
5. Restart the box and ssh back in.
6. Run the following commands:
  # opkg update
  # opkg install webif
  # openssh-sftp-server
7. Rename  /etc/httpd.conf to  httpd.conf.bak
    (This removes login from web i/f which doesn't work)
8. Copy  /etc/init.d/webif to  webif.bak
9. Edit /etc/init.d/webif to just the basic entries to start and stop uhttpd as shown below.
10. Stop the web server with:
    # killall uhtpd
  Start the web server:  
    # /etc/init.d/webif start
11. Point your browser to the device address to get the XWRT page.
12. Select Network/Wireless from the menu to set up the wireless configuration.
The AP mode works for me but I can't get the Client or Ad Hoc modes working as yet.
13. Reboot to check that the web server and AP come up correctly.
14. Browse to the file system from Nautilus (in Ubuntu)
    Select   Places/Connect to Server/
    Select SSH
    Enter IP of the TPLink device
    Enter Username 'root'
    Click Connect and enter root password when prompted


-----------------------------
# /etc/config/network

config 'interface' 'loopback'
    option 'ifname' 'lo'
    option 'proto' 'static'
    option 'ipaddr' '127.0.0.1'
    option 'netmask' '255.0.0.0'

config 'interface' 'lan'
    option 'ifname' 'eth0'
    option 'type' 'bridge'
    option 'proto' 'static'
    option 'ipaddr' '192.168.1.201'
    option 'netmask' '255.255.255.0'
    option 'dns' '8.8.8.8'
    option 'gateway' '192.168.1.254'

--------------------------------
#!/bin/sh /etc/rc.common
#
#  /etc/init.d/webif

START=90

start() {
uhttpd -p 80 -h /www &
}

stop() {
killall uhttpd
}

[Sjur Eivind Usken]

And they can be bought on deal extreme for 24 dollars...

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/tp-link-703n-ultra-mini-portable-3g-802-11b-g-n-150mbps-wifi-wireless-router-light-blue-white-102903?r.18004725

shortlink:
http://bit.ly/vm2VDx

and it is also quantity prices...

Quantity 3+ units 5+ units 10+ units
Rate $22.40 shipped $22.30 shipped $22.20 shipped

I just ordered three of them....

I will add them to my MeshPotato network and see how it works.

How would it be to use 802.11n standard on this? Use a 20MHz channel
for good range....

cheers
sjur

[Paul Gardner-Stephen]

I just bought 10 :)
Most interested in anyone putting together a VT/MP compatible
firmware, else we will get around to it at some point.

Paul.

On Oct 31, 2:35 am, Sjur Eivind Usken <s...@usken.no> wrote:
> And they can be bought on deal extreme for 24 dollars...
>

> http://www.dealextreme.com/p/tp-link-703n-ultra-mini-portable-3g-802-...

[khairul izwan]

did u all provide this?

1. A photo/copy/screenshot of your credit card bill (Any previous purchase invoice will suffice). It would be better if we can clearly see both the first 6 digits and last 4 digits of your card number and the cardholder name on the bill.

2. A photo/copy/screenshot of both sides of your credit card. For the safety of your account and card number, (please cover or black-out the CVV2/CVC2/CSC2 code) just show us the first 6 digits and last 4 digits of your card number.

3. A photo/copy/screenshot of the cardholder's ID card/ Passport/Driver license.

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[T Gillett]

Hi Paul

We have started looking at this briefly.

When flashed with OpenWRT and webif as above it comes up in AP mode which works fine with WPA.

We can't get it to work in adhoc mode as yet. Also can't get it working in client mode with WPA. It wants to load up a module which is actually already loaded.

On the other hand, batman modules etc are all ready to load with opkg.

Just needs a few good eyes looking at it I think.

Regards
Terry

[Dave Duchesneau]

I bought 3 for $18.51 each from VolumeRates.com . Arrived from Hong Kong
via U.S. Mail. Higher volumes are less.

SKU = 99273
Genuine TP-LINK TL-WR703N 150M
11N Mini 3G/WiFi Wireless Router for Instant WiFi Connection
Qty 3 @ $18.51 = $55.53
Air Mail With Shipment Tracking $ 10.81
Total: USD $66.34

Dave Duchesneau

Paul.

--

[Sjur Eivind Usken]

Dealextreme has free shipping, so we ended up almost on the same. But dealextreme is it 22.10 usd for the cheapest (10+)

If you buy three from dealextreme, remember to click on the "bulk rate" on checkout.

Vennlig hilsen

Sjur Eivind Usken
+47 96999902

[T Gillett]

For anyone working with one of these devices, I thought I would share my experiences to date.

The power required to run these devices is quite low - about 600mW - as measured through a 12v to USB converter.

I have attached a tar file with the /etc/config/network, wireless and batman-adv files I am using.

I have set the device up in two modes - ad-hoc and AP - and the files are named accordingly.

IP address of the device in these configs is 192.168.1.201, gateway 192.168.1.254, DNS 8.8.8.8

If you install /etc/fallback-ip file (attached) and link to /etc/rc.d/S98fallback-ip you will also have a fallback IP address to use, just like on the MP.


In AP mode the device behaves pretty much as expected. You can connect via Ethernet or wifi (SSID: OpenWrt  Key: wifipassword)

If you connect via wifi and the Ethernet cable is connected to your LAN (assuming correct address range) you can access LAN resources, including the internet via the gateway.

Operation in ad-hoc mode is not quite so good. It will associate with a mesh of MPs and you can see traffic on the wlan0 interface in the ifconfig output.

But batman-adv is not working correctly. Command batctl o shows that there are no other devices available on the mesh. Hopefully someone can see what is wrong with the config.

The xWRT interface is useful for looking at the config and status, but seems to do odd things sometimes if you try to set up a new config through the interface. So just be a little cautious.

In particular, the web interface does not want to set up Client mode with WPA encryption as it complains about a missing module for the encryption, but the module is installed.
More investigation required.

Also I have not had any success trying to set up a virtual AP to operate concurrently with ad-hoc mode as is done with the MP.

I plan to look into using a USB memory stick to extend the flash memory space to allow installation of additional modules such as Asterisk.

It would be good to hear from others as to their experiences in setting up the device.

Regards
Terry

[elektra]

Hi Terry -

do you have a firewall running?

Cheers,
Elektra

[Wayne Abroue]

On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 2:42 PM, T Gillett <tgil...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> It would be good to hear from others as to their experiences in setting up
> the device.

Hi Terry
I dont have one of these units, they arent availlable here yet.
But I'll give this a stab.
Are u using madwifi or ath?
What normally causes the batman-adv issue is, when batman starts
before the interface is up,
What I do is get adhoc operating first, then script the virtual
interface, to run via hostap.

check ps-aux, to make sure batman is running, check also batctl -i ,
I would take out the second bssid, I'm not to sure how luci deals with comments.

In network, ifname does not look right,, try changing wlan0 and wifi0.

what does ifconfig give?

Sorry, best I can do without a unit,

[Dave Duchesneau]

Hi Wayne,

> I don't have one of these units, they aren't available here yet.

I was going to send three TP-Link units to Terry, but I just got the
necessary customs form, so I haven't sent them yet. If you and Terry agree,
I could send one to you, and two to Terry. I will need a shipping address.

If either of you needs more, I can order additional units. Although you are
welcome to keep the unit(s), please note that these are intended to help the
VT dev team, and are not for production purposes. Of course, limited
deployment for testing is fine, if that's your highest and best use of them.

...Just trying to remove a few roadblocks...

Dave Duchesneau
d...@crisis-force.org

what does ifconfig give?

--

[Wayne Abroue]

On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 5:04 PM, Dave Duchesneau <d...@crisis-force.org> wrote:
> Hi Wayne,
>
>> I don't have one of these units, they aren't available here yet.
>
> I was going to send three TP-Link units to Terry, but I just got the
> necessary customs form, so I haven't sent them yet.  If you and Terry agree,
> I could send one to you, and two to Terry.  I will need a shipping address.
>
> If either of you needs more, I can order additional units.  Although you are
> welcome to keep the unit(s), please note that these are intended to help the
> VT dev team, and are not for production purposes.  Of course, limited
> deployment for testing is fine, if that's your highest and best use of them.
>
> ...Just trying to remove a few roadblocks...
>
> Dave Duchesneau
> d...@crisis-force.org
>
>

This would be great, if Terry agree's.

Wayne

[T Gillett]

Hi Dave
I have been able to arrange for some more units to be sent and they are on the way so it may be more useful to send yours to the other people who are working on this ie Wayne, Keith and Elektra.
Thanks
Terry

[T Gillett]

Hi Elektra
Firewall - a good thought.

A quick look shows that the firewall is set up by default in the firmware.
It is set to allow lan to lan traffic explicitly.
I started to look at this but realised that something else has gone awry and I am only getting rx traffic on the wlan0 interface.
I will reflash and start again with a clean slate.

Thanks for the tip.
Xxcccc
Regards
Terry

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne
Thanks for the tips. I am really only just getting started with this and squeezing it in to bits of time between other jobs so it is a bit fragmented.

This firmware / device is a  bit different to to MP and uses wlan0 instead of wifi0.
I will send you some iw and ifconfig outputs so you can see what is happening.
Batman-adv is running and the wlan interface is handling traffic from the mesh, but the two haven't made the connection as yet.

The units are not available here either. I ordered mine on line and it was shipped from Hong Kong. I will send you the details if you wish. It will be good to get a few more experienced people looking at this.

RegardsJn
Terry

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne

This is where I ordered my units from:

http://www.volumerates.com/product/genuine-tp-link-tl-wr703n-150m-11n-mini-wifi-wireless-router-for-instant-wifi-connection-99273  

They posted them quite quickly and for reasonable postage cost.

Attached are some files with output from various commands showing something of what the unit is doing.

Regards
Terry

[Wayne Abroue]

> --

Hi Terry

Try removing option 'network' 'wifi0'
Thus removing the interface from the firewall.

Another thing, do the logs mention anything about mtu? Amazingly on
one unit I had to raise the mtu to a higher rate for some weird
reason.

Wayne

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne

The attached file contains my current config files for network, wireless and batman-adv, as well as output from ifconfig, iwconfig, dmesg and batctl o

Hopefully this will give you an idea of the operational state of the unit.

As you will see from the ifconfig command, the wlan0 interface is sending and receiving traffic. This is going to a nearby MP similarly configured.

But batman-adv is still not happy.

I noted that the version of batman on the MP is different as follows:
MP
B.A.T.M.A.N. adv 2011.0.0
WL703N
B.A.T.M.A.N. adv 2011.3.1

Any suggestions welcome.

Regards

Terry

[Wayne Abroue]

Here u go:
As per log

batman_adv: bat0: The MTU of interface wlan0 is too small (1527) to
handle the transport of batman-adv packets. Packets going over this
interface will be fragmented on layer2 which could impact the
performance. Setting the MTU to 1528 would solve the problem.

I found 1528 still didnt do it, but just raise it in config/network
until the warning goes away.

YMMV ( I didn't really investigate, but I could send it to the BAT-DEV
list to get a answer.)

Wayne

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne

I tried changing the MTU with ifconfig command on both TP-Link and MP to 1528 and it behaved just the same.

So I thought the entry was more of a warning about a potential performance problem than a fatal error.

Is it possible to change the MTU value permanently ie so that it boots with a newvalue?

Regards
Terry

[T Gillett]

Oops - of course - it is in the network config file.

What value did you need to increase it to to solve your problem?

[Wayne Abroue]

> --

Can't remember offhand, I since changed the build, but it was about
153* , The warning did cause batman to seem like it's working but it
did not work until I changed the value.
All I can remember is , I changed until the warning disappeared, then
it was fine.

Wayne

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne
I set the MTU to 1550 on both TP and MP devices which removes the error message from dmesg but still no connectivity.
Regards
Terry

[Wayne Abroue]

Terry
I did not change it on the working mesh side at all, and it def wasn't
that high, Did you move up slowly? I recall it was some where in the
30's.

However, I see wr703 is now integrated into trunk, maybe try compiling
your own with a older version of batman-adv. Could be a version
incompatibility issue. I've posted to Bat-dev.

Hope I can get a unit soon,
Cheers
Wayne

[Wayne Abroue]

O.T

If you think the 703 was great, check this out, the possibilities are
becoming endless.

http://www.volumerates.com/product/tp-link-wr710n-mini-pocketable-11n-150-mbps-wireless-broadband-router-with-dual-lan-connectors-101283

Who votes for a small gateway to service a small # of MP's ?

Wayne

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne

Indeed. The dual ethernet ports will be very handy.

I think we will be able to run the essentially same firmware on the 701 as we are putting together for the 703.
The only limitation I see with the 701 is that it is mains powered, which may not suit all circumstances.
However a small hardware hack to bring out the 5v power connection is not out of the question.

We just have to get the 703 to work on the mesh, get a VAP interface going, get USB memory working and set up Asterisk on it.  Should be done by lunch time!!

I have the SECN web interface running on it now. I'll post a tarball shortly.

Terry

Wayne

[Wayne Abroue]

> We just have to get the 703 to work on the mesh, get a VAP interface going,
> get USB memory working and set up Asterisk on it.  Should be done by lunch
> time!!

Seems you've solved all the mesh and Vap challenges, care to
divulge,,, Or some Friday humour for us?

Enjoy!

[T Gillett]

Just Friday humour I'm afraid.

What I should have written was:

We just have to get the 703 to work on the mesh, get a VAP interface going,
get USB memory working and set up Asterisk on it.

How hard can it be?

Lunchtime next Friday, or the one after that perhaps.

However I am confident that we will collectively nail all these issues once a few more experienced hands are on the job :-)

At present I am stumped on the mesh issue, so I thought I would move on to something more productive.

--

[Wayne Abroue]

On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 11:46 AM, T Gillett <tgil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just Friday humour I'm afraid.
>
> What I should have written was:
>
> We just have to get the 703 to work on the mesh, get a VAP interface going,
> get USB memory working and set up Asterisk on it.
> How hard can it be?
>
> Lunchtime next Friday, or the one after that perhaps.
>
> However I am confident that we will collectively nail all these issues once
> a few more experienced hands are on the job :-)
>
> At present I am stumped on the mesh issue, so I thought I would move on to
> something more productive.
>
>

Terry

Have you tried to compile from a fresh openwrt build checkout?

Marek from the bat-adv dev list opines thus:

> We had some bugs in the 2011.3.0 release which led to connection issues,
> therefore we released 2011.3.1. However, the originator list was unaffected.
> You might want to give it a try.

Good luck
Wayne

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne
I think you are right. A clean build environment for the TP devices will help sort out the issues and we are working on that now. Also I should have some extra TP devices soon so we can test with same firmware and package versions even before we start building new firmware.
Do you plan to use the TP devices at all?
Regards
Terry

[Wayne Abroue]

Yep, I'm still waiting on dave, if not I'll try to get somewhere. I did try to build a old version with trunk for u to try, but ran into a few challenges, Batctl errors, I'll try again, and send the package. 

[Dave Duchesneau]

Hi Wayne,

 

I just need physical addresses to ship to.  I believe the last suggested recipients were Wayne, Keith, and Elektra, but I could be wrong.  Shipping addresses can be emailed privately to d...@crisis-force.org.  I’ll be shipping from the USA, but the TP-Link units came from Hong Kong.

 

Dave Duchesneau

d...@crisis-force.org

 

---

From: village-...@googlegroups.com [mailto:village-...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Wayne Abroue
Sent: Sunday, November 06, 2011 11:02 PM
To: village-...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [vt-dev] Re: Small Linux Appliance - TP-Link TL-WR703N

 

Yep, I'm still waiting on dave, if not I'll try to get somewhere. I did try to build a old version with trunk for u to try, but ran into a few challenges, Batctl errors, I'll try again, and send the package. 

[Wayne Abroue]

On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 5:16 PM, Dave Duchesneau <d...@crisis-force.org> wrote:
> Hi Wayne,
>
>
>
> I just need physical addresses to ship to.  I believe the last suggested
> recipients were Wayne, Keith, and Elektra, but I could be wrong.  Shipping
> addresses can be emailed privately to d...@crisis-force.org.  I’ll be
> shipping from the USA, but the TP-Link units came from Hong Kong.

PM sent

Thank you

[elektra]

> PM sent

ditto.

Elektra

[Keith Williamson]

ditto ditto..

-Keith

On Nov 7, 8:39 am, elektra <onel...@gmx.net> wrote:
> > PM sent
>
> ditto.
>
> Elektra

[Wayne Abroue]

Hi Terry

Uninstall kmod-batman-adv and try this latest version.
I've compiled it with trunk, so it should work.

Wayne

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne
Thanks for this.
Just a sanity check - should I install this on both MP and TP units in the test mesh?
Regards
Terry

[Wayne Abroue]

TP only,

[Wayne Abroue]

On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 4:56 PM, Wayne Abroue <ple...@gmail.com> wrote:
> TP only,
>
> On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 2:27 PM, T Gillett <tgil...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Wayne
>> Thanks for this.
>> Just a sanity check - should I install this on both MP and TP units in the
>> test mesh?
>> Regards
>> Terry

TP only,

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne

Not so good I am afraid. Installed OK but on reboot the unit is a brick.

Ping works for a second or so at the end of the boot up process, but then there is no networking going on.

Terry

[Wayne Abroue]

On Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 2:34 PM, T Gillett <tgil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Wayne
>
> Not so good I am afraid. Installed OK but on reboot the unit is a brick.
>
> Ping works for a second or so at the end of the boot up process, but then
> there is no networking going on.
>
> Terry
>
>

Strange, did u enable and set the config? but read this thread,
recovery explained
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=31729
Hopefully I'll be getting mine soon,

Wayne

[elektra]

Hi Terry -

I am replying to the list, since the information can be interesting for others.

> If I recall correctly you mentioned in one of your emails that you had
> recovered your TP Link boards via the serial port.
>
> Would you be able to point me to a HowTo document that shows how to go
> about this, and any particular hints for TP Link units.

There are a few options for de-bricking a OpenWRT device.

If it is a configuration failure, you might get access to the device via the OpenWRT failsafe method. The procedure is explained here:

http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/generic.failsafe

However, for advanced firmware work you will always need a serial port to talk to the serial console of the device. It is a integral part of the toolkit of a firmware developer. Even more so, if the OpenWRT firmware does not check a hardware key during the bootup process. So you never might get into failsave without the help of a serial console.

Unlike the MP the TP-L 703 comes with the U-Boot bootloader. All TP-Link devices that I came accross do not support connecting to the bootloader via telnet or http. You need a serial port in order to talk to the bootloader and trigger a firmware update via tftp.

Usually the pins to access the serial port are not populated by the manufacturer on the pcb. You need some pin header pins and sockets (usually 2.54mm grid) from an electronics store, solder wire and a solder iron, as well as a mini drilling machine (Proxxon, Dremel...) and a 1 mm drill. Or better: You know a electronics technician that will do the required steps for you.

You should now have three additional pins on the pcb: Ground, TX and RX.

Now we have one more small hurdle to overcome: The RS232 port on a uC (microcontroller) board usually only has 3.3 Volt levels. The RS232 port of a PC however uses -5 Volt / + 5 Volt at least for the binary 0 and 1 signals on the serial interface. This is where a level shifter comes in. A level shifter will adapt the uC serial port levels to the RS232 levels of a PC.

You can get a data cable for a old mobile phone, since these also had to use RS232 and include a level shifter. Chances are that you already have that lying around somewhere. A electronics store may also sell a generic circuitry that includes a USB-to-serial-converter which operates on uC levels. Another option is to solder a level shifter on a bread board.

There are a number of IC chips that do it. The IC MAX232 takes a single 5 Volt supply (I use this solution and connect it to a USB port) and a few external components to do the magic. There is another MAX232 version which only needs 3.3 Volt.

http://www.societyofrobots.com/microcontroller_uart.shtml

Next you need a terminal program. The Linux recommendation is minicom. Now you can talk to the serial console of the darn WiFi device :)

Last but not least you need to set up a tftp server on your PC, if you want to reflash devices from the bootloader.

Cheers,
Elektra

[Wayne Abroue]

Hi According to the guys already busy with the TP.

To enter failsafe mode:

1. Reboot (Power Down and then UP) the router
2. When the blue LED starts flashing, press the RESET (inside the tiny
hole next to the mini-usb)
3. Stop pressing the RESET when the blue LED starts flashing quickly

At this time the router is in failsafe mode.

4. telnet 192.168.1.1. It will take you to the root prompt.
5. Enter "firstboot" at the prompt to reset the router to default
6. Reboot.

Serial connection:

As already pointed out, TP_In is Rx and TP_Out is Tx.

GND is any GND point.

Takes a bit of soldering skills though.

Wayne

[elektra]

Hi Wayne -

good to know that failsafe mode works already!

> 4. telnet 192.168.1.1. It will take you to the root prompt.
> 5. Enter "firstboot" at the prompt to reset the router to default

Another option is to mount the root filesystem read/write and fix the configuration mistake(s) by performing:

mount_root

Cheers,
Elektra

[T Gillett]

Wayne, Elektra

Many thanks for the advice. OpenWrt Failsafe mode has worked just fine.
I now have it back to the telnet session so all should be good.

Regards
Terry

[T Gillett]

So after a small diversion via OpenWrt Recovery, back to the problem of why the TP unit won't work on the mesh.

Since we can see tx and rx traffic in the output of ifconfig on both MP and TP units, it would seem to indicate that the issue is at the batman layer.

The MP version of batman-adv is earlier than that on the MP and Wayne has suggested that this is a possible cause of the issue.

As I only have one TP unit at present (the others are still swimming across the ocean from HK) , I can't test whether two TP units will mesh together.

It would be good to get packages for both devices built to the same version, presumably the latest known stable version.

Elektra
Would it be possible to compile the package for the MP at the same or better version as is used in the TP build?
Or would it be better to build the package for the TP unit at the same version as the MP since we know that one works?

Wayne
When I installed the package you built, I made sure the config files were set up correctly (ie same as for previous) before I rebooted, so I don't think that was the issue. The unit responded to pings ok for a second or so at the end of the flashing led boot up period. So my conclusion is that something upset the networking operation late in the boot sequence, presumably the new package.

Is it worth having a look at the build config to see if there is some problem there?

As I am not set up to build these packages I greatly appreciate your collective help with this.

Regards
Terry

[Wayne Abroue]

Great, Seems these WRT-devs don't have any social life, How they
figure out all these undocumented tricks is beyond me.

Wayne

[Wayne Abroue]

Terry

Hi Terry

I'll give it another go, this time, getting the MP up to latest stable.

What wrt version are you running on each, and what are the current Bat
versions on both units?

Wayne

[T Gillett]

Hi Wayne
Here are the relevant opkg list outputs
Regards
Terry

Mesh Potato
root@MP-32:~# opkg list | grep batman
afrimesh-batman-adv - 1.0pre-r1078-1 - Afrimesh for B.A.T.M.A.N. Layer-II wireless mesh networks
batmand - r1483-1 - B.A.T.M.A.N. layer 3 routing daemon
kmod-batman-adv - 2.6.26.3+2011.0.0-atheros-1 -
root@MP-32:~#

WR703N
root@OpenWrt:~# opkg list | grep batman
kmod-batman-adv - 2.6.39.4+2011.3.1-1
root@OpenWrt:~#

Wayne

[elektra]

Hi all -

I have compiled a more recent version of the batman-adv kernel module for the MP - attached. It is not the latest, but I did not see any issues with this version. I can also compile this version for the TP-Link, so if the issues are in fact related to the differences in the batman-adv version - and not problems with the ath9k WiFi driver - we can downgrade to 2011-2.0. Unfortunately support for Linux kernels earlier than 2.6.29 has been dropped after this batman-adv version, since there have been changes in the Linux networking infrastructure. Currently the MP firmware is running 2.6.26.3

So I could either manually patch each upcoming release of batman-adv or we switch to a more recent kernel with the MP. This actually calls for a kernel update for the MP firmware, I think.

Cheers,
Elektra

[T Gillett]

Hello All

I have made a little progress with teh batman-adv issue on teh TP units.

The good news is that I now have two TP devices working correctly, batman-adv is working!!!

I can see each device from the other and when one is attached to the LAN via Ethernet the other can access the internet.

If however I attach both TP devices to the LAN via Ethernet, all hell breaks loose and there is a small storm of IP traffic.
Something amiss there.

Still not talking to the MP but next step is to try Elektra's new batman-adv package on the MP, and fire up a third TP.

Regards
Terry

[T Gillett]

Hi Elektra et al

I have updated the batman-adv package on the MP with the new one you sent but still no luck with the interoperability with the TP devices I'm afraid.

The TP units are working together on the mesh, and there is traffic flowing between them and the MP device, but no interop at the batman level.

The attached file shows the configs in use in case you can see anything amiss.

As far as I can see all the configs look compatible.
The only really obvious difference is the batman-adv version numbers between the TP and MP devices as follows:

Mesh potato
kmod-batman-adv - 2.6.26.3+2011.2.0-atheros-1 -

WR703N
kmod-batman-adv - 2.6.39.4+2011.3.1-1

Perhaps the next step is to compile the same version of batman-adv for the TP and I can test that.

Any other suggestions welcome.

Regards
Terry

[Dave Duchesneau]

Hi Tom,

 

Do you have a way to log the to/from IP addresses observed in the IP traffic?  Are the devices trying to probe the LAN?  The upstream WAN?  Trying to call home?

 

Dave Duchesneau

d...@crisis-force.net

 

 

---

From: village-...@googlegroups.com [mailto:village-...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of T Gillett
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 2:30 PM
To: village-...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [vt-dev] Re: Small Linux Appliance - TP-Link TL-WR703N

 

Hello All

--

[Michael Stöcker]

2011/11/11 T Gillett <tgil...@gmail.com>:

> Mesh potato
> kmod-batman-adv - 2.6.26.3+2011.2.0-atheros-1 -
>
> WR703N
> kmod-batman-adv - 2.6.39.4+2011.3.1-1

read the batman-adv developer list or the changelog. these two
versions are known to be not compatible. yout need 2011.2.0 on MP
_and_ tplink or 2011.3.1 on both...

[Keith Williamson]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for that confirmation! We've been suspecting that.

We are (as we speak) in the process of trying to get 2.6.26.3+2011.2.0
working on the WR703N with trunk.

Cheers,

Keith

On Nov 11, 12:40 pm, Michael Stöcker <michael.stoec...@googlemail.com>
wrote:
> 2011/11/11 T Gillett <tgill...@gmail.com>:

[T Gillett]

Hi Michael
Thanks for the info. We have the same versions running now and still some problems.
Regards
Terry

[T Gillett]

Hello All

For those interested in using the TP Link WR703N device, due to a lot of hard work and late nights by Keith and Elektra,  we now have a prototype build that interoperates correctly with Mesh Potatoes and also runs an Access Point. So pretty much an MP without the phone subsystem.

One important point: the BSSID used for the mesh cell identification has to be changed from the default MP one starting with 01: ...  to 02: ...  

So mesh interoperability with existing MP devices will require the MP devices to have their BSSID changed. For the SECN 2 firmware we will make this the default setting as it seems to be a requirement for some newer devices.

The SECN configuration web interface has also been ported to the TP device.

The 703 device also supports multiple USB memory devices which can be used to store additional packages such as Asterisk that won't fit in the basic flash memory space, and local data such as web content that can be served directly from the device.

We expect to be able to post beta firmware files for flashing TP devices, and for SECN 2 on the MP, over the next week or so once we have tidied up a few loose ends (and got some sleep).

Regards
Terry

[elektra]

Hello -

> One important point: the BSSID used for the mesh cell identification has to
> be changed from the default MP one starting with 01: ... to 02: ...

one more word on this: I have been told that the least significant bit in the first byte of the cell-id is not allowed to be 1, since the cell-id might be seen as a broadcast cell-id. I have not noticed any problems related to this so far, but OpenWRT is now enforcing this policy. So there is a problem now. Well, it might lead to a real-life hard to debug problem one day.

If the least significant bit of the first byte is 1, OpenWRT will not enable the ad-hoc interface.

So, 02:... in binary is:

00000010

- this is fine, since the least significant bit is 0.

01:... in binary is:

00000001

- this is now ignored by OpenWRT, since the least significant bit is 1.

So we can use 00: 02: 04: 06: 08: and so on, any even number. Or we use 02: and vary the CA:FF:EE:BA:BE part. CA:FF:EE:BA:BE is popular, because it is human readable and memorable. We can make a brainstorm about easy to remember cell-ids :) Obviously we can use ABCDEF, 0=O,1=I and with a bit of phantasy other numbers...

One word of caution:

If you don't want cells to merge that you don't want to merge the cell-id *must* be different.

A last word:

If you don't care about this or don't want to reconfigure all the existing nodes in your mesh you can still create an ad-hoc interface with the least significant bit being one with OpenWRT trunk, by first creating a cell-id which is accepted and then setting it to 01: with iwconfig:

iwconfig ath0 ap 01:CA:FF:EE:BA:BE

iwconfig does not care about this.

Cheers,
Elektra

[Meftah Tayeb]

great things Elektra :)

Hello -

00000010

00000001

One word of caution:

A last word:

Cheers,
Elektra

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[Dave Duchesneau]

Kudos to Keith, Elektra, and Terry, and any others who were in on this!  You rock!

 

Let me be the first to congratulate you!  Besides getting theses devices to play nice, the fringe benefit from finding and highlighting the broadcast bit problem is that future ports may be easier.  This is actually a giant step forward toward device interoperability.

 

Dave Duchesneau

d...@crisis-force.org

 

---

[T Gillett]

Hello All

This really touches on the subject of how we move forward and maintain a reasonable degree of compatibility with existing equipment and installations.

The BSSID issue is not too troublesome in that it is a somewhat artificial constraint and can be worked around in the field with the iwconfig command if necessary.
However if the convention is to use only even numbers, then in the long run it will be less trouble to honor the convention and use 02: ...

The more troublesome thing is the version of batman-adv.
Elektra has built a version for the TP box that matches the older version used in the MP01 and this is fine up to a point.
When the next new 'must-have' device comes along, we will have to do the same thing.

It would be better to be able to use a more current version for ease of availability in a build, and for the improved functionality of an up to date version. This of course reverses the situation, and so the issue is about upgrading the firmware for the MP01 device to incorporate a current version of batman-adv.

How difficult will it be to update the firmware of the MP01 to use the later batman-adv?

I think Elektra also mentioned in an earlier post that if we did this we should also look at updating the kernel version.
How much work is likely to be involved in this?
Will this cause issues with things like the telephony subsystem and its drivers for example?

As we are in the process of putting together the firmware for SECN 2.0 for the MP01, TP WR703N and other devices such as Nanos, I would be interested in hearing from others as to how we should address these issues.

At one extreme, we could decide that SECN 2.0 will use a default BSSID of 02: ... and a current version of batman-adv, which would mean taking on the work of updating the MP01 firmware, but would be easier for porting to other devices.

At the other extreme, we could stay with what works in the MP01, which would be easy for the moment, but makes it more difficult to port to other devices.

The initial beta SECN 2.0 firmware that we putting together now for MP and TP devices will default to a BSSID of 02: ... and use the older batman-adv.

For compatibility with existing MP01 devices in the field, the BSSID will have to be changed on either the new devices (possibly with iwconfig) or on the the existing MP01 devices.
Alternatively, existing MP01 devices can be reflashed to the SECN 2.0 firmware.

All comments, suggestions and feedback welcome.

Regards
Terry

[Song, Stephen]

Terry, Keith, Elektra,

Tenacity! Completely inspiring tenacity in breaking down every
obstacle that came up and there were more than a few. Kudos to all
three of you.

That confirms the AR9331 chip as a viable platform.

Cheers... Steve

--
Steve Song
http://manypossibilities.net
http://villagetelco.org

[Dave Duchesneau]

Hi Terry and all,

 

Thanks for the nice summary of the situation.

 

Ø       At one extreme, …SECN 2.0 … BSSID of 02: ...

Ø       and a current version of batman-adv,

Ø       which would mean… updating the MP01 firmware,

Ø       but would be easier for porting to other devices.

Ø       …

Ø       At the other extreme, …stay with MP01… easy for the moment,

Ø       but …more difficult to port to other devices.

 

If I had a vote, I’d vote for the longer view (i.e., get things in sync so that VT can take advantage of the work of other development communities, and vice-versa).

 

That’s my two cents’ worth.

 

Dave Duchesneau

d...@crisis-force.org

 

---

From: village-...@googlegroups.com [mailto:village-...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of T Gillett

Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 7:28 PM
To: village-...@googlegroups.com

--

[Song, Stephen]

I also support the long view. The installed base of SECN firmware
users is not so huge that this is a massive drawback. Better to nip
it in the bud now.

Cheers... Steve

--

[Paul Gardner-Stephen]

Hi All,

I know it isn't vital for VT, but it is worth pointing out that batman-
adv is not likely to be feasible on mobile phones (android, Symbian
S60, iPhone or Windows Mobile 7), as it requires kernel modules/
drivers that are not built in (and the kernels are different versions
on every phone) or simply not available for the platform. So from
that perspective there is merit in keeping a layer 3 interface.

Paul.

On Nov 15, 9:08 am, "Dave Duchesneau" <d...@crisis-force.org> wrote:
> Hi Terry and all,
>
> Thanks for the nice summary of the situation.
>

> *       At one extreme, .SECN 2.0 . BSSID of 02: ...
>
> *       and a current version of batman-adv,
>
> *       which would mean. updating the MP01 firmware,
>
> *       but would be easier for porting to other devices.
>
> *       .
>
> *       At the other extreme, .stay with MP01. easy for the moment,
>
> *       but .more difficult to port to other devices.

>
> If I had a vote, I'd vote for the longer view (i.e., get things in sync so
> that VT can take advantage of the work of other development communities, and
> vice-versa).
>
> That's my two cents' worth.
>
> Dave Duchesneau
>
> d...@crisis-force.org
>
>   _____
>

[Wayne Abroue]

On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 7:08 AM, Paul Gardner-Stephen
<paul.gardn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I know it isn't vital for VT, but it is worth pointing out that batman-
> adv is not likely to be feasible on mobile phones (android, Symbian
> S60, iPhone or Windows Mobile 7), as it requires kernel modules/
> drivers that are not built in (and the kernels are different versions
> on every phone) or simply not available for the platform.  So from
> that perspective there is merit in keeping a layer 3 interface.
>
> Paul.
>

Paul
Good call, I will be doing some testing to have bat-adv on the mesh,
with batmand (L3) on the VAP AP,

In theory this should work fine, It just hasn't been tested enough for
feasibility yet.

Watch this space!

Wayne A

[T Gillett]

Sounds like a good plan.
I have been wondering for a while whether there is a way to run batman in SECN so that there is a Layer 3 interface available.

[T Gillett]

Oops hit the button too soon...

Sounds like a good plan.
I have been wondering for a while whether there is a way to run batman in SECN so that there is a Layer 3 interface available.

It may be that we can run it on one specially configured node and make it available across the mesh via Layer 2, just like any other Layer 3 protocol.

regards
Terry

[Wayne Abroue]

On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 8:22 AM, T Gillett <tgil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Oops hit the button too soon...
>
> Sounds like a good plan.
> I have been wondering for a while whether there is a way to run batman in
> SECN so that there is a Layer 3 interface available.
> It may be that we can run it on one specially configured node and make it
> available across the mesh via Layer 2, just like any other Layer 3 protocol.
>

Simpler, better, faster! I'll be sure to test that!

Wayne

[T Gillett]

If that works it means that a SECN network can support both softphones and serval based phones which would be a nicely complete offering.

[elektra]

Hi -

running batmand and batman-adv together would be no problem.

With regards to the kernel version issue: I have already started on getting the MP to work with the latest kernel
of OpenWRT trunk. But that might take a while to complete.

I'm also working on improving the scalability and performance of batmand, thanks to the support of Paul and a grant
from the Dutch NGO nlnet.nl.

My server is running again, will upload the backup as soon as I have sufficient bandwidth. (I am currently depending
on 3G with traffic limit). So batman-adv images for ath9k based WiFi devices will be available soon.

Cheers,
Elektra

--
Viral meme of radical freedom

The fact that you talk in your head doesn't mean that you think.

The best way to lose control over yourself is trying to control yourself.

Most people experience themselves as a voice in their head, telling them
who they are, what they think and what they have to do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme

[Paul Gardner-Stephen]

Hi,

Actually, there is still a bit of a problem with this approach, in
that serval phones will want to be on the adhoc mesh as well.
This would currently require running BATMAN and BATMAN-adv on the same
logical, wifi interface, but I don't think that's a problem.
In the longer term the planned overlay mesh in Serval will remove the
need for BATMAN in parallel with BATMAN-adv on a BATMAN-adv oriented
network.
Bottom line is the L2+L3 solution should work for Serval
interoperability now.

Meanwhile, here at the Shuttleworth Foundation gathering we have been
demoing some new features in Serval that we will share with you once I
finish editing the video (which unfortunately is not ideal).

Paul.

On Nov 16, 7:55 am, Wayne Abroue <plet...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 7:08 AM, Paul Gardner-Stephen
>

> <paul.gardner.step...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi All,
>
> > I know it isn't vital for VT, but it is worth pointing out that batman-

> > adv is not likely to be feasible on mobilephones(android, Symbian

[T Gillett]

Hello All

For those interested in working with the TP WR703N devices, I have posted up a number of alpha firmware images to the Village Telco Downloads area.

Pending re-arrangement of the Downloads area, they are located at:
    http://villagetelco.org/download/tmp/firmware/secn/tp-wr703n/unstable/

There are four images:
1. MeshTest - built by Elektra with batman-adv which inter-operates with MP devices and supports the Luci-mini webif. There is also a SECN patch tarball that you can apply to add the SECN interface and functions.
(This is a sysupgrade image so must be applied to a device already flashed with a factory upgrade image)

2. OpenWrt - the original image from the OpenWrt site. This is a factory upgrade image so can be used to flash from the original Chinese language firmware. There are also some notes on how to do the flash.
This firmware provides a command line interface.

3. SECN-Factory-Flash - built by Keith as an alpha SECN build. This version supports a later version of batman-adv and
will mesh in ad-hoc mode with equivalent devices but is not compatible with current MP devices.
USB memory support is available.
This is a factory upgrade image so can be used to flash from the original Chinese language firmware.

4. SECN-Sysupgrade - as above, but a version to be used with the sysupgrade  command line utility on a unit already flashed with an OpenWrt based firmware.

Regards
Terry

[T Gillett]

Just to let you know that we are currently working with the WR710N device and it's not looking too promising at this point as it seems that it may only have 2M Flash and 16M RAM and so too small for OpenWrt

On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 6:19 PM, Wayne Abroue <ple...@gmail.com> wrote:

O.T

If you think the 703 was great, check this out, the possibilities are
becoming endless.

http://www.volumerates.com/product/tp-link-wr710n-mini-pocketable-11n-150-mbps-wireless-broadband-router-with-dual-lan-connectors-101283

Who votes for a small gateway to service a small # of MP's ?

[Breno Jacinto]

Hello Terry,

   That's a pitty, but thank you very much for this information.

best regards,
---> Breno Jacinto
---> Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Alagoas (IFAL)
-----> http://www.ifal.edu.br
--> Instituto Nacional do Conhecimento e da Inclusão Sócio-Digital
-----> http://www.iconis.org.br
---> Life is Choice. You can choose to be a victim, or anything else you want to be. (Sócrates - Peaceful Warrior) <--

CAMPANHA ACABE COM O SPAM:
1. Proteja o meu endereço e o de seus amigos como estou protegendo o seu.
2. Ao enviar mensagens, use SEMPRE o "Cco" (cópia oculta) ou "Bcc" (blind carbon copy). Assim, TODOS os endereços estarão preservados.
3. E, claro, antes de encaminhar um e-mail, delete todas as informações que apareçam no corpo do e-mail e que possam ser usadas (SPAM) por SPAMMERS.

2011/11/28 T Gillett <tgil...@gmail.com>

[T Gillett]

Hi Breno
It may yet turn out OK. When we dismantled the unit completely we found an additional flash memory chip which looks like it may give the same specs as the 703. Just setting up to pull the boot log out to see what is really going on inside.
Will post again when we have more info.
Regards
Terry

[Graham S. Jarvis]

Hello all,

does anyone know the difference between the TL-WR703N and the TL-MR3020
(http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=218&model=TL-MR3020)

I don't find anything concrete on openwrt.org

Thanks,

-Graham-

[T Gillett]

HI Graham

My only thought on it after looking into the WR710N, is that you will probably have to get one and check it out. At least it will have an English language web interface rather than Chinese so that may make it a bit easier. (Google translate is wonderful, but...)

It seems that TP-Link have quite a variety in the hardware and software configurations within devices that appear on the outside to be closely related. It seems that they may also change the internal configuration of memory in the 'same' device depending on whether it is intended to be sold in China or exported.

Be prepared to open the device up to check the memory chips, and to monitor the ttl serial port which requires some serious micro-soldering or probe attachment as the pads are very small.

Regards
Terry

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[Keith Williamson]

I just picked up one of these at Fry's Electronics for $39.99.
Although from photos they appear to be the same size with just an
added mode switch and additional LEDs, they're actually quite a bit
larger. The WR703-N is 56mm x 56mm x 17mm whereas the MR3020 is 73mm x
66mm x 21mm. Physical port arrangement is the same with the addition
of the 3G/WISP/AP mode switch added just to the left of the ethernet
port. On the top are leds for power, internet, wifi, and 3G along with
a push button switch for WPS setup. Also, they went with a mini-USB
power connector vs the micro-USB power connector used on the 703.

Spec-wise, same 4MB flash and 32MB memory. Same chipset. Should work
with the current OpenWRT build we've been creating for SECN support
with the exception of the GPIO mappings for the leds and switches.
There is already a MR3020 wiki and forum thread on OpenWRT and the
GPIO mapping has been done as a patch. A small nicety for some of us,
there is an actual 4-pin header for serial under the cover.

I'm still playing with the factory firmware on this unit but will stop
at Fry's on the way home and grab up another to reflash, perhaps brick
(and then add external serial "headphone" jack), with the goal of
having a minor variant of the 703 firmware for SECN. At least here in
the US, the convenience of getting them from your local Fry's
outweighs the 80% higher price.

Also, we could utilize the mode switch and leds for all sorts of
nefarious ends!

Are they popping up in any stores outside the U.S.?

Cheers,

Keith

On Dec 6 2011, 1:27 pm, T Gillett <tgill...@gmail.com> wrote:
> HI Graham
>
> My only thought on it after looking into the WR710N, is that you will
> probably have to get one and check it out. At least it will have an English
> language web interface rather than Chinese so that may make it a bit
> easier. (Google translate is wonderful, but...)
>
> It seems that TP-Link have quite a variety in the hardware and software
> configurations within devices that appear on the outside to be closely
> related. It seems that they may also change the internal configuration of
> memory in the 'same' device depending on whether it is intended to be sold
> in China or exported.
>
> Be prepared to open the device up to check the memory chips, and to monitor
> the ttl serial port which requires some serious micro-soldering or probe
> attachment as the pads are very small.
>
> Regards
> Terry
>

> On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 6:09 AM, Graham S. Jarvis <gsjar...@adsoft.lu> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hello all,
>
> > does anyone know the difference between the TL-WR703N and the TL-MR3020

> > (http://www.tp-link.com/en/**products/details/?categoryid=**
> > 218&model=TL-MR3020<http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=218&model=TL-M...>
> > )

>
> > I don't find anything concrete on openwrt.org
>
> > Thanks,
>
> > -Graham-
>
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
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> > .

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> > group/village-telco-dev?hl=en<http://groups.google.com/group/village-telco-dev?hl=en>
> > .

[T Gillett]

Hi Keith
I found them in Singapore last week for $S49 which is about the same price as you are seeing in Frys.
Regards
Terry

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[Soumaila M Boukar]

Hello how are you doing, i am having problem with tplink cant get webif on it when i type 192.168.1.1 it show me blank page.
thank you

On Sat, Oct 29, 2011 at 6:19 PM, T Gillett <tgil...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello All

For anyone interested in getting started with one of these TP-Link TL-WR703N devices, following is a brief HowTo on getting it going with OpenWRT.

Regards
Terry


A. Flashing the TL-WR703N
-----------------------------------------
The device can be reflashed using the web interface of the device.
As shipped from the factory, the web user interface is in Chinese language, but it is fairly easy to find the
firmware up load page.
The OpenWRT firmware image can be downloaded from here:

http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin

1. Power the device up and connect a PC configured so it can see the device on its default IP address on 192.168.1.1
2. Point your web browser to this address to get the login page. Credentials are 'admin' and 'admin'
3. When you are logged in, select the last item from the menu on the left.
4. Select from the sub-menu items till you find the page for firmware upload.
   The URL is http://192.168.1.1/userRpm/SoftwareUpgradeRpm.htm
   It will show a text box to specify the file to be uploaded. A screen shot is attached.
   Be careful as there is a similar page that is for uploading a saved configuration page.
5. Click on the button to the right of the text box to start the upgrade process.
6. The process takes a few minutes, then the device will restart (blue LED flashes).
7. After the device has restarted (the blue LED stops flashing and is steady on) you should be able to telnet to 192.168.1.1

B. Using OpenWRT and Webif
--------------------------------------------
1. Telnet to default address of 192.168.1.1
2. Set the root password and exit
3. SSH to 192.168.1.1
4. Edit /etc/config/network to set IP, gateway and dns so it can get to the internet through your LAN. Example file below.
5. Restart the box and ssh back in.
6. Run the following commands:
  # opkg update
  # opkg install webif
  # openssh-sftp-server
7. Rename  /etc/httpd.conf to  httpd.conf.bak
    (This removes login from web i/f which doesn't work)
8. Copy  /etc/init.d/webif to  webif.bak
9. Edit /etc/init.d/webif to just the basic entries to start and stop uhttpd as shown below.
10. Stop the web server with:
    # killall uhtpd
  Start the web server:  
    # /etc/init.d/webif start
11. Point your browser to the device address to get the XWRT page.
12. Select Network/Wireless from the menu to set up the wireless configuration.
The AP mode works for me but I can't get the Client or Ad Hoc modes working as yet.
13. Reboot to check that the web server and AP come up correctly.
14. Browse to the file system from Nautilus (in Ubuntu)
    Select   Places/Connect to Server/
    Select SSH
    Enter IP of the TPLink device
    Enter Username 'root'
    Click Connect and enter root password when prompted


-----------------------------
# /etc/config/network

config 'interface' 'loopback'
    option 'ifname' 'lo'
    option 'proto' 'static'
    option 'ipaddr' '127.0.0.1'
    option 'netmask' '255.0.0.0'

config 'interface' 'lan'
    option 'ifname' 'eth0'
    option 'type' 'bridge'
    option 'proto' 'static'
    option 'ipaddr' '192.168.1.201'
    option 'netmask' '255.255.255.0'
    option 'dns' '8.8.8.8'
    option 'gateway' '192.168.1.254'

--------------------------------
#!/bin/sh /etc/rc.common
#
#  /etc/init.d/webif

START=90

start() {
uhttpd -p 80 -h /www &
}

stop() {
killall uhttpd

[elektra]

Hi -

> Hello how are you doing, i am having problem with tplink cant get webif on
> it when i type 192.168.1.1 it show me blank page.

use https:// instead of http://

Cheers,
Elektra

[Meftah Tayeb]

+1 elektra
you look like a pretty fast person
you replied on the speed of the light!
:P

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To: <village-...@googlegroups.com>

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[Soumaila]

Hi Elektra I try it but it telling me no such file or directory

Sent from my iPhone

[Song, Stephen]

Hi Soumaila,

Try setting your laptop to 172.31.255.xxx and browsing to the fallback
IP address at 172.31.255.254 on the MP.

Cheers... Steve

--

[T Gillett]

Hi Soumaila

Which firmware version did you flash on to the device?
What is the name of the .bin file that you used?

Also what firmware was on the device before you flashed it?

If you used sysupgrade to flash the device, did you use the -n flag?

Regards
Terry

[Soumaila M Boukar]

Hi Gill how are you doing, I flash with this http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin you send me on 10/29/2011.

thank you

--

[T Gillett]

Hi Soumaila
That is the original firmware from OpenWrt and does not have the web interface installed by default.

I have reproduced the original set up instructions if you wish to install the OpenWrt webif package, however if you wish to use it with Village Telco SECN firmware, then you can reflash the device (using the "sysupgrade" command line utility) with the current development version of the SECN-1.1 firmware from the VT Downloads web site at:

http://villagetelco.org/download/firmware/secn/unstable/tp-703n/SECN-1.1/SECN-Sysupgrade/WR703N-v1-SN1_7/

Some notes on the firmware versions are here:

http://villagetelco.org/download/firmware/secn/unstable/tp-703n/SECN-1.1/SECN-Sysupgrade/VERSIONS-TP.txt

If you use this firmware you will need to log in with the 'admin' account with password 'admin', then set the 'root' account password to be able to use the root account.

If you browse to the Fallback address, you should see the SECN web interface.

[Plucky Duck]

Hi there.

I got one of these in China for a couple of bucks and, as it only brought the Chinese GUI installed, I decided to give OpenWRT a go, by following the tutorial here. The only difference here is that I installed luci as a web interface instead, as I read a couple of nicer reviews about it.

Currently I have a working installation of OpenWRT, but I cannot seem to make it work as I wanted to. My purpose was to use it in these 3 ways:

- Use it as an Access Point to broadcast a new Wifi through an existing LAN ethernet cable;

- Use it to share a 3G connection from an USB pen modem.

Can anyone guide on how to achieve this after completing this tutorial? Or should I install a different OpenWRT package instead?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Soumaila M Boukar]

thank you very much.

[Soumaila M Boukar]

Hi every one how are you doing, we have 2 questions, first question how can we erase or restore TP-LINK 703n to default (tplink is full cant do nothing), second question we want to add an external 16gb usb to TP-LINK 703n how can we start. thank you guys we really appreciate you support.

thanks again

Soumaila

[T Gillett]

Hi Soumalia
What version of firmware do you have running on the device?

When you say the device is full I assume you mean the flash memory is full because you have loaded additional packages with opkg.

The best way forward is probably to reflash the device with the SECN-1.1 firmware version SN1-7

To do this, copy the .bin  file to /tmp with scp, then execute the command
sysupgrade -v -n <filename>

This version of the firmware supports additional usb devices and is set up to allow additional packages to be installed in usb memory.

Regards
Terry

[T Gillett]

Exactly which .bin file did you use to flash the device?

The default OpenWrt image configures the device as an AP but with the wireless disabled.

Have a look at the config file /etc/config/wireless to see what the settings actually are. Also look at the network config file in the same directory to see how the network is set up.

The same info is present in the Luci web interface but is spread over several pages.

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[david hoff]

i'm trying to follow these instructions, but I don't know what a lot of the steps mean. I've floundered my way to part  B. Using OpenWRT and Webif step 4. how do i do this? i don't know how to edit it. i'm assuming i do this with the ssh connection right? also, do i just use the example file exactly? if not, where can i find an explanation of what each thing is / what to change it to?

[T Gillett]

Hi David

This brief How To was intended to allow users with some Linux embedded device familiarity to get started with the WR703N device when OpenWrt was first made available for it. It is really a bit of a hack just to get basic OpenWrt installed on the device in
Part A, as a way of installing VT firmware.

Part B is about configuring the device to connect to your LAN and installing additional firmware to provide a web based user interface. This was written before we had developed the Village Telco SECN firmware for the device and is not used for VT applications.

Can we assume you are working from a command line shell on Linux workstation?

From what you have described, you have managed to get to the point of logging in to the device using Telnet, setting the password, exiting and logging in again using SSH.
Is that correct?

So you now have a command prompt from the device  - is that correct?

If so, the next step (Part B, step 4) is about editing the network configuration file on the device using the command line 'vi' editor. The reason for doing this is to set the IP address etc so that you can connect the device to your LAN and access it via the LAN, and have the device able to access the internet via your LAN in order to download additional firmware packages.

What IP range does your LAN use, and what is the LAN gateway (router) device address?

Are you familiar with the vi editor, or do you have someone to assist who is familiar with it? (If you mess up the network configuration, you will not be able to access the device and you will have to go through a recovery process.)

The basic OpenWrt firmware that you have loaded up does not have a web interface, just a command line interface. The following steps (step 5+) are about installing the web interface provided by OpenWrt as well as the SFTP server which will allow you to view the file system on the device from your workstation file browser.

At this point it is probably worth stopping and considering just what you want to use the device for, and therefore what firmware you need to install.

Do you want to use it as a simple OpenWrt router device with the standard web user interface?

Or do you want to use it with Village Telco SECN firmware as part of a mesh network?

Regards
Terry

On Sun, Feb 5, 2012 at 8:07 AM, david hoff <david...@gmail.com> wrote:

i'm trying to follow these instructions, but I don't know what a lot of the steps mean. I've floundered my way to part  B. Using OpenWRT and Webif step 4. how do i do this? i don't know how to edit it. i'm assuming i do this with the ssh connection right? also, do i just use the example file exactly? if not, where can i find an explanation of what each thing is / what to change it to?

--

A. Flashing the TL-WR703N
-----------------------------------------

The device can be reflashed using the web interface of the device.
As shipped from the factory, the web user interface is in Chinese language, but it is fairly easy to find the
firmware up load page.
The OpenWRT firmware image can be downloaded from here:

http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin

1. Power the device up and connect a PC configured so it can see the device on its default IP address on 192.168.1.1
2. Point your web browser to this address to get the login page. Credentials are 'admin' and 'admin'
3. When you are logged in, select the last item from the menu on the left.
4. Select from the sub-menu items till you find the page for firmware upload.
   The URL is http://192.168.1.1/userRpm/SoftwareUpgradeRpm.htm
   It will show a text box to specify the file to be uploaded. A screen shot is attached.
   Be careful as there is a similar page that is for uploading a saved configuration page.
5. Click on the button to the right of the text box to start the upgrade process.
6. The process takes a few minutes, then the device will restart (blue LED flashes).
7. After the device has restarted (the blue LED stops flashing and is steady on) you should be able to telnet to 192.168.1.1

B. Using OpenWRT and Webif

--------------------------------------------
1. Telnet to default address of 192.168.1.1
2. Set the root password and exit
3. SSH to 192.168.1.1
4. Edit /etc/config/network to set IP, gateway and dns so it can get to the internet through your LAN. Example file below.
5. Restart the box and ssh back in.
6. Run the following commands:
  # opkg update
  # opkg install webif

  # opkg install openssh-sftp-server

7. Rename  /etc/httpd.conf to  httpd.conf.bak
    (This removes login from web i/f which doesn't work)
8. Copy  /etc/init.d/webif to  webif.bak
9. Edit /etc/init.d/webif to just the basic entries to start and stop uhttpd as shown below.
10. Stop the web server with:

    # killall uhttpd

  Start the web server:  
    # /etc/init.d/webif start
11. Point your browser to the device address to get the XWRT page.
12. Select Network/Wireless from the menu to set up the wireless configuration.
The AP mode works for me but I can't get the Client or Ad Hoc modes working as yet.
13. Reboot to check that the web server and AP come up correctly.
14. Browse to the file system from Nautilus (in Ubuntu)
    Select   Places/Connect to Server/
    Select SSH
    Enter IP of the TPLink device
    Enter Username 'root'
    Click Connect and enter root password when prompted

Network Config file

-----------------------------
# /etc/config/network

config 'interface' 'loopback'
    option 'ifname' 'lo'
    option 'proto' 'static'
    option 'ipaddr' '127.0.0.1'
    option 'netmask' '255.0.0.0'

config 'interface' 'lan'
    option 'ifname' 'eth0'
    option 'type' 'bridge'
    option 'proto' 'static'
    option 'ipaddr' '192.168.1.201'
    option 'netmask' '255.255.255.0'
    option 'dns' '8.8.8.8'
    option 'gateway' '192.168.1.254'

Web Interface Startup Script
-----------------------------------------

[david hoff]

I will answer to the best of my abilities, but I can now see that this project is more than I bargained for. I did make a little more progress yesterday when I stumbled upon a reference to a program called winscp that lets me see and edit the files on the router.

Q: Can we assume you are working from a command line shell on Linux workstation? 

A: I'm not quite sure what this means. I've been using a program called putty to login using SSH and another program called winscp419 to look at the files and change them (through trial and error I found I have to pick scp for file protocol). I've never done anything with linux in my life until a couple days ago when I started trying to get this working.

Q: From what you have described, you have managed to get to the point of logging in to the device using Telnet, setting the password, exiting and logging in again using SSH. Is that correct? 

A: Yes that is correct.

Q: So you now have a command prompt from the device  - is that correct?

A: Yes. I can send the device commands using putty. I've attempted to send "opkg update" and "opkg install webif" but the device can never get online.

Q: What IP range does your LAN use, and what is the LAN gateway (router) device address? 

A: My LAN uses 192.168.1.15 through 192.168.1.47 . My router's address is 192.168.1.1 .

Q: Are you familiar with the vi editor, or do you have someone to assist who is familiar with it? (If you mess up the network configuration, you will not be able to access the device and you will have to go through a recovery process.)

A: Once again, I'm clueless here. What is this "vi" business I keep seeing everywhere? I've been messing around with putty and winscp for several hours now and I don't seem to have messed up anything yet (as far as I can tell).

Q: Do you want to use it as a simple OpenWrt router device with the standard web user interface? Or do you want to use it with Village Telco SECN firmware as part of a mesh network?  

A: Mesh networks sound cool, but I think it will be a while before I'm ready to take on a challenge like that (or have a use for one). What I'm trying to do is plug a device with only ethernet into this little router and let it get online through my home wireless network. I'm sure I must have picked a much more difficult way of doing this than necessary, but it seemed like a good way to learn some things along the way.

Thank you very much for your help. I feel like a total noob here, but maybe that's because I am.

[T Gillett]

Hi David

Sounds like you have made good progress. Obviously you are using a Windows workstation, but with Putty and WinSCP you are in a good position for working with the embedded Linux boxes.

WinSCP working is good because it allows you to browse the file system and open files for editing using the native tools on your Windows machine.

This means that you won't have to use the vi command line editor, which is a character building experience if you have never seen it before.

Can we assume that you have been able to open files like the network configuration file (/etc/config/network) in a text editor via WinSCP?

Now that we understand what you want to use the device for, we should be able to walk you through the configuration to set it up as a simple wifi client device just using the tools you have to hand.

I assume the device is operating with an IP address of 192.168.1.1 ie the default address as flashed. If so this means that it will clash with your existing router if you attach it to your LAN.

So the first thing to do is to change the IP address to one that will not clash (eg 192.168.1.100) and to set the gateway to point to your router. You need to pick an address that is outside the range .15 to .47 because that looks like where your router allocates addresses automatically via its DHCP server.

To set a new address, the network config file should be edited to look like the following example.

The last two lines are the interesting ones - they set the IP address for the unit, and tell it where the gateway is.

Note that the order of the 'option' lines within a stanza is not important, so your file may look a little different.

If you feel confident, you can edit and save the file as shown, and then reboot the device, after which it should appear on the new IP address of 192.168.1.100 (or whatever you choose instead).

Before editing the file, it is a good idea to make a copy of it in the same directory with a different name eg 'network.bak'

-----------------------------------------------------------

# /etc/config/network

config 'interface' 'loopback'
    option 'ifname' 'lo'
    option 'proto' 'static'
    option 'ipaddr' '127.0.0.1'
    option 'netmask' '255.0.0.0'

config 'interface' 'lan'
    option 'ifname' 'eth0'
    option 'type' 'bridge'
    option 'proto' 'static'

    option 'ipaddr' '192.168.1.100'

    option 'netmask' '255.255.255.0'
    option 'dns' '8.8.8.8'

    option 'ipaddr' '192.168.1.100'
    option 'gateway' '192.168.1.1'

------------------------------------------------------

While you are there in the config directory, make a copy of the 'wireless' file and include the contents in your next email.

I should also point out that there is an English language version of this device available (TP-Link MR3020N) which will do what you want 'out of the box'.
But as long as you are happy to broaden your horizons, continue along the current path - we will make a Linux zealot of you yet.

Regards
Terry

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[david hoff]

The contents of my /etc/config/wireless file are below. I think the only things I have changed are:

I removed this.

   # REMOVE THIS LINE TO ENABLE WIFI:

and then a line that said something about disable

And I also removed 2 lines saying something like this. 

   option encryption wep
   option key MYWEPKEY 

I don't remember exactly what they had in them, but they were lines about what encryption and key to use. (I need to start backing up files before I guess what to change. Thanks to your last reply, I now know how.) 

I figured the problem was with the IP addresses and even figured out that I was trying to use both devices with the same IP address, so I changed one. But since I was guessing, and it didn't work right away I changed it back. Good to know I was at least looking in the right direction.

My file as it is now:

---------------------------------------------------------------

config wifi-device  radio0

option type     mac80211

option channel  11

option macaddr 14:e6:e4:e3:94:40

option hwmode 11ng

option htmode HT20

list ht_capab SHORT-GI-20

list ht_capab SHORT-GI-40

list ht_capab RX-STBC1

list ht_capab DSSS_CCK-40

config wifi-iface

option device   radio0

option network  lan

option mode     ap

option ssid     OpenWrt

------------------------------------------------------

I'm not sure if it should be this way or not, but I just thought I'd mention it in case it matters. When I have the tl wr703n connected to my computer with the ethernet cable, I can no longer get online until I disconnect it, even though my wireless connection says it is connected to my network and has internet. This makes me think that maybe my computer is doing something unexpected that is preventing the tl wr703n from reaching the internet.

Once again, thanks for the help. I'm happy to learn when somebody is willing to teach.

[david hoff]

I was just thinking that it would be cool if the device could not only connect to a network, but rebroadcast it as well, to give it a larger useful range. It seems like this shouldn't be very hard to do. What would this type of configuration be called?

[T Gillett]

Hi David
Could you post the contents of the network config file please?

Your other question sounds like you are considering something like a wifi repeater. There are ways to do this but they are somewhat problematic in practice.

One of the ideas behind the SECN firmware we have developed is to be able to build arbitrarily large wifi cells using mesh networking to link the various nodes together to route data around the mesh in a predictable manner.

Regards
Terry

On 08/02/2012 10:45 AM, "david hoff" <david...@gmail.com> wrote:

I was just thinking that it would be cool if the device could not only connect to a network, but rebroadcast it as well, to give it a larger useful range. It seems like this shouldn't be very hard to do. What would this type of configuration be called?

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