Gargoyle Forum

Hi,

Is Gargoyle good choice for Archer C7 v2? I only ask this because I have poor 5GHz wifi experience when using DD-WRT on the device. Do you think Gargoyle would work better for wifi? I am using the newest EU stock firmware now.

Will the Gargoyle install straight on the stock fw? And is it possible to easily revert to the stock if the experience won’t satisfy?

Thanks a lot.

Will the Gargoyle install straight on the stock fw? And is it possible to easily revert to the stock if the experience won’t satisfy?

A lot depends on TP-Link (original firmware version)

I'm the beginning is was easy. Then TP-Link changed the firmware to make it incredibly hard to change.

OpenWRT made workaround.

I think its currently an easy procedure but it all depends on TP-Link firmware version.

See OpenWRT wiki for you device for more details.


Linksys WRT AC Series routers are designed to be re-flashed

DD-WRT installed well on that stock fw. That is version 3.15.3 Build 180305.

What do you think about the wifi performance?

If I give a chance for Gargoyle, will I be able to revert back to stock?

If I give a chance for Gargoyle, will I be able to revert back to stock?

usually

see openwrt wiki for details

Oober wrote:What do you think about the wifi performance?

If I give a chance for Gargoyle, will I be able to revert back to stock?

I have a C7 v2 and wifi seemed fine while I used it though I hate wifi in general.

"fredzombie" has a page with older TP-link firmware that works well to revert. It strips out the bootloader they use. After using the stripped firmware, you can then upgrade to the most recent Tp-link firmware.
I can't stress enough the importance of getting the right file. http://www.friedzombie.com/tplink-stripped-firmware/

The only problems I ever had with the C7 and Gargoyle was when I upgraded bandwidth speed. With 100/10 speed it worked great though if you use QoS, the router's cpu isn't powerful enough to give you full speeds. After upgrading to Spectrum's 400/20 speed, Gargoyle couldn't handle that on the C7 and topped out at around 200-250 down (if I remember correctly) even without QoS. I had to go back to the factory firmware to utilize hardware NAT.

I've since upgraded routers but the C7 was and is a great router for Gargoyle as long as you're not paying for more than 200Mb/s down.

Ok, maybe I’ll give a chance for Gargoyle.

There is a warning at ”Downloads”-section about installing Gargoyle just for this specific model. However, it claims that problems are related up to 1.09 version (current). It seems that current version is 1.10, though. So, the bugs have been fixed for the recent version (1.10, not 1.09)?

Definitely stick with 1.10 or above. The 1.10 is the last stable version. Like I said, it worked great for me on the Archer C7 v2 until I upgraded my cable speed. I tried DD-wrt on the C7 too but preferred Gargoyle. The 5ghz wifi is more picky no matter which firmware you use. Experiment with the channels.

Funny, I tried both Gargoyle and dd-wrt on my current Linksys router, a WRT1900ACS. I couldn't get the 5mhz radio to work at all in DD-wrt. Gargoyle worked but using it's QoS severely limited my speed after upgraded to 400/20. Without QoS it was fine. I ended up putting OpenWrt on this router but much prefer Gargoyle's webGui interface over any of them.

Thanks.

I tried changing to Gargoyle. No success, first it didn’t even find the file, but after shortening the filename, it tried to start the upgrade process but gave an error:

Error code: 18005
Upgrade unsuccessfully because the version of the upgraded file was incorrect. Please check the file name.

Should I try to go via OpenWrt first?

TP-link started locking their firmware a while ago to prevent people from loading 3rd party firmware on it. That's why you get that error 18005. I figured you had already solved that issue since you said you tried dd-wrt.

I believe you can get around it by other methods like installing openwrt but I first used the TP-link firmware posted here by LOM. https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtop ... c&start=15
It has the lock removed that lets you install Gargoyle or dd-wrt or openwrt.


You're bringing back memories of what a pain this stuff can be. I remember getting that error 18005 too.

The stripped firmware from fred zombie's page is first used when you want to revert back to TP-link firmware from 3rd party.