TP-LINK Archer C7 no 5GHz radio should I upgrade to 1.9.0?

[chaos40]

Hi!

First off, thanks for any help anyone may be able to offer.

I finally successfully upgraded from stock FW to Gargoyle 1.7.1 after I figured out (duh) that an overwrite of the protection function on factory firmware was required first (at least I think that's what I figured out!). Here's a good link for that - https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=61389

Anyway, after two FW flashes, one to allow me to get custom FW on the router, and another following the installation advice on this site its working. So I'm happily at 1.7.1. However I don't see my 5GHz radio and can't connect using wireless N.

I'd like to upgrade to 1.9.0. Any advice? I'd like to be as safe as possible so I avoid bricking my brand new router.

Lastly, the reason I got this router and am really hopeful about the feature set of Gargoyle is bandwidth throttling. We're a big family (the wife and five kids) and we have more Internet devices than you can shake a stick at. So any advice about how to be sure bandwidth and latency (for online gaming) are configured would also be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks!

[tapper]

Hi there welcome to the forums.

Yes it's best to up date to the 1.9 branch you will get all the latest code and there is some fixes for the c7. Is your c7 a v2? If not then i am sorry to say that the 5 GHZ radio will not work as there is no driver for it in openwrt.

Pleas have a look at the page Common Scenarios:
https://www.gargoyle-router.com/wiki/do ... _scenarios
and the Quality of Service (QOS) page:
https://www.gargoyle-router.com/wiki/doku.php?id=qos
This thread has a good set up for QOS:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7635

Verry latest build on the 1.9 branch is here:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8383

[respo22]

Chaos40 - the link you supplied about overwriting the protection function doesn't work.. I think I'm having similar issue to you and would love to read up on how I can get past this to install gargoyle. I can't find anything useful anywhere else... Any ideas would be appreciated.

[respo22]

Nevermind - the link is working now... Time to do some reading...

[chaos40]

Thank you! I will download the torrent and try flashing. And yes, I have hardware version 2. Just bought it from the Amazon site in the USA this week.

Actually, is this the right firmware? https://www.gargoyle-router.com/downloa ... pgrade.bin

Maybe I don't need to download all ~350MB for the torrent?

[tapper]

The link you posted is for the v1 not the v2 and the files in the torent are the latest builds with the latest code and fixes. they are the best builds to flash on the c7 imo it's what i am running on mine and all runs fine. dont forget to flash onley the rite file for your ver v1 or like you say v2. If you flash the v1 to the v2 you will have no 5 ghz or even a bricked router. wen going from 1.7.x to 1.9.x you have to reset all your settings or you will have very strange things happen.

Here's the link for the c7 v2 1.9 sysupgrade file:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/537 ... pgrade.bin

This file is taken from gargoyle-ispy 2016-February-18 01_51.7z

[chaos40]

Hi!

OK, this firmware ROCKS! I installed the posted upgrade after my first upgrade for TP-Link Archer C7 v2 hardware version 2.0 by using this link:

https://www.gargoyle-router.com/downloa ... pgrade.bin

Here is what my router shows now:

Device Name:Gargoyle
Gargoyle Version:1.9.0
Model:TP-Link Archer C7 v2

The upgrade went smoothly, though I did have to be a bit patient as it took several minutes for the upgrade to complete. After inputting the new password (after upgrading and being sure to NOT keep my previous settings as is recommended) my browser timed out which made me quite worried. I was waiting to configure the router after inputting a new password but after waiting about 10 minutes I pushed the power button on the TP-Link Archer C7 v2 to shut it off. I waiting about 30 seconds and powered it back on.

After that it was all smooth sailing! The router seems to be balancing our bandwidth needs well. I measure our top download and upload speeds from our service provider (about 20 MBps down and 3 MBps up) and converted that to kilobits per second (kbps). After informing the router of these thresholds we're watching Netflix, playing online games, watching Youtube, etc. and so far things seem really stable.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work! Such an awesome upgrade to stock FW.

[chaos40]

Oh yes - the 5Ghz radio seems to be working well too!

[tapper]

Nice to here mate!
Now you should go and take a look at the plugins and see what you can brake.

[chaos40]

Just a quick follow-up. So far, so good. Glad to have a community like this genuinely making people's lives better.

Don't get me wrong - not saving starving kids in Africa (we do other things for that!), but to have an inexpensive router support so many features?

WOW! You guys (and gals) are AWESOME!

Thanks