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TP-Link Routers
<alertbox> WARNING: This document may contain errors which may result in damage to your router. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. </alertbox>
Introduction
Installation of Gargoyle on selected TP-Link routers is straight-forward:
- Download the correct firmware image.
- Upload the firmware image to your router and apply.
- Login to your router and configure Gargoyle
If you run into trouble, then ask a question at the forum or read failsafe_mode_recovery
Gargoyle is built on top of OpenWRT but the wealth of technical information and alternatives are generally not required to use Gargoyle.
The TP-Link TL-WR1043ND is a very popular Gargoyle router due price and the hardware feature set.
 TP-WR1043ND-V1.X |  TP-WR1043ND-V2.X | TP-WDR3600-V1.X |
Download firmware
Go to the Download page and select
Download: Firmware images
Architecture: Atheros AR71XX
Branch: 1.6 (stable)
Version: 1.6.2
To replace the original TP-LINK firmware select the factory.bin download.
| TP-WR1043ND-V1.X | OpenWRT |
|---|---|
gargoyle_1.6.2-ar71xx-tl-wr1043nd-v1-squashfs-factory.bin |
|
| TP-WR1043ND-V2.X | OpenWRT |
gargoyle_1.6.2-ar71xx-tl-wr1043nd-v2-squashfs-factory.bin |
|
| TP-WDR3600-V1.X | OpenWRT |
gargoyle_1.6.2-ar71xx-tl-wdr3600-v1-squashfs-factory.bin |
|
To upgrade Gargoyle or OpenWRT firmware select the sysupgrade.bin download.
Install
| Open TP-Link config |  |  |
| Select System Tools Select Firmware Upgrade |  |
|
| Browse firmware-image Click upgrade |  |
|
If you get the error message “please choose a file to upgrade”, then rename the firmware file to something shorter (i.e. “gargoyle.bin”) and upload it again.
Wait about 5 minutes then you should be able to connect to 192.168.1.1
Do not unplug the power supply during upgrade.
If after 5 minutes 192.168.1.1 is unresponsive first reboot your PC and try again.
If after 20 minutes 192.168.1.1 is unresponsive you may reboot both PC and router.
Revert Back Original Firmware
The hardest part to reverting back to the original firmware is finding a suitable file. You can not use the firmware from TP-Link without a file modification.
Luckily somebody has done the work for us
wr1043nv1_en_3_9_17-sysupgrade.zip
