TP-Link Archer C7 with OpenWRT firmware

Published: 3 January 2016  |  Network

I was running stock firmware for a couple of months but I needed the router to do more. I was reluctant to spend a lot of money on a high end router thus opted to install OpenWRT Chaos Calmer 15.05 into my TP-Link Archer C7 v2.

Why replace the stock firmware

With OpenWRT, I now have:

  1. Customisable VLAN switch
  2. Host OpenVPN server
  3. Connect to multiple OpenVPN servers
  4. iptables for complex and dynamic firewall rules
  5. Firewall rules that can be applied on IP or MAC address
  6. QoS rules by port numbers
  7. Load balancing by source/destination IP address and/or port numbers
  8. DNSCrypt
  9. Multiple dynamic DNS hosts over more providers too
  10. Multiple time servers

With the above, it has more features than expensive routers costing three times more.

The trial and error was not entirely smooth though. I had to overcome several obstacles including entering Failsafe mode and glad that worked! In the coming days, I will be sharing a series of what and how I did.

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