These two links show that both routers have the exact same CPU and wireless broadcom chips. The only difference is that the R6700 is missing a USB2.0 port (dont care) and the 2.4Ghz runs at N450 instead of N600 (kinda care).
In other threads on this forum I read about a similar situation between the Costco AC1450 model and the R6300v2 routers, and also the R4500 and the WNDR4500, with both cases allowing people to convert up the router by changing the BoardID in the nvram.
I found a thread that discusses doing the same process, converting a R6700 to R7000, but this was from before the R6700 had a DD-WRT build. I understand that today, I could just load up the proper R6700 firmware and be on my way.
My question is... If I modify the BoardID so my R6700 shows as a R7000, and then load up the R7000 DD-WRT firmware, will this unlock N600 link speeds for my 2.4Ghz radio?
Will the missing USB port cause any issues doing this?
Am I missing anything else that could be a problem, like differing init parameters?
Should I even bother?
Malachi you were actually one of the people in the threads I linked, thank you for your contributions here.
I understand I can just use the the R6700 builds, that is not the question i am asking.
As I said at the bottom of my post, I am asking the following:
IF I convert to an R7000 and use those builds, will the 2.4 network run at N600 instead of the N450.
IF I convert to R7000, will I have any problems caused by init params or the fact that the USB 2.0 port is missing, or anything else I am not thinking of.
I apologize, I didn't read the whole post because I assumed, I knew, mea culpa, that you weren't aware of the r6700 builds.
I personally wouldn't do the burn boardid.
The only way to get a client to support the 600mbps on the 2.4ghz band is to have a client with turboqam. _________________ I am far from a guru, I'm barely a novice.
Personally, I would not mess with changing the boardID. The Devs know that the R6700 pretty much is the same as the R7000. I would just flash the firmware made for it--they may have already unlocked the R6700's full potential with the firmware. _________________ R7000 Nighthawk - DD-WRT v3.0-r50308
R7000 Nighthawk - DD-WRT v3.0-r50308
~~~~~~~~~~Dismantled for learning opportunities~~~~~~~~~~
WRT54Gv2
WRT54Gv8.2
~~~~~~~~~~Other Settings~~~~~~~~~
https://nextdns.io/?from=2d3sq39x https://pi-hole.net/ https://github.com/DNSCrypt/dnscrypt-proxy
I will just leave well enough alone then, I doubt I have more than a couple devices that support turboQAM, and I'm only going to upgrade to AC adapters in the future.
is where Kong said not to use burnboard id to change a AC1450 into a R6300v2 _________________ reenignE esreveR
Resistance is NOT futile... It's Voltage divided by Current!
Assumptions:
1. Everyone on the forum has read the relevant forum section announcements.
2. For Broadcom section we have ALL at least tried to understand the "Peacock" thread,HERE
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 6:37 Post subject: Change R6700 BoardID to use Netgear R7000 firmware DD-WRT
I still have the same question as I3ig Al. If I were able to change the BoardID of the R6700 to the ID of R7000 would it function with Netgear Firmware and Netgear firmware features. Since it is missing a usb 2.0 port the firmware might not work if Netgear has omitted a chip that controls USB 2.0 or some hardware components. If it just did not wire the usb 2.0 jack, it should work.
If it is possible I would want to run the netgear latest R7000 firmware and test the router's operation, then maybe switch to DD-WRT Kong's version of the R7000. I understand that there is a Kong version for the R6700, but no one has said whether that does permit the higher 2.4Ghz speed or not.
While I haven't looked for a turboqam client in 2015, this small builder article basically says that getting a higher speed capable router may just get you benefits in the lower speed range:
I am not sure exactly why init params are different if the hardware is identical and how that affects whether the firmware will work or not. I wish I could get a detailed explanation of this.
Joined: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 25 Location: Chicago USA & Berlin Germany
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 17:07 Post subject: I did it
I went ahead and converted my R6700 to an R7000. The reason I did it is because OpenVPN is broken with PIA on all Kong firmwares that I tested on the R6700. The R7000 is better supported and people on the forum have reported that OpenVPN is broken on the 2016-12-02 build, but earlier firmware versions work well. I have had zero problems and am running Kong DD-WRT v3.0-r30870M kongac (11/10/16) for the R7000.
To do the conversion the first thing you need is the board ID's so here they are:
1) I first dumped DD-WRT and loaded the original (initial release) Netgear firmware for the R6700. The firmware is available on Netgear's site.
2) I then followed the instructions to unlock telnet on the R6700. The R6700 requires the probe packets on UDP port 23 so I used the New TelnetEnable on Windows.
Where LanMacAdd is the LAN MAC address for your router. Don't screw up and use the WAN MAC address like I did and waste two hours. Also, the MAC address must be entered without any of the colons (no :'s ) and all uppercase letters. Here is an example:
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 21:20 Post subject: Nice Job!
Nonsence,
Thanks for providing the Board ID's and the steps.
A Few questions:
1) Does the conversion leave the router able to sustain AC1900 speeds?
2) Are you sure the lack of the usb 2.0 port in the 6700 would not cause the firmware to crash?
It sounds fantastic that you can run all the firmware for the 7000, does this include the latest Netgear firmware?
Joined: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 25 Location: Chicago USA & Berlin Germany
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 23:43 Post subject: Re: Nice Job!
charlestek wrote:
Nonsence,
Thanks for providing the Board ID's and the steps.
A Few questions:
1) Does the conversion leave the router able to sustain AC1900 speeds?
2) Are you sure the lack of the usb 2.0 port in the 6700 would not cause the firmware to crash?
It sounds fantastic that you can run all the firmware for the 7000, does this include the latest Netgear firmware?
Well...
I haven't tested the WiFi speeds so I really can't answer that. As I said, my main priority was being able to use R7000 firmware's for their better OpenVPN support with PIA. In fact, the fastest WiFi client I have on hand is a laptop with an Intel Advanced-N 6230. I also keep the channel width at just 20 MHz because I live in the city and there are many other networks around me. I do now have the option for VHT80 80 MHz in the GUI.
My laptop can sustain over 3 Mbit/s with the current config though. I suppose I could try downloading a large file off my server from several clients simultaneously though...
Regarding the second USB port, I can't say for certain, but typically hardware is mass produced and Netgear is most likely just making the same board for several routers. The R6700 may only be missing the physical USB port. If I were to open up the router I would know for sure (I probably will at some point), but my bet is that the USB chip (or SoC) supports both the USB ports on all models. So possibly the R7000 doesn't even know the physical connector is missing.
I don't see why I would not be able to run the Netgear firmware's on this router. The board ID is for the R7000. Maybe if I have a free half hour I will try loading an R7000 firmware to prove it.
So far the system has been running for about 24 hours with no problems. On the R6700 firmware my VPN service would crash every 12-14 hours. We've had a lot of users today and no issues. Worst case, I will go back to the R6700 board ID and R6700 firmware. It's really not that hard to flip the board ID around.
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 2:05 Post subject: Thanks for the info
Non,
It sounds good. When I have spare time to tinker, I probably will try your procedure and the latest Netgear Firmware. It is my understanding (maybe incorrect), that the Netgear firmware provides the best USB 3.0 speeds vs Kong, but I could be wrong.
Joined: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 25 Location: Chicago USA & Berlin Germany
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 21:49 Post subject: Re: Thanks for the info
charlestek wrote:
Non,
It sounds good. When I have spare time to tinker, I probably will try your procedure and the latest Netgear Firmware. It is my understanding (maybe incorrect), that the Netgear firmware provides the best USB 3.0 speeds vs Kong, but I could be wrong.
So I went through network hell today trying to get my TiVo service to connect and it turns out that Xfinity is now blocking the ports that TiVo needs...
Anyway, during my diagnostics I flashed back to the Netgear firmware. I was able to use the newest R7000 firmware and the 600 Mbps option was available and I was able to turn it on. The router is an R7000 as far as Netgear is concerned. So if you want to run the R7000 firmware, just change the board ID to the R7000.
I went through all of the steps and it worked like a treat.
I was initially freaking out as I attempted it on a fresh-out-of the box R6700 and after using telnetenabler, I couldn't reach 192.168.1.1
It turns out it is a problem with most of the computers on my network. For some reason, after taking out my old E900 router, 192.168.1.1 is no longer accessible! A bit of a Pain in the butt as this is address I have assigned to my modem.
