Don't do it. I bought 3. One was beyond repair. No matter what build I tried, dd-wr or netgear none of them fully work.
One wouldn't run anything. 2 of them only work with dd-wrt but not all bands.
On one the lower 5ghz band is missing, on the other the upper band 5ghz is missing.
I have the one with the missing lower 5ghz running kongs build and I use it as a dual band router.
All of them required serial flashing.
I only hope you didn't pay a lot for them Malachi.
Well, unless you're an eccentric millionaire? Or perhaps some strange kind of router masochist?
Don't worry I wouldn't touch the R8500 with an extremely long bargepole
MODEL: 8500 MP2
Made in: Vietnam
Ok I just did it, bought one on Ebay.
The description stated that it had one broken antenna so was an AS IS, BUT when I turned it on... bricked... bootloop and amber led.
Got a serial cable and manage to get in cfe.
When I run:
"nvram erase"
result:
"0"
I can launch tftp, and send a firmware to the router using "tftp -i 192.168.1.1 put C:\r8500.chk" (renamed the files to r8500)
I tried a few different ones... with no good luck.
Gonna attach most recent serial logs trying to flash the latest Netgear stock firmware (1.0.2.100) and the latest KONG (21-07-2017).
Really hopping that I´m doing something wrong. Since I´m new at this stuff.
Also measured the input voltage on the board and did not find any drops during the processes.
I could never get the newer netgear firmware to flash. The most recent was the second release I believe.
I was able to load kongs factory to dd-wrt bd then his bin files for upgrading.
Stop the cfe, I use tfptd32. In the cfe just type: tftpd. The router will start looking for firmware, then upload it using tftpd32.
Even if you get it running, don't expect all radios to work. _________________ I am far from a guru, I'm barely a novice.
Sorry, but let me explain the problem better, correct me if I´m wrong please.
I did flash several different netgear and kongs dd-wrt firmwares. ( At least to files where successfully transfered)
I´m going to try to use the tftpd32.
What firmware do you recommend?
Do I flash the .chk file?
After that is the router supposed to boot or I need to flash the bin via tftp on the cfe also, to get it to boot?
....
Could I get a step by step of your procedure?
Use the chk file the bin file is for use once it's already running dd-wrt. For future upgrades or downgrades. _________________ I am far from a guru, I'm barely a novice.
Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 16:14 Post subject: 33375
flashed with 33375 and everything worked great accept radios
signals were inferior. ethernet speeds were amazing but wireless horrible. Is there any setting I can make to increase radio signals?