Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 19:27 Post subject: D-Link DIR-878 A1 Support
Does anyone know of a DD-WRT build that could possibly work on this router? I believe that this router was released relatively recently and that there haven't been any builds made specifically for it as of yet but I was wondering if anybody knows of another model that is similar enough that the version of DD-WRT for that could be run on the DIR-878 A1.
*Update*
As of build 33006 on 8/3/2017, there is now a build available on on the D_link DIR-878 A1 available and support for this device is listed on the Supported Devices Wiki for anyone still looking if this router was supported yet.
Any update on this router? Satisfied with DD-WRT's performance on it?
On paper it looks like a good router, but I'm seeing conflicting information in terms of specs - Could you tell us how much flash/RAM this unit has, as reported by DD-WRT?
I have a new DIR-878 AC1900. It has 128MB RAM and 128MB flash. The specs in its WikiDevi page are pretty much accurate.
On stock firmware, WLAN-LAN 5GHz throughput with laptop around 1m away from the router is around 500 Mbps upload and 620 Mbps download with low jitter, which I think are pretty good numbers for its price range. Unfortunately, settings are very basic. There's no DHCP address reservation and MAC filtering, which I need for my use case.
I installed DD-WRT r33772 std (11/16/17) but it's still unusable. Downloads on 5 GHz are fine and reach 550 Mbps with low jitter. However it consistently reboots on heavy uploads. Sometime during uploading a few hundred MB, sometimes after a few GB.
The OP also had web UI rebooting issues in this August post but that doesn't happen to me.
I just switched my old dir-859 with this dir-878 (mainly for the MU-MIMO support) but I am not very satisfied with the performance so far; and as mentioned above, the available settings are very limited.
But it seems, as if there has been some issues in terms of the dd-wrt firmware on this router?! Would I be better of waiting for a more stable release?
I just switched my old dir-859 with this dir-878 (mainly for the MU-MIMO support) but I am not very satisfied with the performance so far; and as mentioned above, the available settings are very limited.
But it seems, as if there has been some issues in terms of the dd-wrt firmware on this router?! Would I be better of waiting for a more stable release?
I'm on: DD-WRT v3.0-r34080 (12/14/17) myself and am not totally happy with it.
Range:
5ghz range seems very short compared to stock. I did notice that neither auto nor manual gets selected by default, and I believe 100mw is the 'default' power. Based on the manual it states 200mw max so perhaps it's safe to bump it.
Channel selecting:
I don't appear able to set the 5ghz channel I want. Regardless of what I pick on the settings screen (173, for example), my 5ghz network stays on "Channel 36 (5180 MHz) " which I confirmed in both the wireless status screen and on my laptop's wifi properties. 2.4g appears ok.
Reboots:
Compared to prior routers, reboots take forever. I thought It was bricked or locked up more than once but just let it sit there and it eventually wakes up.
Telnet:
Just a point of frustration, but the mediatek chipset doesn't support commands like "WL" so you have to look for alternate ways to research things. I'm not a pro so it's a little painful
This thing is supposed to have the same 4x4 streams as it's bigger brother without the usb.. i'm hoping support improves but I'm not sure I'll keep it (while i'm still inside a return window) if things like 5g channel selection won't work. Not happy with the factory firmware but I may try it again.
...
Range:
5ghz range seems very short compared to stock. I did notice that neither auto nor manual gets selected by default, ...
My experience was the reverse.
The stock firmware, first release as well as current, wireless range was poor like the Archer C7, so using/testing dd-wrt.
I have it configured manually, channel/channel width... after using Wifi Analyzer. End result, the dd-wrt firmware improved the range similar to a ASUS RT-AC68U.
Agree about the slow reboots, delayed reboots and more importantly, lack of correctly timed indicator in dd-wrt when the router is actually rebooting via the web interface. Can't tell if an applied change is going to take 30 seconds or 1 minute 30 seconds...
My experience was the reverse.
The stock firmware, first release as well as current, wireless range was poor like the Archer C7, so using/testing dd-wrt.
I have it configured manually, channel/channel width... after using Wifi Analyzer. End result, the dd-wrt firmware improved the range similar to a ASUS RT-AC68U.
Agree about the slow reboots, delayed reboots and more importantly, lack of correctly timed indicator in dd-wrt when the router is actually rebooting via the web interface. Can't tell if an applied change is going to take 30 seconds or 1 minute 30 seconds...
Hmm, glad it's working well for you.. Been playing with channels and i think my 5ghz is a little better.
That said.. I've noticed my amazon echo devices occasionally stop streaming for about a minute, then resume about a minute later. Looking at the system up time it seems the router occasionally reboots itself. Have you experienced that at all? The sys log doesn't seem to reflect the reboot happened from what I can tell even though the "up time" has reset.
I do generally get better speeds and lower latencies with this than my Tenda W1800R, but I miss the great stability and ability to use both Tomato and DD WRT (Tomato's site survey on the channel selection is handy quality of life feature for me).
... I've noticed my amazon echo devices occasionally stop streaming for about a minute, then resume about a minute later. Looking at the system up time it seems the router occasionally reboots itself. Have you experienced that at all?
No such issues encountered as of yet.
I intentionally let it run for several days to see if there were any unplanned reboots after configuring the router.
After a few days of testing with no reboots, for sake of security, I configured it to automatically reboot at a set time daily, when everyone is likely sleeping.
The current build:
1. Still has slow reboots and cold boots, which I suspect is due to the D-Link's less than stellar hardware.
2. Reboot indicator via the GUI is still inaccurate, if it appears at all. So still configuring with the router in visual range and relying on it's LED to find out if a configuration change results in a reboot and/or wait for router to be ready for further configuration changes...
... I've noticed my amazon echo devices occasionally stop streaming for about a minute, then resume about a minute later. Looking at the system up time it seems the router occasionally reboots itself. Have you experienced that at all?
No such issues encountered as of yet.
I intentionally let it run for several days to see if there were any unplanned reboots after configuring the router.
After a few days of testing with no reboots, for sake of security, I configured it to automatically reboot at a set time daily, when everyone is likely sleeping.
The current build:
1. Still has slow reboots and cold boots, which I suspect is due to the D-Link's less than stellar hardware.
2. Reboot indicator via the GUI is still inaccurate, if it appears at all. So still configuring with the router in visual range and relying on it's LED to find out if a configuration change results in a reboot and/or wait for router to be ready for further configuration changes...
Have you upgraded to r34411?
When you migrated from D-LInk FW to WRT, did you firstload the Factory2 WRT then turn around and load the same version WebUpgrade file with setting Factory Defaults then set up from scratch?
