Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:56 Post subject: [SOLVED] Upgrading from Kongac build on R7000
So I've been looking to finally upgrade the firmware on my Netgear R7000, and I just wanted to ask if there's anything in particular that I should watch out for before I pull the trigger.
DD-WRT v24-sp2 (04/16/14) kongac - build 23900M
Kernel Version Linux 3.10.25 #857 SMP PREEMPT Wed Apr 16 23:05:01 CEST 2014 armv7l
My current plan is to factory reset through the web GUI (got pale moon specifically for this), then flash the latest build; I am looking to get CTF+FA due to my recent modem and service upgrade trying to push 600mbps that the router is clearly struggling with.
Since this is a major upgrade, should I do a factory defaults reset through web GUI after flash as well?
I have a backup RT-N10+ should things really take a dump, but I'd rather simply just get it right the first time lol.
You can Factory Defaults before flashing. During webUI flash leave dropdown option alone, so keep it Do not Reset.
After success do same Factory Defaults tab menu again or Telnet/SSH as username root to nvram erase && reboot.
It is more important to start over clean after verifying a successful flash, but it is safe option to do it before as well.
Then you can go about manually configuring the router. There is also CLI Flash method, as shown in builds threads.
Joined: 31 Jul 2021 Posts: 2146 Location: All over YOUR webs
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 9:11 Post subject:
Hello and welcome to the forums.
Yes you will need to do a factory reset after the firmware upgrade and reconfigure from scratch.
You will also need to force clear the browser cache with CTRL+F5 for all the browsers you use for accessing the Web interface, the interface has had many changes and old stale cached anything will cause issues.
As for your ISP service upgrade, you dont need CTF & FA strickly speaking, that is for Gigabit WAN only. CTF should work for 600Mbps, so try CTF only first.
If CTF for some reason wont do it and you need to enable CTF & FA, note that, it will require two reboots once you click Apply. One reboot, enables the relevant modules and the other enables the in SoC dedicated acceleration chip for FA.
Thanks for the speedy reply, that was my impression, too, based on reading up posts by others - to leave that after flashing option at "don't reset".
I was just wondering if there were any other considerations; if not, I'll post here once "on the other side" I'll probably opt for the factory defaults GUI side of things. While I have some familiarity with SSH due to my file server boxes, I'd rather not risk fat fingering a funny into the main gateway/router lol.
Edit: Just saw your reply Joker, you ninja'd me while I was replying haha... Thanks for the note on CTF. Duly noted!
Again, thanks for the speedy reply!
(last edit for now: About to reset to factory, so won't be able to read here until back)
Added links first reply, build r49681 & nmrpflash recovery which is always available to flash factory-to-dd-wrt.chk.
Also linked above a list of portable browsers you can set to never remember history and never worry about cache.
Otherwise for webUI or CLI flash use netgear-r7000-webflash.bin, factory defaults or nvram erase and good to go.
After a few nailbiting minutes (and what appeared to be a couple of reboot cycles by the router) flash was successful!
Time for the good, the bad and the ugly:
The good:
Router Model Netgear R7000
Firmware Version DD-WRT v3.0-r49681 (08/13/22)
Kernel Version Linux 4.4.302-st20 #6903 SMP Sat Aug 13 08:30:07 +07 2022 armv7l
The bad:
While it is technically on the good side because the speed did improve, I got an increase from 320-ish to only 430 Mbps. So yes, the speed is better, but not quite what I was hoping for.
The ugly:
My initial foray through the settings saw me eyeing "CTF" and other bits that were available, but I wanted to make sure everything was looking good and initial settings after reset to factory defaults were good too. After testing the speed at 430mbps, I came back to the settings page to realize the CTF options got reduced to an enable/disable for Shortcut Forwarding Engine. What am I missing here to enable CTF?
The dropdowns had disappeared on me, which is what I was confused about. I went into Administration and rebooted and the dropdows reappeared. I actually only changed the first dropdown to CTF and left FA disabled. I hit apply and clocked in at 714 Mbps somehow! Sheesh
I may play with these a bit to see what works best (there will be port forwarding going on, so we'll see), but for now I'll say this was easier than I was readying for lol. I'll try to check in later (a week or two's worth of uptime after everything is configured) to let you know how it's all handling.
Joined: 31 Jul 2021 Posts: 2146 Location: All over YOUR webs
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:50 Post subject:
Yes, and now you will notice that CTF and port forwarding needs a special setup and QoS will also be problematic or non existent depending on CTF/CTF & FA
Lol I would love to reach 900mbps on a 600mbps service; my shock at 714mbps was the fact that that's over 100mbps faster than I should be getting. As far as QoS, I don't need it. Port forwarding hopefully will not fail, as it's a must for me... we'll see what happens. Worst case scenario I'll have to stomach a speed penalty, but it will still be faster than I had with the ancient firmware I was running lol.
Once again, thanks for all the help, and I'll pop back in here with any further comments down the road (though probably not tonight anymore, unless exciting things happen haha). Things are pretty exciting out here
Edit: I've entered all my port forwards and range forwards and it all appears to be working!