Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:04 Post subject: Cloning a router
2nd post here so still intimidated...
I just purchased 2nd hand R7000 router (to have a backup hardware) and would like to transfer all setting from my main R7000 router to this new one. I alread installed same firmware r51937 on both R7000.
Can I just use the backup function on first router and restore this file on the second router to clone the router ?
Or is there anything more complex I need to know ? Is there any risk doing so ?
Many thanks for any advise. _________________ Routers
2x Netgear R6250 - r51617
2x Netgear R7000 - r51937
2x Linksys WRT-54GL - r47911
Joined: 16 Nov 2015 Posts: 6446 Location: UK, London, just across the river..
Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:41 Post subject:
Back in the days, there was a thread related to your question and there ware pros and cons..
it was all about bad blocks related..however ive done this many times on my R7800 or 1043v2 when testing something...
you can try it, it wont hurt, if not working reset and add settings manually..
R7000 has build in TFTP and its hard to brick...
p.s. i believe mac's are not stored in the nvram save file, but read from the routers own partition when nvram variables are restored... _________________ Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55630 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55723 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55779 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 55819 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 55779 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/SmartDNS/DoH,AD-Block,Firewall,Forced DNS,x3VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913
Last edited by Alozaros on Thu Mar 09, 2023 18:21; edited 1 time in total
I presume you meant this thread, which does not discuss bad blocks:
[Solved] Using "Admin > Backup" and pitfalls _________________ "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep." - Robert Frost
"I am one of the noticeable ones - notice me" - Dale Frances McKenzie Bozzio
Thanks for the answers and the interresting link.
Seems not 100% completely safe and I was exactly suspecting this.
I need to consider if I take the risk. It's not the few euros I payed for this router, but finding good bargain R7000 again is not so easy. And TFTP I'm a bit afraid of. _________________ Routers
2x Netgear R6250 - r51617
2x Netgear R7000 - r51937
2x Linksys WRT-54GL - r47911
Well, you can configure each router manually after hardware reset, factory defaults, or nvram erase && reboot.
Telnet username root, compare output of command nvram show. Paste output into diffchecker, notepad++ etc.
This should clear any doubts, after a few backup, erase, restore, just compare the output of nvram show again.
About TFTP use nmrpflash. R7000 has a brief time window; nmrpflash waits for right moment during power on.
Keep in mind you would not be using this to recover from a configuration problem, only to flash new firmwares.