Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2025 16:43 Post subject: WNDR3700v5 Advice Please
Thanks to everyone who worked on this router.
I am thinking of buying a WNDR3700v5 as I can get one for a good price, but I would like confirmation on a couple of points before I commit to buy it. Hopefully someone who reads this might be able to put my mind at rest.
1. Will I be able to use a BT mini hub BT70 (4G modem - BT branded clone of an Alcatel - uses generic Microsoft NDIS driver when connected to a PC via USB) connected to the USB port to provide WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider). I currently use the BT70 to supply internet to my current router over WiFi and connect devices to the SSID of my router. This is not desirable. I would prefer to eliminate the wifi connection between the BT70 and the router and plug the BT70 directly into a DD-WRT flashed WNDR3700v5 via USB. Does this sound feasible?
2. Looking on the OpenWRT webpage for the WNDR3700 routers (https://openwrt.org/toh/netgear/wndr3700) it seems as if they have got WiFi AC working on the v5 model. I am wondering if this is a mistake, because Netgear never claimed it to have 802.11ac in the first place. Is it possible that the Mediatek hardware supported AC all along, but Netgear disabled it through software and OpenWRT allows it to work? Does the DD-WRT flash enable AC speeds?
kernel-panic69 Thank you very much for your reply. I have studied the links you recommended me to, and can see you played a part in getting the WNDR3700v5 supported again by DD-WRT. I will thank you for that particularly.
After reading all that I still have some questions which I hope you or others involved may be able to answer.
1. Maybe I'm just not understanding things correctly, but it seems to me that the latest build for the WNDR3700v5 is r52894. I can't seem to find any information of anyone using any builds later than that. Am I correct? And if so, I presume that means USB tethering to NDIS modem device is out of the question as you stated
Quote:
You will need to be on 55819 or newer to use Android Tethering, if that is the method of connection.
The BT70 mini hub (Alcatel) thing I use with the sim card in it is very unlikely to be running Android (it doesn't even have a display, just one button and a few LEDS), but all I can say is it comes up as an NDIS device in Device Manager when plugged into the USB port on a Windows PC. If there is a way to find out more information about it I will certainly be willing to try.
2. Nobody seems to have made mention of whether or not DD-WRT can indeed achieve 802.11ac speeds out of this router (that was only sold as a b/g/n). Maybe nobody has yet bothered to try a speed test. In any case, my internet connection will be slow, but it would be nice to have better speeds of file transfers between WiFi devices and wired NAS plugged into the router. It is mega important, but I may be able to opt for a completely different router for a little more money that is DD-WRT supported and 802.11ac certified, so this may influence my decision on whether or not I go ahead and buy the WNDR3700v5.
I am in awe of all you do to make equipment more functional and user-friendly when it has been strangled by OEM software from the beginning.
Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 16798 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2025 23:04 Post subject:
Lack of reporting doesn't mean that the referenced build is the latest. I'm at work, device is in my pile of test devices. And I don't have screenshots of any of my last tinkering with it.
Kernel-panic69, please don't take offence. I'm not expecting you to go out of your way to provide me with answers to very specific questions. My questions were directed at everyone - it just so happened that you were the first person to reply. Hopefully others might be along to share their knowledge and experiences too. Don't feel under pressure. I'm grateful for whatever you have done so far in helping me understand. I am new to the forum. I last used dd-wrt about 15 years ago on a Linksys WRT54G router that eventually failed. I'm looking forward to using it again on something more modern, but I'm just cautious in making sure I make the right choice of hardware.
Based on what I had read on the forum it seemed there was good hope for this idea so I went ahead and purchased this Netgear WNDR3700v5. It arrived today so I thought I would get to work on it. I plugged it in and verified it was working in stock form first.
I uploaded the factory-to-ddwrt file from the web interface, and it seemed to accept it and the bars continued from left to right quite slowly then reached the end. After that the router rebooted but now seems to be stuck in some kind of loop. It will come on with power light solid and number 1 light blinking (I am connected to my PC via ethernet port 1), then after a few seconds the number 1 goes out and all of the other LEDS (not the number ones) come on for less than a second then back to the blinking 1 again. I don't know if this is normal, but something tells me it is a bad sign.
Status of the ethernet port in windows is constantly cycling between "network cable unplugged", "enabled" and "identifying". It is not getting any IP address via DHCP. I don't know what static range to set it to to try reaching the router that way. I don't know what the default IP address of the router should be if DDWRT installed successfully on it.
Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 16798 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2025 14:00 Post subject:
There's nmrpflash for recovery to stock firmware, yes. You should consider having serial attached, but I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow unless someone else who already has the tools and skills needed to report to the developer. I don't even know what build is on mine or last reported on at the moment.
kernel-panic69 wrote:
I cannot verify if the latest build will flash, mine is not in active service.
Since I am playing with this at home as I'm on holiday, I don't have access to workshop equipment so probably not going to attempt to get serial access just at the moment. However, using NMRPFLASH I have just been able to flash it with the most recent image of Gargoyle and it's now working again. I'm not sure I really want Gargoyle, but happily giving it a try to see whether it works for my needs. If anybody would like any more info I will try to provide it as best I can.
Note: NMRPFLASH did not work connected to the coloured uplink port as suggested on the creator's website. It did work when connected to normal ethernet port1 on the router.
Last edited by se325919 on Thu Dec 04, 2025 12:29; edited 1 time in total
To half answer my own question,
This router is indeed capable of 802.11ac connectivity and works as such with Gargoyle installed. Fancy that. Netgear making more capable hardware and then restricting it via software. USB NDIS modem also working under Gargoyle. Feeling better about my purchase now.
If anybody is interested, I have now installed Gargoyle 1.15x Beta and can confirm the NDIS 4G LTE device (BT BT70 - a clone of an Alcatel/TCL device also marketed as the EE70 from EE in the UK) is working perfectly supplying an internet connection to the WNDR3700v5 when plugged into the USB port. It even works through a USB hub if you want to connect a USB stick as well. The NDIS enabling driver is one of the pre-installed plugins in Gargoyle.
I might look at getting serial but like you I am busy and the router is the only one at home so I can't have it out of service for long periods of time.
RS232->TTL adapter is here, but I am still off work for another week so no workshop access just yet. In the meantime, perhaps someone could describe to me the procedure for capturing data from the serial connection while it is trying to boot.
Also if you have seen my other thread about looking at the hardware inside the WNDR3700v5 and a picture I found of the R6220, you may be interested to know this news. I thought I'd try to get hold of a R6220 so I could have both of them in my hands for a better inspection to see how similar they really are. I managed to buy one off eBay untested with no power supply for a very low price. It arrived and when I plugged it in to try it, it was doing the same behaviour as my WNDR3700v5 was when it got bricked by the DD-WRT firmware. I have a feeling someone also tried to put DD-WRT on this R6220, bricked it and binned it, then someone has found it in the rubbish and tried to get whatever they could for it. When I saw what it was doing I thought I will go to DD-WRT and download and flash that onto it. Am I just blind or have the WNDR3700v5 and R6220 been dropped as supported devices in the last few weeks? I'm unable to see any downloads for them now. In the absence of DD-WRT files, I used NMRPflash to flash Gargoyle to it, and it came back to life. I've configured it and will use this while I mess about with the WNDR3700v5, which I intend to play around with the hardware a bit, once I have done what I can to help the DD-WRT developers with it.
A question. Is there a way I can get a full raw data dump of the 16MB NOR chip via the serial connection or even over ethernet? In good time I plan to desolder the chip and replace it with its 32MB counterpart but if I could get the complete BIN file of it while it is in situ, I would like to try flashing that to a new 32MB chip before I go desoldering the original. I'd like to take a full raw backup of the 128MB NAND chip in the R6220 as well if possible.
I now have workshop access again and have got serial connection working to the WNDR3700v5. I'm all ready to get the boot logs out of it. The only problem is it now has Gargoyle on it as I had to use it in the meantime and that was the image that worked most easily for me. I have now got hold of an R6220 and put that into service to free up the WND3700v5 for working on it. I'm afraid I deleted the DD-WRT image that didn't work and I can't find where to download it again to flash it back to the router. Anywhere I can get hold of it so I can grab these serial logs?
