TP Link Archer A7v5

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Contents

[edit] HARDWARE

https://wikidevi.wi-cat.ru/TP-LINK_Archer_A7_v5.x

2.4Ghz- Max 24dBm (Wi-Fi 4; no qam-256)

5Ghz- Max 30dBm (Wi-Fi 5; wave 1- only HT80 and no HT160 support)

[edit] INTRODUCTION

This is the placeholder for the A7v5. This is a work in progress by MSOENGINEER, so please be patient while he adds to this device wiki. PM if you want something added here.

This is a single core router and it will never be a game changer for performance. This router has been tested to about 175mbps using Q.o.S. with HTB and PIE. Anything more in terms of FQ_Codel or HFSC will consume more memory and CPU and cause your speed to decrease. This router with Q.o.S. turned on is only good for ISP plans up to 150mbps. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

You can eek out more if you turn off Q.o.S. and turn on the Shortcut Forward Engine (SFE) on the main setup tab of dd-wrt. You might be able to get up to 200mbps using dd-wrt and SFE on this router. If you want faster, go back to stock which uses other dedicated hardware inside the A7v5 to improve network translation which DD-wrt cannot take advantage of right now.

My plan tops out at 200, so I don't know if SFE will go faster or not. Send me your results if you have faster speeds.

Iperf3 hardwired between router(client) and lan(server) is around 170mbps right now, so not very fast at all.

Edits (from gmesmer): As of 8/8/2020, using SFE and QOS off, the router was able to do 400mbps down and 300mbps up over 2x2 5Ghz HT80 (performance might be higher by using 3x3 but I don't have the ability to test). My internet plan top out at 350 down and 25 up which is achieved easily.

Note: all of my tests are with the WAN and DNS Server disabled is this is a secondary router for me. With the WAN port assigned to switch, I get 900mbps of throughput between WAN and LAN ports (compared to 970mbps between 2 LAN Ports).

[edit] INSTALLING FIRST TIME

Firmware files can be found here ONLY BRAINSLAYER MAKES BUILDS FOR THE A7v5.

!!! DO NOT PERFORM A 30/30/30 ON ANY QCA CPU/CHIPSET ROUTERS (ESPECIALLY TP-LINK), YOU WILL BRICK IT !!!

!!! DON'T USE ANY BUILD BEFORE 42204, The reset button will not work on older builds and you are F'd !!!

  • Stock TP-Link GUI IP: 192.168.0.1


For first time flash, you'll need to grab the factory-to-ddwrt BIN file and load that from the stock TP-Link web gui on the advanced settings page. It will take several minutes for the firmware to load so please keep an eye on the front panel LED's and watch the power LED. It will be flashing while the A7v5 is loading the new firmware. Once dd-wrt is loaded and running, you will notice that all the LED's have changed from their stock state under tp-link firmware. This is presently normal and a cosmetic issue that will require a future script to be written or for BS to actually change the code for the gpio- again a work in progress. Please don't complain about the LED's...it is what it is for now...


  • Stock DD-WRT GUI IP: 192.168.1.1

When you first load that page, you will need to set a new admin username and password. Write that down somewhere safe!

[edit] UPGRADING

If you already have dd-wrt running on the A7v5, simply grab the file named tplink_archer-a7-v5.bin from the latest build folder, save it locally on your computer, and upload it via the gui directly over the existing build on your router. Unless you are upgrading from a build several months old, you should not need to perform a reset using the: After flashing, reset to "reset to default settings" selection on the Admin>firmware gui upgrade page. Some have reported doing a firmware upgrade alongside a reset can lead to issues. This has not been confirmed or denied on the A7v5 yet, but to safely reset the router, telnet in and issue the command "nvram erase && reboot" without the quotes.

[edit] BEST WIFI SETTINGS

GO to the QCA wifi wiki and read up

TL:DR-see pictures here

[edit] TFTP RECOVERY TO REVERT BACK TO STOCK

This is still a work in progress in terms of clarity. The files below ARE ONLY FOR THE A7v5.

Download this recovery firmware file (DO NOT CHANGE THIS FILENAME)

THE FOLLOWING SHOULD BE UNIVERSAL FOR ALL TP-LINK ROUTERS: NIC must be statically set to 192.168.0.66 and subnet 255.255.255.0 (no other settings in win7/win10 necessary) Router/host/A7v5 will be sitting at 192.168.0.86 port 69 (The router will do this by itself).


Run TFTP SERVER (NOT CLIENT MODE) locally on the 192.168.0.66 PC NIC or Laptop NIC (NOT WIFI) using Tftp32 (it appears that tftpd64 has issues) Make sure to allow your TFTP program in the firewall rules for both private and public networks or you'll never push the file to the router due to the firewall blocking your TFTP program!


Make sure the tftp SERVER program has the right folder/directory chosen; which also has the recovery firmware file saved in that folder ahead of time before you start the process below. It's ok to have the tftp server program running and waiting for you to do the next steps.

Power off the router. Push in, and hold the reset button, power back on the router, while still holding in the reset button. If all goes as planned you will see a progress bar flash pretty quickly as the recovery bin file is pushed to the router. This happens within 6-8 seconds of powering back on the router with the reset button held in. If you have the TFTP server running the right way, the file should be pushed to the router right when the WPS led on the right side lights up (or actually a few seconds before). You can let go of the reset button when you see the progress bar on your TFTP server program move or once the WPS light turns on the router. The power LED will start blinking once it starts copying and upgrading back to stock. Sit back and wait 3-5 minutes as the router does its thing and Viola, you should be back on an early April 2019 stock build. You'll know you're back on stock build when the two Wi-Fi lights turn solid green. At that point you can go and reset your NIC card to obtain the ip automatically and resume restoring your settings in the stock TP-Link firmware.


The above revert file link will allow you to go back to dd-wrt if you want in the future. I don't know if future builds from TP-Link will lock out upgrading to dd-wrt, and/or, the possibility to not roll back to an older stock build. So be very careful in updating to new stock tp-link builds.


Attempting to side load the recovery firmware from SSH/Telnet will not work and will result in the router saying "Bad trx header."