TP-Link TL-WR1043ND v2: Guide to Upgrade to v3 firmware

Warning: only proceed if you know what are you doing. Make sure you have knowledge in networking, otherwise don't proceed. I take no responsibility if u bricked your router.

Source : Upgrade TP-Link TL-WR1043ND v2 to v3
* The source left out a few steps which i improvised a little here.


What's is this for?

1. IPv6 support (not the primary purpose for me to flash. I disabled Ipv6 for some reasons)
2. Better wireless performance (on my scenario at least)
3. Better firmware compared to v2 firmware for TM Unifi (i.e no speedboost 450mbps, weak coverage)

How is possible?

Due to the fact v2 has the same hardware as v3 as shown below, so i'm thinking that v3 firmware should be working fine on v2, despite TP-Link blocks it.


*source: OpenWRT wiki.

Procedure:

Things that you will need:
a). TP-Link’s official firmware for V3 with U-Boot included.
b). a U-Boot stripped (WITHOUT U-Boot) v3 firmware.
c). Gargoyle 1.6.2 firmware image for TL-WR1043ND V2.
d). Winscp.exe for scp access to router’s RAM /tmp directory.
e). Putty.exe to gain SSH access to Gargoyle router.

Everything above can be downloaded here : http://www74.zippyshare.com/v/91ovYeK6/file.html


1). Flash your TL-WR1043ND v2 hardware with Gargoyle 1.6.2 firmware through the router's interface (through system upgrade).

2). After the firmware successfully flashed, you might need to type a new address to access the router (default: 192.168.1.1)

3). You will land on the new Gargoyle UI. To login, key in the password "password" to access the router UI.
(Don't bother to use Gargoyle firmware on Unifi as VLAN tagging is absent)

3). Now follow this step to enable SSH access. Don't change anything you see inside, especially SSH port.




3). Launch winscp.exe and type in the following on the window then connect.

Host : 192.168.1.1 (ssh port left default 22)
username : root
password : password
protocol : SCP

Click update / allow / yes when a window prompt you.


4). After successfully connected, a file explorer alike window will comes out. Now copy “U-Boot stripped” TP-Link firmware file (v3_stripped.bin) to ram directory of the router (i.e. /tmp)

*please wait a while the file is being flashed, DO NOT turn off the router during process. After finished flashing, you may close WinSCP.


5). Now launch putty to SSH into router. Use the following then click Open :



6). A terminal will pop out. In case it asks for username and password, use "root" and "password" respectively.

7).Next type the following commands:



5). The router will reboot automatically after successful flash. After the router finished reboot and loaded up, go to (192.168.0.1). You will be greeted with a new TP-Link UI. Login with default username and password (admin/admin).

6). Navigate to firmware update page & now flash the firmware [wr1043ndv3_ms_3_16_9_up_boot(160215)] which included in file downloaded. The firmware is ready for Unifi & Maxis.

6). After finished upgrading and the router reboots, VIOLA, you got yourself a v3 firmware on v2 hardware, with IPv6 support, and better wireless performance.


*NOTE:

1. On my initial settings, Hypptv doesn't seem to work. Try playing around with IGMP Proxy under Network > LAN.
You may also try with VLAN priority see if it works. This issue won't be a problem if u don't use Hypptv.

** Update (08/11/2016) : Still can't figure out how to get HyppTV to work. But the router is much more stable than v2 firmware. If you managed to get HyppTV to work, feel free to share here. In the meantime, if HyppTV is important for you, you may revert back to v2 by referring to the source article above.

This post has been edited by jerryckk: Nov 8 2016, 09:51 AM

Thanks for the sharing.
I updated mine to V3 but found the Wifi Tx speed is fluctuating between 10-20Mbps while the LAN port speed is pretty constant at 30Mbps. Btw I am on Unifi 30Mb broadband. Did you observe this issue?

Thanks for sharing... this is a good read & review.

Set your wireless frequency to 40Mhz. i found 20Mhz tends to be slow if you are not in line of sight with the router.
40Mhz sets you the theoretical speed of 450Mbps (3tx/2rx) compared to 20Mhz which is 144 Mbps (3tx/2rx). Correct me if there's any mistakes.
You may also play around with wireless channel which is less congested in your area.
Look for WiFi analyser app on google play or app store to help you to locate the best channel.

This post has been edited by jerryckk: Nov 3 2016, 09:36 AM

My pleasure
Hope it helps. firmware support on v2 is terrible since TP-Link has moved to v3 and v4. Luckily v2 and v3 has the same hardware, thus there's the possibility to flash v3 firmware to v2. Connections have been solid since compared to v2 firmware where i needed to restart it once per day.

Still the same after all set to 40MHz. I also tested the IPv6 support on both the LAN and Wifi connections.

HyppTV not working. That's too bad. I rely on HyppTV for all TV channel as I don't have TV antennas in my house. Will try this guide once HyppTV are working.

Hmm weird. So far there's no problem for me, unless i move far away from the router which is normal for wireless network. You may revert back to v2 by following the steps on the source article if you don't encounter such issue on v2.

I will try to play around with the settings when i'm free and update the thread if it's working.

Update: Still can't figure out how to get HyppTV to work. But the router is much more stable than v2 firmware. If you managed to get HyppTV to work, feel free to share here. In the meantime, if HyppTV is important for you, you may revert back to v2 by referring to the source article above until i figured out the solution.

This post has been edited by jerryckk: Nov 8 2016, 09:54 AM

You may want to tweak the VDSL modem to serve as HyppTV output. This was what I did few months back before upgraded to V3. LAN1 connects to STB, LAN2 bridges to router WAN port.

Follow this guide http://stanleytiang.blogspot.my/2011/08/un...using-your.html

This post has been edited by patricktoh: Nov 8 2016, 08:49 PM

Thanks for the tutorial. Unfortunately my BTU (not VDSL2, since i'm fully on fiber) doesn't come with any UI, so basically i can't access it. Maybe i will try again with another way when i'm free.