Installing OpenWrt on a Linksys EA8300 and then building and flashing a DSA capable snapshot on top

[@ChristianKray]

Thanks a lot for sharing this. Helped me a lot as an OpenWRT newbie to get everything set up on my new MR8300.

[@mr-jack]

Glad it helped!

[@AntoniNorman]

Thanks for the video. After watching I just ordered the Linksys EA8300 off of Ebay. Was using a ASUS DSL-N66U for the USB tethering option but that thing is slowly dying. Good to know that the latest version of OpenWrt will install on this.

[@mr-jack]

Snap. I had exactly the same :)

[@AntoniNorman]

@@mr-jack I am liking the Linksys EA8300 but you must setup irqbalance and turn on Software flow offloadin & Packet steering. Otherwise it will only use one core.

[@soupoverflow]

How is your setup going? I have an EA8300 with a symmetric 1Gbps line and I hit 900+ wired to the access point, but my wifi speed on 5Ghz is capped at 300Mbps. I’ve tried a ton of stuff including going back to v 19 of OpenWRT with no luck. :(

[@richrobertsuk]

Hi, thinking of buying one of these routers to replace an old bt home hub 5 with open wrt as its acting up! How is the wifi on the router? Is it a solid connection without having to do frequent reboots? Thanks.

[@mr-jack]

I have 4 of them and have not actively rebooted any. We have had a couple of power outages but thats over the past year. So very reliable.

[@richrobertsuk]

@mr-jack great looks like a purchase is in order!, thanks for the quick response!

[@CoopGenomika]

I had the imprudence to install dd-wrt on my ea8300. It has a serious problem with wifi. Now I can neither return the original firmware nor install OpenWRT. I tried with a tftp cable, but it says that there are missing components and cannot complete the installation. dd-wrt support does not answer me after three letters... PLEASE HELP!

[@ErikSmitt]

Very helpful

[@mr-jack]

Glad you think so!

[@jbgrenouille2527]

Greetings, I installed the firmware on a very similar model, with the intention of taking advantage of the USB ports, but I haven't achieved anything, not even a hard drive that I had lying around the house works, is this fixable? The model in question is the MR 8300

[@mr-jack]

Hi. I was able to get a USB stick working. I didn't try a hard disk. Have you tried using a powered USB-SATA Hub as the router has very little power to give to USB devices. On a slightly different note did you install the MR8300 firmware on your device? The reason I ask is that on my first attempt I actually installed the MR8300 firmware on my EA8300 and it seemed to work ok but the USB and LED lights didn't work. So if you have installed the EA8300 software on your MR8300 that might be why.

[@jbgrenouille2527]

The USB flash drives work but the hard drives don't.@@mr-jack

[@mr-jack]

@@jbgrenouille2527 So it looks like it might be a power problem then if the interface is active. Have you tried a powered USB-SATA hub? I have used these in the past, they work well and are quite cheap, www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JGT17B8/ref=emc_b_5_t

[@VancedZeno]

Good pm mr jack.do you have a tutorial on how to put the switch option on openwrt?this version OpenWrt 23.05.0-rc2 it doesn't show on network options

[@mr-jack]

The SWITCH option is removed from the menu as part of the DSA upgrade to OpenWrt. You need to Follow this video(kzbin.info/www/bejne/amjIaZV6qbl6fNE) to make a software switch

[@jamesjarvis8061]

Hello! I thought I was following along, but now when I get to the advanced reboot page there is no linksys option anymore... Is there a way to get it back? The OpenWrt 22.03.2 (Linux 5.10.146) firmware on partition 2 works just fine, but the other wont boot. Any help would be appreciated!

[@mr-jack]

Hi James, go to the OpenWRT page for the EA8300 (openwrt.org/toh/linksys/ea8300) There is a link to download the original firmware from Linksys which you can then re-flash. Be warned you are on your own with this as I have not tried it.

[@gh_vaeli]

Don't worry, I put a wrong program on this router and unfortunately it doesn't come up anymore. I put in an IP address. It doesn't recognize the router. I think it's Enbridged. Please guide me. Thank you.

[@zandatsu07]

can i install openwrt in my linksys ea8300-hk? because mine have HK, so is it ok?

[@mr-jack]

I am sorry but I don't know. Lets hope @RevanceZeno reply's.

[@VancedZeno]

It's ok to install.but make sure you don't forget to install the advance reboot and change the kernel size.dont skip the tutorial

[@galbosoanthony3722]

Hi, It is the same process if I want to install openwrt on linksys EA7500 V2?

[@mr-jack]

I am afraid I am not familiar with the EA7500. I recommended you have a look on the relevant pages on the Open wrt website. Good luck.

[@DoubtingThomas333]

I did this on the EA8500 It's just brilliant, right? 🎉

[@mr-jack]

Glad to hear

[@DoubtingThomas333]

@@mr-jack also on the ea9500 although then its better as a wired router and not wireless 😂

[@VancedZeno]

Is this a global version?can you install openwrt in ea8300-hk?

[@mr-jack]

I am afraid I don't know, I didn't see any nationalisation information. However, I would think that you would be ok to try as you can always revert to the original image, on the alternate partition.

[@VancedZeno]

​@@mr-jackis it ok not to change the kernel and just stick to 5.10?or is it required to change it to 5.15 version

[@VancedZeno]

​@@mr-jackanother question.how did you change the default gateway?i just saw on a old post that if you change the gateway from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.3.1you can't access the device anymore.is this true?

[@mr-jack]

Hi, if you want to use the new DSA configuration feature then you have to upgrade the kernel. If you are happy with the old way of configuring it then 5.10 is fine. Up to you, I decided I wanted to try the new way.

[@mr-jack]

You can absolutely still access it if you change the gateway address. I change the network address and even the port in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/amjIaZV6qbl6fNE. the key thing is to get your computer to recognise that the router address has changed. Sometimes you can do it by simply unplugging and re-plugging the ethernet cable or on windows issue "ipconfig /renew" at the command prompt to get your computer to request a new IP address from the router

[@VancedZeno]

How to fix this mr jack. it's spamming in my kernel log qca8k-ipq4019 c000000.switch wan: Link is Down [15130.250406] qca8k-ipq4019 c000000.switch wan: Link is Up - 100Mbps/Full - flow control rx/tx Is this ok to opkg?i searched this on google opkg remove ath10k-firmware-qca4019-ct opkg remove kmod-ath10k-ct opkg install ath10k-firmware-qca4019 opkg install kmod-ath10k-smallbuffers Edit: tried this opkg. Qualcomm Atheros QCA9886 802.11ac/n stops working. But the kernel log still has the issue