Converting A TP-Link TL-WR1043ND To DD-WRT - Joey Iodice

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Converting a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND to DD-WRT - Joey Iodice

7/16/2015

Joey Iodice
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Converting a TPLink TLWR1043ND to DDWRT


Posted on November 8, 2012
W ith 241 Comments
W ritten by Joey Iodice

In this post, I will walk you through


converting your TP-Link TL-WR1043ND
from factory firmware to DD-WRT 3rd
party firmware. DD-WRT is generally
more stable than the factory firmware
and contains more advanced features.
This is a pretty easy firmware upgrade
with one catch. If your routers Serial
Number begins with 12, then you will
need to perform an additional step
before converting to DD-WRT. The
extra step is to flash a special german
firmware image before flashing to DDWRT. Newer versions of the TLWR1043ND router turn off the WAN
port during a firmware upgrade which
never gets turned back on in DD-WRT.
This special german firmware image
prevents the WAN from being turned
off during the DD-WRT conversion.
**UPDATE** If you already have a non
working DD-WRT install, you can use
this file to revert your firmware back to
stock TP-Link. Then you can install the
german firmware file and then install
DD-WRT.
First, you will need to make a
hardwired connection to the
router (do not attempt this using a
wireless connection).
Next you will need to obtain the
DD-WRT firmware for this router.
The firmware can be found HERE.
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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The link is to the DD-WRT ftp site.


Select the latest year, then select
the most recent build (not a
testing build), then select
the tplink_tl-wr1043nd folder, and
lastly click the factory-to-ddwrt.bin
file. I used build 19419 at the
time of writing this.
If you have a router that has a
serial number starting with 12,
then you will need to download
THIS german firmware file,
otherwise you can skip this step.
Open up a browser and navigate
to http://192.168.1.1 and the
default user is admin, default
password is admin.
Go to System Tools and then
Firmware Upgrade. You should
see the following screen:

If your router serial number starts


with 12, select browse and choose
the german firmware file that you
downloaded earlier. Otherwise
select browse and choose the
factory-to-ddwrt.bin file that you
downloaded from DD-WRT.
You will then see the next two
screens and your router will
automatically reboot.

If you uploaded the german


firmware file, then you will need
to go back to System-Tools then
Firmware-Upgrade to upload
the factory-to-ddwrt.bin file.

Once you have uploaded


the factory-to-ddwrt.bin file, the
router will reboot and you will see
the DD-WRT setup screen. You
just need to set your username
and password and you are ready
to start configuring your DD-WRT
router.

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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If you have any questions or


suggestions, leave a comment. Also, let
me know what builds you have found to
be stable on this router.

28

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Posted Under: Netw orking

Author
Written by Joey
Iodice
I'm a software
developer focusing on
ASP.net, HTML5,
jQuery, & Javascript.

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241 Comments

Dominic
December 8, 2012 at 7:19 am Reply

Fantastic tutorial, saved me a


lot of time. Thanks Dominic
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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He-Yann
January 2, 2013 at 1:35 am Reply

Worked perfectly Many


thanks to you sir !!

em
January 3, 2013 at 7:50 am Reply

Where did you downloaded


that german firmware file? I
see you mirrored it into your
website, but i want to know
the source.

Joey Iodice
January 3, 2013 at 11:19 am Reply

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tplink/tlwr1043nd#warnings.gotchas
I think there might be an
English firmware file that
might do the same thing, I
think it just has to contain
boot in the filename such
as
wr1043nv1_en_3_9_17_up_boot(091118).bin.
I just used this file since it
has been successful and once
you know the basic
navigation, the language is
not really an issue.

Giovanni
January 9, 2013 at 9:01 pm Reply

what bin should I use when I


want to upgrade to a newer
ddwrt firmware version?
webflash?

Joey Iodice
January 10, 2013 at 12:23 am Reply

If you are going from TP-link


firmware to DD-WRT, you
would use the factory-toddwrt.bin file. If you already
have DD-WRT running on the
router then you will use the
webflash bin file.

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Zackyu
January 13, 2013 at 5:08 pm Reply

my router with serial 12. i did


the flash to DD-WRT and yes
there is an issue there. i
want to perform the flashing
again but i have a question,
can i just upgrade it to
german firmware(from DDWRT to german) or i should
revert it to stock firmware
first then upgrade to german
and last to DD-WRT?

Joey Iodice
January 14, 2013 at 1:19 am Reply

You will need to revert back


to stock TP-Link firmware
and then do german TP-Link
firmware file then DD-WRT.

January 18, 2013 at 12:42 pm Reply

!!!!
,
, dd-wrt,Wan
(),
,
, ,
,

Lan, Wi-fi,

.

Joey Iodice
January 18, 2013 at 5:39 pm Reply

Sorry, I do not speak Russian


and the Google translation
was not very clear From
my understanding your WAN
is not working? You will need
to revert back to stock TPLink firmware then load the
German TP-Link firmware,
and then load the DD-WRT
firmware.

Rob
January 18, 2013 at 8:41 pm Reply

What is the procedure to

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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revert back to stock


firmware?

Joey Iodice
January 19, 2013 at 1:43 am Reply

I updated the post with


instructions.

January 18, 2013 at 10:37 pm Reply

Hello! Did you have written,


van to work, but no Internet ,
router does not distribute
Internet,(shows that the
network is, determines,all
everywhere prescribes) but
internet not, like not working
DHCP the router.Help

Joey Iodice
January 19, 2013 at 1:45 am Reply

Sounds like your WAN port is


not working. Try installing the
revert to stock firmware file I
posted in the blog, then
install the german firmware,
and finally install DD-WRT.

Rob
January 19, 2013 at 4:15 am Reply

Thanks for posting the revert


bin. I take it just run through
update firmware option on
router homepage and
reboot?

Joey Iodice
January 19, 2013 at 4:58 am Reply

yes, just upload like you


would a normal DD-WRT
firmware update.

January 20, 2013 at 12:42 pm Reply

Hello!!! Firmware 08-07-10r14896 work. A with (08-1210-r14929 n 01-01-2013http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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r20453) no work, dhcp server


no work. Help.

ebgamer
January 26, 2013 at 7:43 am Reply

Awesome, stoked as! This is


the first router Ive owned
which has support for DDWRT. Thanks for the post!

Mark
January 31, 2013 at 9:29 pm Reply

Hi there- Very helpful but I


must have done something
wrong in the process. I have
Open VPN working with the
flashed DD-WRT, but with no
internet connection. Id like to
restart the process. I have
found the original firmware,
but would you let me know
how I can flash the firmware
back to the router? Thanks in
advance!

Joey Iodice
February 2, 2013 at 7:50 pm Reply

Just go to the firmware


update section in DD-WRT
and upload this file:
http://joeyiodice.com/files/tlwr1043nd_v1-webrevert.bin

Larry
February 2, 2013 at 11:02 am Reply

I keep getting a error that the


factory file is too large (when
upgrading from the german
version). I have done a
30/30/30 reset after each
firmware upgrade to ensure
memory is clear. Any ideas?

Joey Iodice
February 2, 2013 at 7:57 pm Reply

Sounds like you are


uploading an incorrect file.
Also, make sure the file is not
corrupt (try to download it
again).
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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What version of DD-WRT are


you trying to upload? What
browser are you using?
Make sure you are uploading
this file or one that says
factory-to-ddwrt.bin:
ftp://ddwrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayerV24-preSP2/2012/07-20-12r19519/tplink_tlwr1043nd/factory-toddwrt.bin

Larry
February 3, 2013 at 10:07 am Reply

No change using your direct


link unfortunately. Going to
reflash to beginning and try
again.

Larry
February 3, 2013 at 10:09 am Reply

No change using your direct


linked file unfortunately. Im
going to reflash to original
and try again. Hopefully that
will fix it all. Appreciate your
assistance regardless.

Larry
February 3, 2013 at 2:06 pm Reply

Oops. No need to translate


German to find firmware
upgrade. I had been picking
a different menu option
instead of reading firmware
upgrade. Picking the correct
menu item makes all the
difference. Oops. Thanks
again!

Joey Iodice
February 3, 2013 at 7:39 pm Reply

Hah, no problem. Glad you


figured it out.

[email protected]
February 3, 2013 at 10:31 am Reply

Thank you for this very


accurate and well written

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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tuto. I just have a question. I


read in other tutos that one
should perform a 30-30-30
reset before and after
upgrade/update. What is
your opinion about this.

Joey Iodice
February 3, 2013 at 7:38 pm Reply

Yes, the recommended thing


to do is to clear your NVRAM
by doing a 30-30-30 reset
before and after each
firmware upgrade. I usually
just do a factory reset
through dd-wrt or the factory
firmware which will usually
clear the NVRAM.

djst
February 25, 2013 at 4:34 pm Reply

Very nice and simple


instruction, had one with
more pics, but this was clear
enough for me.
Ive flashed from factory to
ddwrt, should I clean nvram
also? Have seen in ddwrt
forum a cmd command to do
it, but cant find it right now.
If you suggest to clean
maybe you know that
command?

Joey Iodice
February 25, 2013 at 4:41 pm Reply

You can telnet to your router


(the username is always
root when making a telnet
connection). Then just put in
your password and you can
issue the following
commands:
erase nvram
reboot
You can also just do a
30/30/30 reset which will do
the same thing. Here is more
information on both:
http://www.ddwrt.com/wiki/index.php/Hard_reset_or_30/30/30

djst
February 25, 2013 at 5:18 pm -

Thanks again, didnt thought


http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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that its so easy

Ian
February 14, 2013 at 2:57 am Reply

Thanks Joey, your guide


worked a treat.

elpipetuanis
February 14, 2013 at 3:30 pm Reply

Does the USB work with DDWRT?

Joey Iodice
February 14, 2013 at 6:18 pm Reply

I do not personally use the


USB port but it should work
since it is supported on most
DD-WRT routers.

elpipetuanis
February 15, 2013 at 11:21 am Reply

Updated mine last night. Love


the options, dont understand
them all but whatever.
Hopefully it will stop dropping
signal etc that the stock
firmware was doing.

Bernhard
July 1, 2013 at 6:30 am - Reply

Hi There,
I am curious; did it solve your
issues with wifi signal drop?
I got that issue myself: wifi
will hang/freeze in n-mode (g
works fine) of there is too
much load on it over a
certain period of time.
Happened with hardware
revision 1.8 and 1.9 (the
replacement for the broken
1.8 :-()
Would be great to know if
DD-WRT is any good in this
situation.
Thanks in advance!

StarFire
February 19, 2013 at 9:10 am -

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Reply

When I search for the dd-wrt


firmware on the dd-wrt.com
website I find build 14896.
On the FTP link you provide
the build numbe ris already
up to r20675.
Are these nightly (alpha)
builds and safe to use? Or
should I just use the link
provided on dd-wrt.com.
http://www.ddwrt.com/routerdb/de/download/TPLink/TLWR1043ND/1.1%20/%201.4/factoryto-ddwrt.bin/3643

Joey Iodice
February 19, 2013 at 11:47 am Reply

The dd-wrt router database


is pretty outdated. You have
to find the newer builds by
searching through the FTP
server. You can find them
here:
ftp://ddwrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayerV24-preSP2/
Just avoid the ones with testing, those are nightly
builds. The only problems
with some of the newer
builds is some routers do not
work well with the newer wifi
drivers in them.

pH
February 20, 2013 at 7:28 am Reply

Thanks for this.. Made it


quick and easy. Appreciated!

krilas
February 25, 2013 at 9:52 am Reply

I uses WR1043ND for IP TV


by wireless network. IT TV
works, but sometimes freeze
and all network disconnects.
So now I want to try change
original firmware to dd-wr.
And have question how
with DD-Wr IP TV work
normally by wireless? Our
will have troubles in future
for this?

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Joey Iodice
February 25, 2013 at 11:41 am Reply

Any kind of video streaming


over wireless can suffer
problems if there is not a
good amount of buffering.
DD-WRT may help but you
might also have to tune your
network. I would setup some
QOS rules for IPTV streaming
to give it priority and I would
also use a tool such as
inSSIDer to make sure you
are using a wireless channel
that is not congested by
nearby wireless networks. If
this does not work then you
will need to either run a wire
or try a wireless bridge. Good
luck.

krilas
February 26, 2013 at 3:01 am Reply

Thanks Joey for answer.


Now I over 6 mounths user
original WR1043ND firmware
IP TV work, some days it
work perfect, sometimes TV
stops and network limited
becomes, then need
disconect and again connect
and TV works again some
time
maybe need try configure
first original firmware? Can
you give some advice?
I will try check network area
by inSSIDer. maybe this will
give some good results

krilas
February 26, 2013 at 3:07 am Reply

Thanks Joey for answer.


I use WR1043ND for watch IP
TV over wirelless more what
6 months. Sometimes it work
perfect. But sometimes IT
show but after some time
everything freezing, network
become Limited network,
need disconets and again
connect. then IP TV become
live again. Why so happen?
Buffering this is problem?
Maybe you can advice me try
change some original
firmware settings?
I will try start inSSIDer

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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software to check network


around our home, maybe
some good result will get

hashaam
February 26, 2013 at 2:30 pm Reply

I still have the stock firmware


on wr1043nd. I have
attached a hard drive to it
and it is accessable by all my
laptops and mobiles n can
use the media server
functionbut my samsung
smart tv 5300, connected
through ethernet cable,
cannot detect the router or
hard drive (although the tv
does detect media files on
other laptops on same
network). If i upgrade it to
dd-wrt, wll it be able to
detect.

Joey Iodice
March 4, 2013 at 1:30 pm - Reply

I think your TV requires the


AllShare software to be
installed on your computer to
access the files. I am not
sure what protocol AllShare
uses. You could install that
software on your computer
and then just point it to your
networked hard drive and the
TV should then be able to
access the files.
http://www.samsung.com/global/allshare/pcsw/quickguide.html

Ben
February 28, 2013 at 8:16 pm Reply

Hi Joey, I am a noob here. I


would like to enable the 3G
modem support for the USB.
Does flashing to dd-wrt help?
The original firmware
supports usb storage only. I
am using a AC2791 evdo rev
B 3G modem.

Joey Iodice
March 4, 2013 at 1:40 pm - Reply

Your modem is listed as


supported in the DD-WRT
wiki. So it should work.
http://www.ddwrt.com/wiki/index.php/Mobile_Broadband#ZTE
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Peter
March 3, 2013 at 1:30 pm - Reply

Hello!
I have tp link tl 1043nd ver
1.10 sn 12
I have updated to dd-wrt,
and wan port has gone.
I tried the description above,
but WAN port still not
working.
Do you have any idea?
THX:
P!

Joey Iodice
March 4, 2013 at 1:18 pm - Reply

If you went straight into DDWRT without doing the


German firmware first then
you will need to revert back
to stock firmware using the
link I provided in the tutorial.
Then you will need to do the
German firmware then DDWRT firmware. Make sure to
do a 30/30/30 reset after
each firmware change.

Tony Lee
March 3, 2013 at 10:46 pm - Reply

Thank So much for your


details & links to get correct
files! Make the job simple
and successful.

David
March 5, 2013 at 2:33 am - Reply

How is your experience using


the WR1043ND so far? Is it
stable? How often do you
have to power cycle it?

Joey Iodice
March 5, 2013 at 8:28 pm - Reply

Very stable, I have it running


in a business environment
with 6-7 wireless devices
constantly using it on a daily
basis. It has been running
since I wrote this article and
they have only power cycled
it once and that was because
it was stacked on top of a
modem and got too hot. This
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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router can get pretty hot so


make sure not to put it on
other devices that can get
warm.

jimbo jones
March 7, 2013 at 7:34 pm - Reply

Amazing work sir! thank you

Jack (@jackatjack)
March 8, 2013 at 11:12 am - Reply

Hi Joey,
Any idea what the BIG/Mega
firmware is and if it works
with this router? I am trying
to run a script on my dd-wrt
WR1043ND from my VPN
provider to setup openvpn.

Joey Iodice
March 8, 2013 at 11:59 am - Reply

Yes, I am aware of the


big/mega firmware versions
of DD-WRT. They basically
include all of dd-wrt features,
not just a limited set. As far
as I know, this router does
not support those version due
to only having 8MB of flash
memory. Who is your VPN
provider?

Martin
March 9, 2013 at 2:19 pm - Reply

Thank you Joey for your


firmware user instructions
all works fine now and the
DD-WRT firmware is good. I
have one small problem
though:- I was able to set up
and access the Addonics 4.0
NAS adapter with the
standard TL-Link factory
firmware before I upgraded
to German & DD-WRT
firmware. Now Internet
explorer will not access the
GUI to re-setup the firmware
on that. I suspect it is the
new router firmware but no
idea how to resolve it.
If you are able to assist and
have any other details you
need please fire away.

Joey Iodice
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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March 11, 2013 at 10:37 am Reply

The most likely cause is that


your Addonics adapter is
using DHCP to obtain an IP
address and when you
changed firmware it got
assigned a new IP address.
You should be able to find
that new IP address in the
dd-wrt connected device list
(Status -> LAN). To prevent
problems in the future, you
should assign it a static
private IP either by assigning
it in DD-WRT or by assigning
it in the Addonics settings. If
you are using the Addonics
NAS adapter for USB hard
drives, you could bypass this
all together and just plug the
USB device directly into the
router since it supports USB.

Ales
March 13, 2013 at 6:01 am - Reply

HI Joey, I assume u are


aware of the problem with
the Buil20675 related to the
wireless problems. Since iam
close to the decision to revert
back to the stock firmware
(btw iam trying to get the
instruction how to do it..) iam
wondering if/how I can
update for example to your
build (19419) if it doesnt
have this Wifi issue???
Should i just use the
webflash.bin for your build?
Thank you in advance for
your answer

Joey Iodice
March 13, 2013 at 10:14 am Reply

Yea, once you have a


working dd-wrt setup then
you can just switch builds by
doing a firmware upgrade
even though in this case it is
technically a downgrade. Just
remember to do a 30-30-30
reset after any firmware
change. I have build 19419
running in a commercial
environment with 5-7
wireless devices using it daily
with no problems. You will
run the weblash.bin file since
you already have dd-wrt
flashed.

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Here is the link for build


19419:
ftp://ddwrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayerV24-preSP2/2012/07-20-12r19519/tplink_tl-wr1043nd/tlwr1043nd-webflash.bin

Ales
March 14, 2013 at 3:36 am - Reply

HI, thank you once again.


Unfortunately my wifi
problem still persist, iam not
able to run the N client above
65 Mbpsany idea is more
than welcomethx

Joey Iodice
March 14, 2013 at 10:09 am Reply

I would not really consider


that a problem unless you
have internet speeds greater
than 65 Mbps. Try setting the
wireless mode to N only and
then use WPA2 security with
AES for best speed using
wireless security. In order to
really obtain the best
wireless speeds, the network
should not have any wireless
password but you would
need to lock it down by MAC
address. You may also be
limited by your wireless
adapter, not the router. No
matter how good your router
is, if your wireless adapter
only supports a certain speed
then you are only going to
get that speed. Also it
depends on how many
wireless clients are
connected because each on
gets a portion of the overall
wireless speed.

Ales
March 15, 2013 at 5:24 am - Reply

Thank you, I will try also


what you mentioned. May I
ask you about the guideline
to get back to the stock
firmware, would you please
send me some link, I would
appreciatethank you

Ales

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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March 15, 2013 at 5:30 am - Reply

actually I tried also to


connect only on N and the
result still the same. I will
change also the security
settings in order to gain the
speed, let seeMay I ask you
if by chance you have some
guidelines related to
downgrade back to stock
firmware??? thank you.

Joey Iodice
March 15, 2013 at 9:53 am - Reply

The file to revert back to


stock firmware is in the
tutorial. You will just use this
file in the firmware upgrade
box in DD-WRT.

Martin
March 15, 2013 at 5:31 am - Reply

Thankyou for your reply Joey


on 11 March 2013.
I did identify the IP address
at the time but it still was not
able to bring up the Addonics
GUI/web page. I want to use
the Addonics as I dont have
restrictions on the amount of
storage I can use with the
device. Apparently the TLWR1043ND is limited to 2
Terabyte but is this still the
case with DD-WRT firmware?
My day job is doing 3D
drawings not this level of
networking to a NAS device. I
want the speed and storage
space but would it sound
radical using a USB to
Ethernet adapter so I can
plug the Addonics into the
Router USB? Or would it be a
better advantage for speed
by using a flash drive in the
USB and put the Addonics
into the Routers ethernet
port? The speed I would be
after is to be able to stream
a few movies in the house at
the same time on the Gigabit
wired network. Any help
would be much appreciated
thankyou!

Joey Iodice
March 15, 2013 at 10:18 am Reply

Sounds like there may be a


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misconfiguration on the
Addonics device. I believe
there is a factory reset on the
device that should reset it
back to default settings, this
will not affect your data just
your device settings. Also,
have you powered it off and
back on since upgrading the
router? It is designed to just
plug into an Ethernet port of
the router, I would not
recommend a USB adapter.
DD-WRT does not have a 2
TB limit but a reformat might
be required. If you have a
spare flash drive laying
around, I would spend some
time with the DD-WRT USB
settings to see if it will work
better for your scenario then
it is just a matter of switching
USB devices for more
storage. If you are using this
NAS for work purposes, I
would really recommend
getting a dedicated NAS with
at least two drive bays so
that your work is
automatically cloned on the
second disk in case of a hard
drive failure. Having your 3D
drawings on a single hard
drive is never a good idea.

Alex
March 17, 2013 at 1:13 pm - Reply

Your method worked


beautifully, thanks a lot!

Pablo
March 19, 2013 at 7:12 pm - Reply

Hi. I have this router with a


german firmware from the
date of purchase. v3.13.12
Build 120808 Rel.33996n.
Can I update it without the
german-firmware step?
Thanks for sharing this info
and tuto!

Joey Iodice
March 20, 2013 at 10:45 am Reply

You still need to do the


german-firmware step. It is
not that every German
firmware file fixes the
problem, just that certain one
(v3.9.17). It prevents the

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WAN port from being


deactivated during a DD-WRT
conversion.

Hashaam
March 21, 2013 at 12:12 am Reply

have you installed any torrent


client on this router? it would
be helpful if you can also
guide us on installing a
torrent client on the router.

Joey Iodice
March 21, 2013 at 10:36 am Reply

I no longer have this router in


my possession otherwise I
probably would. You can find
out how to install the
Transmission bit torrent
software on this router by
following this guide:
http://www.ddwrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?
t=151903

Luca
March 23, 2013 at 9:53 pm - Reply

Hi Joey. Thanks for this


tutorial. Do you know if it
supports a 3tb usb WD HDD
with NTFS? Thanks!

Joey Iodice
March 27, 2013 at 11:04 am Reply

NTFS is not a problem


although you will get better
speeds with Ext3. As far as
3TB, I dont think DD-WRT
supports GUID partition tables
right now which is required
to support over 2TB
partitions. You could do two
partitions though depending
on how you want to use it.
Example being 2TB for
Multimedia and 1TB for
backups, etc.

Phil Giarraputo
March 26, 2013 at 11:16 pm Reply

Dude great post I could not

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get the WAN to work and this


article not only explained why
but gave me the fix as well.
Everything works great now
thanks again!

overdose
March 29, 2013 at 6:02 am - Reply

Please help me the sn starts


with 12 i followed the guide
german bin first and then
factory. But the dd wrt setup
never show up and now i
cant even access the router
page and no internet :s
please help

Joey Iodice
March 29, 2013 at 10:30 am Reply

Did you do a 30/30/30 reset


after?

Leva
March 31, 2013 at 8:46 am - Reply

I have a problem, maybe you


can tell me something about
it. I have a TL-WA901ND v2
AP with default tplink
firmware. (Build 120224). I
flashed it to DD-WRT (as I
saw this AP in the device
compatible list) then I lost my
WAN port! Seems I had the
same issue you explained
above, but with AP also. On
the other hand, I could not
get that DD-WRT to work
properly, because I could not
set up the device to act as
AP, that DD-WRT handled it
as a router, which is a bit
wierd for me. Anyway I
reverted back, now I have
the original firmware as I had
before, and working fine. For
me, that DD-WRT didnt bring
any additional benefit, I will
not apply this on my other
TPL devices for sure. Its
unstable, and even if the
devices is compatible,
doesnt work on a way its
supposed to.

Joey Iodice
April 1, 2013 at 12:29 am - Reply

DD-WRT is not really meant


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for access points, it is aimed


towards routers. You will not
really gain much with dd-wrt
anyways since an access
point is a simple device that
just converts wireless traffic
into wired and vice verse. I
am not really sure what DDWRT would even consider
your single ethernet port as
since it is really a LAN port,
and not a WAN port.
If you really want to get it
working, I suggest you read
through this entire thread:
http://www.ddwrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?
t=71721&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Looks like some people got it
to work with some effort.

valent
April 3, 2013 at 2:03 am - Reply

Did anybody fix wifi dropout


[1] issue with their wr1043nd
when running ddwrt or
openwrt? Im still having
issue and really pissed off
I posted to this bug report [2]
but still no news from any of
the developers.
It looks like same bug [3] is
also present in openwrt
firware, I can confirm that I
had same issues with
openwrt.
Is there any workaround?
[1] http://www.ddwrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?
p=747935
[2] http://www.ddwrt.com/ddwrtv2/bugtracker/view.php?
id=4388
[3]
https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/9654

Joey Iodice
April 4, 2013 at 12:25 pm - Reply

What build are you using?

Bernhard
July 1, 2013 at 6:38 am - Reply

Same issue here.


Both with OpenWRT and
factory firmware. Router
works great with g-wifi but
drops out in n-mode when
presented with some more
bandwidth (not just internet).

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Around 8MBit/s netto over 10


minutes is a guarantied
freeze/hang.

Robert
April 3, 2013 at 3:08 am - Reply

with dd-wrt on this router is


it possible to power off the
wifi radio during the night ?
Thanks

Joey Iodice
April 4, 2013 at 12:27 pm - Reply

Yes, not sure if it is in the


web interface though. If it is
not then you will have to
setup a cron job to turn the
radio off and on at certain
times.

Ben
April 7, 2013 at 4:04 am - Reply

Joey.I was searching for a


fix to my problem and your
solution workedTHANKS.
However, I encountered
another issuelet me try to
describe a bit and wondering
your thoughts on the matter.
Originally I tried to put DDWRT onto my TL-WR1043ND
(ver 1.10, S/N starting with
12) and it installed perfectly
only the SYS light wasnt on
and I couldnt access the
internet. Followed your
instructions to revert back
first, install the german
firmware, then reinstall DDWRT. After reverting. and
also with the german
firmware, I noticed the SYS
light was on, but once DDWRT installed, the SYS light
is off. I do have access to the
internet through hardwire
connection but the wireless
isnt working. I installed my
version of DD-WRT from here
(http://www.ddwrt.com/site/support/routerdatabase). Curious about the
wireless not working and also
if the version that I installed
is correct/up to date. Thanks.

Joey Iodice
April 8, 2013 at 11:29 pm - Reply

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The wireless should work on


any build but you could try a
newer one, the link to the
FTP server is above. You
could also try a 30/30/30
reset.

4x4
April 8, 2013 at 1:08 am - Reply

Hello
pls could you help?
i bought 1043Nd with lastest
FW instaled http://www.tplink.com/Resources/software/TLWR1043ND_V1_120405_.zip
then installed german boot
bin, then lastest 2013 DD wrt,
when i want go back i
installed
http://joeyiodice.com/files/tlwr1043nd_v1-webrevert.bin
then whanted update to
latest FW again, so i installed
instaled http://www.tplink.com/Resources/software/TLWR1043ND_V1_120405_.zip
again,
after flash the router hangs,
no there is only one led lid
(power). & no acces to
router.,
could you advice how to
repair the device?

Joey Iodice
April 8, 2013 at 11:26 pm - Reply

Have you tried doing a


30/30/30 reset?

4x4
April 9, 2013 at 12:34 am - Reply

yes i did.

Joey Iodice
April 11, 2013 at 10:53 pm - Reply

So when you do a 30/30/30


reset are you able to access
the device? I am guessing
that the web revert worked
and you were back to the tplink firmware. Not sure why
upgrading the TP-Link
firmware to a newer version
failed. You might need to find
a TP-Link recovery tool, this
is all outside of the scope of
DD-WRT so I am not very
familiar with TP-Link
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firmware or recovery options


for that firmware.

4x4
April 12, 2013 at 4:52 am -

For me was strange that


revert to orginal (factory) FW
was not to the latest but to
old FW
how it can be? after that i
updated to lastest FW & unit
freezes, after that no
conection to unit, only 1
power led lid.

Joey Iodice
April 12, 2013 at 4:20 pm -

The only reason it would fail


is if you lost connection
during the update (usually
only happens when people
attempt to do a firmware
upgrade over wireless).
Other reason would be a bad
download of the firmware
file. Are you trying to connect
to the router via wireless or
with a hard wired
connection? It sounds like you
may have bricked your
router. Since you did it during
a TP-Link firmware upgrade,
they may be able to replace it
for you.

Dennis
April 10, 2013 at 9:52 am - Reply

Hello Joey Iodice,


Thanks for the guide you
made. For weeks I try to
unleash the power of the
router TP-Link TLWR1043ND. Problems with
Wireless in N mode, what
only gave 130mbit connection
and Wan port that was offline
is now all fixed.
I used the firmware: r21153
from 04-01-2013 and it went
all good. I noticed that the
wireless connection gave
130mbit but after changing
the Channel Width to Turbo
40 mhz it went to 300mbit.
All I have to do for now, is
testing if the router /
internetconnection is stable.
Thanks alott,
Sincerly,
Dennis
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Joey Iodice
April 11, 2013 at 10:58 pm - Reply

Yea, 20mhz band is usually


better if you have a lot of
neighbors with wireless
connections because it only
occupies 4 wireless channels
instead of 8 so there is less
wireless conflicts. Unless you
are transferring files via
wireless, 140Mbps should be
fine since I doubt your
internet speed is getting
capped by your wireless
speed.

steve davis
April 21, 2013 at 2:36 am - Reply

thanks for making this


upgrade easy, I am trying to
use the pptp vpn setting
under settings and cant get
the details to save any idea
why

Joey Iodice
April 22, 2013 at 11:34 am - Reply

There is a problem with PPTP


in newer build versions. The
last one to work properly is
build 18777. Just do a
firmware upgrade to build
18777 found here:
ftp://ddwrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayerV24-preSP2/2012/03-19-12r18777/tplink_tl-wr1043nd/tlwr1043nd-webflash.bin
then just do a 30/30/30 reset
and you should be good.

steve davis
April 23, 2013 at 2:38 am - Reply

I tried that and it worked


thanks for your help,DDwrt
forum was no help at all.
It works I spent hours trying
to get that to work and now
have done it in minutes.

Sonechka
May 12, 2013 at 8:41 am - Reply

Hello which build should we


install? on dd-wrt is last build
21061, is it still not good as
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18777??

Joey Iodice
May 13, 2013 at 10:51 am -

Build 21061 should work fine,


18777 just supports PPTP
VPN. Most VPN providers are
using OpenVPN now since
PPTP can be hacked. If you
are just using the router for
basic things, not VPN or
wireless bridging then either
build should work fine for
you. It is relatively easy to
change builds once you are
running dd-wrt so I would not
worry too much about it.

Vitaly
April 22, 2013 at 8:01 am - Reply

Hi! What is uptime of your


routers firmware?

Joey Iodice
April 23, 2013 at 1:15 pm - Reply

It has been running for over


3 months without reboot.

chris
April 23, 2013 at 12:48 pm - Reply

your awsome works great


do you happen to have a link
for the best wireless settings
to use ?

Joey Iodice
April 23, 2013 at 1:02 pm - Reply

Not at this time, I plan on


writing an article soon about
optimizing your wireless
signal. The basic things I
always do are use WPA2 with
AES encryption. Use 20mhz
channel width and set the
channel to 1, 6, or 11. If you
only have wireless N devices,
set it it Wireless N only
otherwise just leave it on
mixed. Another thing to do is
download a free program
called inSSIDer to find out
which wireless channels are
being used around you to
help prevent using a
congested wireless signal. So
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say your neighbor has a


strong signal on channel 6
and another neighbor has a
strong signal on channel 11
then you would go with
channel 1. Most routers use
channel 6 as the default so
you will usually have better
luck with 1 or 11.

Randy
April 24, 2013 at 6:26 am - Reply

I have a serial number


starting with 115. Router
purchased in India.
The version is 1.8
On the DD-WRT website I
found 2 files for TLWR1043ND:
1. factory-to-ddwrt.bin
2. tl-wr1043nd-webflash.bin
If I get it correctly I need to
do an initial flash with
factory-to-ddwrt.bin and then
also upgrade to tl-wr1043ndwebflash.bin or just the
factory-to-ddwrt.bin flash is
required?

Joey Iodice
May 4, 2013 at 8:40 pm - Reply

You will use factory-toddwrt.bin to go from your


stock TP-Link firmware to
DD-WRT.
Webflash files are used to
upgrade DD-WRT when DDWRT is already installed on
the router.

steve davis
April 25, 2013 at 1:00 am - Reply

With this firmware 18777. I


can use the vpn but the
wireless will not work on
wireless n
and will only work on mixed
and will only connect at
wirelessg 54 mbs

Joey Iodice
April 29, 2013 at 11:07 am - Reply

It sounds like your wireless


adapter is Wireless G if it
does not work when Wireless
N is turned on and it is only
getting 54 mbps.

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rzepa10
April 27, 2013 at 6:33 am - Reply

Hi. First of all thanks for


great work.
My problem below.
I instaled dd-wrt, i did
30/30/30 reset but stil im
unable to get to my router via
192.168.1.1. Is there any
other way to get back to life
my router ? (PWR led is on,
conected ethernet led is on,
WAN led is blinking.)

rzepa10
April 27, 2013 at 10:59 am - Reply

Problem Solved
192.168.1.1 adres to get
inside my router was change.
I use cmd -> ipconfig and i
check that my new adres to
router is 192.168.11.1

Joey Iodice
April 29, 2013 at 11:09 am - Reply

Glad you figured it out,


sounds like you did not do a
proper 30/30/30 reset
otherwise the router ip would
be 192.168.1.1

Sonechka
May 12, 2013 at 7:24 am - Reply

Hello rzepa and all other


should I change address of
router back to 192.168.1.1.
or let it be 192.168.11.1 ?
explanation:
I have comlpetely same
problem although I did
after every step 30/30/30,
router disppeared. I didnot
know what to do, I was very
unhappy, I was thinking I
might bricked it, fortunately I
found this post and the router
on 192.168.11.1
I dont know if I should
change internal routers IP
(according to instructions on
web) or let it be. This is my
only router I have at home (it
is connected through WAN
behind HUAWEI VDSL
modem, I have just one
appartment, I dont intend to
install more routers)
Could it ( I mean 11 instead
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of 1 in IP 192.168.11.1 )
cause some problems in
future?
Because during my (short)
experience I realized that
what is working should be
left without changing
anything even it is not
according to instructions

Joey Iodice
May 13, 2013 at 10:44 am - Reply

No, having it at 192.168.11.1


will not cause any problems.
You just have to remember
that is your router IP for
when you want to change
any settings. The 192.168.1.1
192.168.255.255 IP range
is dedicated to just local ip
addresses, they are not
considered an Internet IP. So
I have setup routers on
192.168.50.1, 192.168.100.1,
etc. If you ever need to find
out what your routers ip
address is, just open up a
command prompt and type
ipconfig /all and look for the
gateway address (that is your
router IP).

sshanky
May 3, 2013 at 8:26 pm - Reply

Hi Joey, I installed the


german firmware, then the
factory-to-ddwrt.bin, and
couldnt connect after that
with my lan cable. I almost
gave up thinking id bricked it,
but then noticed ddwrt in my
wireless network dropdown. I
am successfully logged into
DDWRT, and its the 4/15/13
version (SVN revision 21286).
However, Im not sure how to
reactivate the lan ports. I
dont really understand how
they got turned off if I used
the german version of the
firmware I also
downloaded the firmware
from the dd-wrt link you
provided in another reply
(ftp://ddwrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayerV24-preSP2/2013/04-152013-r21286/tplink_tlwr1043nd/) but didnt end up
using it, as the instructions
stated to use the factory-toddwrt.bin file following the
german one.
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Anyway, if you could provide


any tips on what I should do
next, Id appreciate it.
Thanks!

Joey Iodice
May 4, 2013 at 8:37 pm - Reply

I would start with a 30/30/30


reset on the router or since
you can connect wirelessly,
just do a factory reset. Also
check your TCP/IP settings on
your network adapter to
make sure you are getting
your settings from DHCP and
that they are not manually
set. If you have them
manually set and your subnet
changed then that is the most
likely cause. You should
probably give your computer
a reboot to flush out any
network settings. I have
never seen the LAN ports
stop working on a router, it is
more likely your computer
settings are wrong or you
have a faulty network cable.
If you are using Windows you
can also pull up a command
prompt and do an ipconfig
/release command and then
follow that up with an
ipconfig /renew command.

sshanky
May 5, 2013 at 2:58 am - Reply

ThanksI think you were


right. Its working great now.
Thanks for the help!

Doc. Ing. Vaclav Sykora,


CSc.
May 7, 2013 at 3:31 am - Reply
Thank you very much Joey
Iodice for all you work on this
detailed article and also for
all your detailed comments
on this topic.
You helped us all a lot.
Without your help we could
not go through and overcome
all problems with router and
dd-wrt. You are very bright
developer.
We are very obliged to you.

jam
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May 10, 2013 at 1:50 pm - Reply

Hi!
Thanks a lot. Everything
worked fine with the build
you recommend, but at the
end, in client Bridge
(Routed) mode (why
routed ?), I could not get
the connexion to the main
router (the Internet box).
My data link is :
PC 192.168.1.150ethernet
cableWR1043ND
192.168.1.4 Wi-Fi
Internet box 192.168.1.1
When I run status>wireless, I
can succesfully join the
Internet box, but the WR is
not seen by the box. Very
strange. At least, if I correctly
understand successfull join
I should see the WR in the
Internet box. Or join has
another meaning?
Thanks for your help

Joey Iodice
May 13, 2013 at 10:30 am - Reply

Yea not sure, I have not done


much wireless bridging. You
can go to the dd-wrt forums
and get some answers.
There is some good
information on setting up
wireless bridging in the ddwrt wikis. I remember one
time I tried upgrading the ddwrt firmware on a wireless
bridge I had setup and I
could not get it to connect to
the main router until I
downgraded back to the
previous firmware build. So
you might have to try an
older build maybe.

Sonechka
May 12, 2013 at 7:33 am - Reply

Hello Joey and all others !!!


Thank you all for detailed
instructions how to get ddwrt on tp-link 1043 !!
should I regularly update my
DD-wrt with tl-wr1043ndwebflash.bin from
http://www.ddwrt.com/site/support/routerdatabase ??
now (12.5.2013) there is
V24 Pre SP2 [Beta] Build:
21061, (your recomended
build 19419 is not there

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anymore) , is it important to
watch dd-wrt.com and
update everytime we see
there new build??
I dont know whether it is
better to have the newest
build or whether it is bad
because newest build is not
tuned and harmonized
enough (so maybe should I
downgrade with some older
build like 14280??
I use the router in order to
have VPN (AirVPN)
connection. From this point of
view, is it recommended to
update tl-wr1043ndwebflash.bin regularly or
not?
thanks in advance for your
answer

Joey Iodice
May 13, 2013 at 10:36 am - Reply

DD-WRTs website is not


regularly updated so you
usually have to go into their
FTP site to find the newer
builds. DD-WRT is open
source so newer builds
usually fix some problems but
may break other things. The
newest builds usually work
fine for the basic router
needs but a few things that
get broken in newer builds
are certain VPN setups and
wireless bridging. So to
answers your question, you
do not need to update to a
newer build unless your
router is acting unstable or
you need a feature that was
fixed in a newer build.

Habib
May 13, 2013 at 12:49 pm - Reply

Thanks for the article. I have


followed it and installed dd
wrt in my router. I can do
everything but can not save
the static ip provided by my
isp. After putting ip, subnet,
gateway, shop when I hit
apply settings or save nothing
happens. It does not get
saved.
Can you please help me
figuring out the issue?
Thanks.

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Joey Iodice
May 13, 2013 at 1:00 pm - Reply

This is usually due to a


browser cache problem. Try
clearing your cache or use IE.

Habib
May 13, 2013 at 1:03 pm - Reply

Thanks for replying so quick!


After working in Chrome, I
have tried with IE 10. Same
problem
Btw my router serial starts
with 11B

Joey Iodice
May 13, 2013 at 1:15 pm - Reply

When saving settings is not


working then that is usually a
browser problem. What
happens is that the browser
caches the login information
for the router admin page.
The problem is those
credentials can change
during firmware upgrades.
So whenever you hit the save
settings button, DD-WRT calls
for those credentials which
the browser has cached. The
reason it is not working is
that your browser has cached
invalid credentials. A few
things to try: 1. Clear your
browser cache or try a
different browser (IE 10 is
just out of beta so it might
have a bug) 2. Change the IP
address of your router to
192.168.0.1 or just
something different than
default and then restart your
computer so it will get a new
IP on the new subnet and go
to the new router IP and you
should be able to save
settings now since it will ask
for a login. 3. Do a 30/30/30
reset and if that does not
work try upgrading to a
different build of DD-WRT.

kim
May 15, 2013 at 5:22 pm - Reply

Hi
First, this is a great tutorial.
I just purchased this router
and it has a serial number
starting with 12. The
firmware version is 3.13.12
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Build 120405 Rel.33996n and


hardware version is
WR1043ND v1 00000000.
So, what is the correct way
to update it with DD-WRT
without having the WAN
problem? should I go with the
same procedure starting with
the German version, or this is
already fixed by now?/
waiting for your help
thanks

Joey Iodice
May 15, 2013 at 6:25 pm - Reply

You will still need to install


the German firmware file
first. I doubt it is fixed, TPLink firmware turns off the
WAN port after a firmware
update and only their
firmware will turn it back on.
The earlier versions of this
router had a firmware
version that did not do this
but all newer firmware
versions do. This German
version is similar to the
version found on the earlier
models.

kim
May 16, 2013 at 5:44 am - Reply

Thank you for your fast reply.


I just read in the DD-WRT
forum that after the beta
21223++ versions, router will
work flawlessly without the
need to downgrade stock
firmware at all. they suggest
to forget about the German
version. Here is the link:
http://www.ddwrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?
p=755798#755798

Joey Iodice
May 16, 2013 at 8:37 am - Reply

Thanks for the info, I will


have to update this tutorial
after I can confirm. Let me
know how it works for you.

satya
May 18, 2013 at 10:03 pm - Reply

this is awesome i used this,


thank you somuch u saved lot
of time to me
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Frank
May 20, 2013 at 4:40 am - Reply

thanks for the helpfull guide

Suraj AJ
May 21, 2013 at 11:43 pm - Reply

how to download torrents n


direct link downloads wit this
after installin dd wrt

Hutzu
May 26, 2013 at 5:24 am - Reply

Hey,
I`ve done everything that you
said over there and after I
done , the internet works like
30 sec and then is gone, I
cant even aces the router
configuration nothing I did
the same as you did , I use
the first file to get back that
reverse thing, after that I
used german one and then
dd-wrt , and like I said it
works like 30 sec and after
that I cant do anything no
internet cant even acces the
router config

Joey Iodice
May 27, 2013 at 11:55 am - Reply

Make sure you did a proper


30-30-30 reset. Also, you
might want to try a different
build of dd-wrt.

serq
May 26, 2013 at 1:51 pm - Reply

This worked great. I had a lot


of trouble with that WAN
issue, but flashing back to
factory then using that
german version worked like a
charm. The build uploaded
4.15.13 (April 15) is stable
and works much better than
the stock firmware. Thanks
again!!!
PS How did you ever figure
out that WAN problem?

Joey Iodice
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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May 27, 2013 at 11:58 am - Reply

It was buried in an OpenWRT


wiki. It looks like TP-Link
finally fixed the problem in
their latest firmware versions
so I will be updating this
tutorial with that info soon.

Perx
May 27, 2013 at 4:49 am - Reply

Tried the straight nodowngrade path (No German


firmware) with the r21286
firmware and it works fine,
WAN port included!

Joey Iodice
May 27, 2013 at 11:59 am - Reply

Thanks for the feedback.


Great to hear, I will have to
update this tutorial to reflect
those changes.

Hutzu
May 27, 2013 at 6:16 am - Reply

Hi
I Finally made it but I have a
problem , sometimes I have
some timeout like 3 4 and
that make me dc from a
game that I`m playing online
or Skype some times Do
you know why or how can I
fix this problem ? or does
anyone know ?
Thanks

Joey Iodice
May 27, 2013 at 12:01 pm - Reply

Did it do it with the stock


firmware? It may be an issue
with your Internet
Connection. You can try a 3030-30 reset or upgrading to a
newer DD-WRT build.

TERENCE CHENG
June 4, 2013 at 11:55 pm - Reply

MY PROBLEM IS NO
CONNECTION THEN ABOUT 7
SEC. ITS CONNECTED TO
INTERNET. SO HOW TO
IMPROVE THIS SITUATION ?

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Joey Iodice
June 10, 2013 at 3:35 pm - Reply

30-30-30 reset or try a


different DD-WRT build.

zuluforex
June 6, 2013 at 8:29 am - Reply

Hi all I have to put the dd-wrt


on my friends router (tp-link
TL-WR1043ND (DE) there is
written on the package ver
1.2
the serial starts with
12Axxxxxxxx
inside the interface currently
in the part relating to the
status indicated:
FirmwareVersion:
3.13.12 Build 120808
Rel.33996n
Hardwareversion:
WR1043ND v1 00000000
type I proceed with the latest
version of the factory-toddwrt.bin or do I have to do
as I have seen on this blog, a
possible update to a
particular version of the
German manufacturers
firmware?
thanks

Joey Iodice
June 10, 2013 at 3:36 pm - Reply

TP-Link fixed this problem in


their newer firmware so just
update to the latest TP-Link
firmware and then use the
factory-to-ddwrt.bin to
upgrade to DD-WRT

ignaciots
June 8, 2013 at 10:41 am - Reply

Thanks Joey for your guide, I


have a question
I have ver: 1.10 and S/N:
12CXXXXXXXX
What are the recommended
steps to get dd-wrt stable on
this scenario?
Ive been surfing the web and
some people have stated that
the german firmware
workaround does not work
on 1.10 version.. on the other
hand in the dd-wrt supported
hardware website the 1.10
version shows with a 1.10
brick! note
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Would a stock firmware


update and after that a ddwrt installation of the latest
build work? perhaps Ive
been reading outdated
posts

Joey Iodice
June 10, 2013 at 3:41 pm - Reply

If you go from the firmware


that came on your router
directly to DD-WRT you will
be fine. If you updated your
factory firmware then you
might have a firmware
version like the 1.2 serial
numbers come with which
contain the WAN bug. TP-Link
has fixed this in their newer
firmware versions so for best
results go to TP-Link and get
the latest firmware, install
that, do a 30-30-30 reset
then install the DD-WRT
firmware, do a 30-30-30 rest
and you will be good.

Peter S
June 16, 2013 at 3:43 am - Reply

Hello need some help!


Hopefully somebody can give
me a positiv feedback. I have
a german wr1043nd. On the
sticker is written Ver. 1.2
In the webinterface was
something written wit V1.
I tryied the tuturial like here
written,
I have a serial number
beginning with 12, so i did
first that with the german
firmware file.
After that the router resarted
automaticly. Now in the
webinterface are no system
tools to carry on with the
process. I dont know how i
can flash now any firmware.
What can i do?
Is the router now ready for
the waste box?
Please help me!

Joey Iodice
June 24, 2013 at 9:53 am - Reply

Make sure you do a 30/30/30


reset after. Sometimes the IP
will change to 192.168.11.1
instead of 192.168.1.1 if you
do not properly reset the
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NVRAM.

Shane
June 23, 2013 at 4:42 am - Reply

Joey, Thank you, I can kiss


you !!!
All working great!
Shane

Gerard
June 27, 2013 at 4:57 pm - Reply

What if your Serial Number


starts with 13. I got a v1.11
of this router. Do I still have
to do that German thing?

Joey Iodice
June 27, 2013 at 5:01 pm - Reply

12 serial numbers seemed to


be the only ones affected due
to having a certain firmware
version factory loaded on the
router (I will be updating the
tutorial soon). To be safe,
upgrade to the latest TP-Link
firmware and then install DDWRT.

Florian Lauck (@flolauck)


July 3, 2013 at 4:20 pm - Reply

I successfully updated my
brand-new router with the
most recent version (201304-25). The Setup Assistant
doesnt work, but other than
that everything works fine.
Thanks for the guide!

abdul
July 4, 2013 at 10:59 am - Reply

Hey Joey, mine starts with


s/n12, I followed your steps
but after factory to flash
firmware I cant access the
router whatsoever
(192.168.1.1) wan is
working, tried 30-30-30 to no
avail.
Please help!

Joey Iodice
July 9, 2013 at 9:00 am - Reply

Try to do a proper 30-30-30


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reset. Sometimes the IP can


change to 192.168.11.1 if you
do not properly do the reset.

jeffrey
July 5, 2013 at 5:43 am - Reply

Hi, Is there any solution for


the same hardware but
Malaysia copy?
In malaysia we are using a
ISP solution call unifi & also
have iptv connection. if i
change to dd-wrt i cant my
iptv. is there any step by step
guild?
Thank you
jeffrey

Joey Iodice
July 9, 2013 at 9:31 am - Reply

You can use DD-WRT with


Unifi, you just have to setup
VLANs. Here is a guide:
http://klseet.com/index.php/ddwrt-for-unifi
The only possible problem is
if this router supports VLAN
tagging or not. It is not
currently on the list but DDWRT lists are often outdated.

gheo
July 8, 2013 at 1:49 pm - Reply

Hello. This procedure will


work on my TP-LINK router,
model TL-WR1043ND,
ver.1.10, SN start with 12.?
On DD-wrt website, router
database table, at this model
ver.1.10 is write ver.1.10
brick

Joey Iodice
July 9, 2013 at 9:46 am - Reply

Where are you seeing this? I


just looked and I do not see it
on the router database page
or the supported devices
wiki. I know certain versions
of OpenWRT can brick V1.10
but I have not seen anything
about DD-WRT.

Dok-hak
July 8, 2013 at 2:47 pm - Reply

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Install the native latest


firmware tp link and then ddVRT all super work

Lucian
July 9, 2013 at 5:56 am - Reply

Hi, thanks for the article. It


was helpful. I hope there
wont be anymore failures
with the wireless connection
now
Please tell me, should I think
of updating the dd-wrt that I
have installed on my tp link,
then I just need to check on
the same website where I
downloaded the last ddwrt(after the german file
step), right?
I mean I wont need to
reinstall german again or any
other file of this file, is that
correct? Thanks.

gheo
July 9, 2013 at 1:41 pm - Reply

Few days ago, a week


maybe, when I bought the
router. I checked today.
Forsooth, they had modified.
Thank you for the answer.

gheo
July 10, 2013 at 2:59 am - Reply

I was installed DD-wrt. I


follow the steps (german
firmware factory to ddwrt
webflash)
without problems. It works,
not slow network traffic (LAN,
WAN, WIFI), not freeze, easy
access to config interface.
But, SYS led stay black (not
light, not blink), WIFI led
blink sometime, quick setup
stay blank. Revert to factory
firmware
and wait for new versions of
dd-wrt.

Jim
July 14, 2013 at 7:42 am - Reply

You are a life saver! Your


instructions were perfect. I
flashed to DD-WRT, but then
decided to go back.
Everything went perfectly.
Thanks a million.
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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David
July 29, 2013 at 4:23 am - Reply

Hi Joey, I have 2012 version


of DDWRT for this router, I
grabbed the most recent one,
any documented changes
that I can read about? I only
downloaded the Webflash
and not factory to DDWRT. is
it correct? Thanks

eyelesswhale
August 3, 2013 at 7:23 pm - Reply

hi,I have the same router but


the version is v2.0, can I
install this firmware?
Thanks

peter
August 4, 2013 at 3:39 am - Reply

i instaled DD-WRT to try to


solve the issue that i
sometimes loose internet
connection.
restarting the router, or
disconnct/reconnect to the
network solved the issue.
I have the same issue with
DD-WRT. Im using a router
provided by my ISP, and
connected my wifi router to
that.
Should i set my DD-WRT as
bridge/switch, and how do i
do that?
thank you
peter

Joey Iodice
August 11, 2013 at 9:18 am Reply

Sounds like your ISP router


might be the problem. You
should either set your ISP
router into bridge mode
(essentially making it just a
modem) or setup your DDWRT router as an access
point/switch and let the ISP
router handle the DHCP
leases, firewalling, etc.
http://www.ddwrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Access_Point
Basically you just setup your
DD-WRT router in the same
subnet so if your ISP router is
192.168.1.1 then you would
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setup your DD-WRT router as


192.168.1.2 and then turn off
DHCP and the firewall.

Joey Iodice
August 11, 2013 at 9:23 am Reply

Also, if you setup it up as a


wireless access point, you
will plug your ISP router Lan
port to the DD-WRT Lan port
instead of WAN port.

Maureen
August 5, 2013 at 4:35 am - Reply

You da Best Man. We need


more like you!

Peter
August 10, 2013 at 6:15 am Reply

Hello Joey,
I have version 1.9 of this
router. With a serial starting
with 12. Will these
instructions work?

Joey Iodice
August 11, 2013 at 9:20 am Reply

This tutorial was to show you


how to get around a bug in
TP-Link firmware but they
have fixed it since then so
you should just update to the
latest TP-Link firmware and
then you can just install DDWRT with the factory-toddwrt file.

Ted
August 14, 2013 at 8:32 am Reply

For anyone whos interested I


did this last night. A few
things to note:
1. You dont need to use the
German firmware anymore,
the WAN port will enable
without it, provided you keep
point (2) in mind.
2. After you flash with
DDWRT, pull all the cables
from the router before doing
a 30/30/30 reset. When I
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didnt do this the router


seemed to get confused with
hosts on my LAN still holding
onto IPs and assigned itself
192.168.11.1, and no WAN.
With all the cables pulled it
correctly assigned itself
192.158.1.1 and a working
WAN port.

Joey Iodice
August 15, 2013 at 10:30 am Reply

Thanks for the info. Certain


routers with older firmware
will still be affected but they
can just upgrade to a newer
TP-Link firmware and then do
the DD-WRT install. I am
working on an updated blog,
I need to find out the exact
range of firmware version
that were affected.
Never had the 192.168.11.1
problem but I have seen a
few people post comments
about it. I usually issue a
telnet command though
instead of dealing with reset
buttons and pulling power
cords.

Hashaam
August 15, 2013 at 5:25 am Reply

i installed the latest version


of dd-wrt from the database.
there is no DLNA server
option available in this one?
is this a version issue?

Joey Iodice
August 15, 2013 at 10:42 am Reply

I dont think I have seen


DLNA server in a standard
DD-WRT build, maybe Kong
Mod or a Mega build. You can
always add it to DD-WRT
though, there are plenty of
sources out there.
http://www.ddwrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?
p=763049

emamuthu
August 17, 2013 at 1:58 pm Reply

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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After we install DD-WRT, do


we need to do 30-30-30
reset?

Joey Iodice
September 3, 2013 at 9:38 am Reply

Yes

emamuthu
August 18, 2013 at 8:04 pm Reply

I have problem with my


routers. I have to restart my
everyday after i have updated
DD-WRT. i have DD-WRT
v24-sp2 (07/24/13) std latest
firmware. Just my wifi
connection is getting lost
everyday & need to reboot
my routers to fix it. Any help
would be appreciated.

Joey Iodice
September 3, 2013 at 9:39 am Reply

I would try an older build, the


wifi drivers in the newer
builds have been reported as
not being as stable as older
ones. Now that you already
have DD-WRT installed, it is
easy to change builds.

emamuthu
September 3, 2013 at 11:05 am Reply

Joey,
Can you tell me which build is
stable. I tried april 2013 &
latest build from the ftp both
had problem. Moreover
whenever i tried to upgrade
using webflash, screen
becomes yellow & lose my
wan port. I need to reset 3030-30 & go back to factory
firmware & come back to DDWRT. Can you let me know
how can i do it properly.

Saurabh
August 28, 2013 at 2:18 am Reply

Hi Joey. I followed your


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instruction and have setup


DD-WRT on my 1043ND
router. One problem I
encountered is that my
modem is from TP-Link too
and so my router and modem
ended up having the same IP
address. I struggled a lot till I
figured it out. Can you also
tell a bit about how to enable
printer sharing after the
above steps have been
completed. The version
installed is: Firmware: DDWRT v24-sp2 (07/24/13) std.
The guides on the internet
tell me that I first have to
enable JFFS through the web
Interface in order to proceed
with the steps of installing
the printer. But I dont think
that option is there in my
version of DD-WRT. I would
finally also like to share my
external hard disk too.

troupier
August 28, 2013 at 2:50 am Reply

Hello, Ive V1.10 + 12XXX


S/N router and after installing
german firmware and the
last DD-WRT (V24 SP2 build
21061), I have no wifi at all
(no led, no SSID, no wireless
tab)
Its seems to write over the
caldata. Im searching a way
to restore it. :p
Beware with the V1.10
router..

Saurabh
August 28, 2013 at 3:59 am Reply

Printer sharing can be


enabled by following this
guide:
http://catfind.it/en/2012/04/tplink-tl-wr-1043nd-printer/
I still dont know how to use
my DD-WRT 1043ND as a
media server.

peter
August 29, 2013 at 9:20 am Reply

thx Joey, system running fine


now, no more issues.
Just disabled the DHCP, and

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plugged the ISP router into


one of the ports on my
wireless router.

vladimir
September 1, 2013 at 3:31 pm Reply

Joey
After the dd-wrt has been
uploaded to the router
1043ND, there is no ddwrtscreen. The web browser
can not connect to address
192.168.1.1. But internet is
working and I see that ssid is
F81A6751757A.
So how can I connect to the
router?

Joey Iodice
September 3, 2013 at 9:42 am Reply

Sounds like you did not do a


proper 30-30-30 reset. If you
are are running windows,
open up a command prompt
window and type ipconfig.
This will give you the
gateway IP which is your
router IP. Sometimes if you
dont do a proper 30-30-30
reset the IP will change to
192.168.11.1 instead of
192.168.1.1

vladimir
September 3, 2013 at 4:03 pm Reply

Thanks very much.

Ibrar Sajid
September 8, 2013 at 7:25 pm Reply

FIX for not getting WAN IP


Hello, I just upgraded my
firmware and and im replying
right now.. so i ran into the
problem where you dont get
WAN address.. i had tried
everything including reverting
to old firmware, i had
another router and i couldnt
get internet on that as well
so after rebooting the
modem on the old dlink
router internet started
working.. i then though why
didnt i reboot the modem
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when i was on the tplink


router and on the dd-wrt
firmware.. so i upgraded
again, i wasnt getting
internet.. then i rebooted the
router and the modem.. all is
good.. so those of you who
are having not getting
internet after upgrading to
dd-wrt firmware.. its just a
simple modem reboot
maybe.. for some reason the
firmware doesnt get the
WAN IP address from modem
and needs a reboot.. hope
this is helpful for those who
are not getting WAN IP

Joey Iodice
September 9, 2013 at 11:04 am Reply

Yes, some modems pair to


the routers so they need to
be rebooted after major
router changes. The WAN
problem I have described is
much more than that, it
actually disables the WAN
port from functioning at all.
Glad you got it fixed though.

Ibrar Sajid
September 8, 2013 at 9:35 pm Reply

USB Sharing for my 3TB


UBS3.0 Seagate HHD
works!!.. however its not
going to work until you
upgrade it to the latest kernal
3.xx instead of the 2.xx
supported kernal.. i upgraded
to the most latest kernal of
July and it finally worked..
that was the main reason i
wanted this firmware.. to use
by 3TB Hdd over the
network..
tl-wr1043nd-webflash.bin
binary 7.69 MB 2013-07-24

Mark Farmer
September 12, 2013 at 9:02 am Reply

Many thanks for this, very


helpful.
Any advice on how to install
VPN (PTTP) such as
vpnbook?

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Henk
September 21, 2013 at 3:29 am Reply

Hello Joey, my new router is


V1.11 and has serialnumber
that begins with 13..
Must i flash the special
german firmware image
before flashing to DD-WRT ?,
or can i flash the factory-toddwrt.bin file immediately.

Ibrar
September 23, 2013 at 6:56 am Reply

Thats easy, just follow this


step by step guide with
screen shot..
http://www.howtogeek.com/51772/howto-setup-a-vpn-server-usinga-dd-wrt-router/
All you need to know is your
WAN IP, which is at top right
side.., define an ip leasing
pool outside of your DHCP..

BILL JOHNSON
October 5, 2013 at 4:02 am Reply

THANKS VERY MUCH.


UPGRADE WENT PERFECT.

Steve F.
October 5, 2013 at 4:44 pm Reply

A word of warning, DD-WRT


does not support large or
jumbo ethernet frames,
which are supported by the
TP-LINK hardware and stock
TP-LINK firmware. This could
give you a significant
performance hit if LAN speed
is important. In my case I
benchmarked ftping 2GB files
from my PC to my Synology
NAS at 80MBps (thats
Megabytes / sec) with stock
firmware and jumbo frames
and 31MBps with DD-WRT.
Had to stick with the TP-link
firmware, for most people it
wont be an issue, but if you
move lots of large files
around your network, it
certainly will be an issue that
jumbo frames are not
supported. Other than that,
DD-WRT works well.
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Joey Iodice
October 5, 2013 at 8:35 pm Reply

Have you tried issuing the


command ifconfig eth1 mtu
9000 to enable jumbo
frames?

Steve f.
October 6, 2013 at 1:39 am Reply

Yes, the command is


accepted and returns to the
command prompt without
any message, but it does not
change the MTU.
Experimenting with smaller
values (8K, 7K etc) makes no
difference. DD-WRT simply
does not support jumbo
frames on this hardware.
Tried a few different DDWRT builds besides latest
just to see if any build might,
none do. All versions of TPLINK factory firmware
support it fine. A great pity as
Ive been using DD-WRT on
many different routers since
it was first released years
ago, was keen to use it on
my new TP-LINK but it
certainly does cripple NAS
access.

Greg
October 10, 2013 at 9:52 am Reply

Very Nice Tutorial Joey!


Thank You.
I noticed that you provided a
link to revert back to TP-Link
Firmware.
My Question:
Can we use the firmware
that comes directly from the
TP-Link Site itself since it is
also a *.bin file, or do we
HAVE to use the one you
provided above, and then
upgrade to the latest TP-Link
Firmware from there?
Here is the link I have to the
latest firmware that I am
using currently on my TP-Link
Router:
http://www.tplink.com/ca/support/download/?
model=TLWR1043ND&version=V1
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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It is the one labelled: TLWR1043ND_v1_130428


with a Published Date of:
4/28/2013
Again, Really awesome
tutorial. Thank You.

adam
October 18, 2013 at 3:25 pm Reply

Do i need to have the TP link


connected to both my modem
and computer at the same
time when I am doing this
and the username and
password doesnt work.

Michael
October 20, 2013 at 1:56 pm Reply

Hi there
Am curious if this will support
multiple console mode, I
have seen this feature in
another routers running
ddwrt firmware. I believe it
opens the nat or relaxes the
rules for certain ports ?
Essentially, I am trying to run
2 Xbox 360s wireless, and
am receiving the Limited
connectivity dialogue.
Thanks, great site !

Rob
December 31, 2013 at 2:36 pm Reply

Michael to get 2 x xbox etc


running properly log into
router, click NAT/QOS, click
UPnP, enable UPnp service,
apply and save.

Albani Kaperi
October 27, 2013 at 8:55 am Reply

Hello!
I wanted to ask if u could
give me a hand i want to
upgrade my TP-LINK tlwr740n ver: 4.27 to a dd wrt
firmware.If u could email me
the steps or just post them
here would be great email
address :
[email protected]

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Antonio
October 28, 2013 at 2:40 pm Reply

Hi Joey,
I am thinking to revert my
TL1043ND v1 back to stock
firmware. The main reason is
that three phones does not
work with Wireless-N on ddwrt and they did work with
tplink stock-firmware. Should
I use that one you posted
(http://joeyiodice.com/files/tlwr1043nd_v1-webrevert.bin)
or there is newer version
available?
In this folder:
ftp://ddwrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayerV24-preSP2/2013/07-242013-r22118/tplink_tlwr1043nd/
we have two files:
(1)factory-to-ddwrt.bin
(2)tl-wr1043nd-webflash.bin
I understand that (1) is for
the first dd-wrt flash. What
about (2)? Is it to a upgrade
from earlier version? In
another words, DDWRT do
not offer the back-to-stockfirmware.bin ?
thanks!

Crow550
November 21, 2013 at 5:07 pm Reply

I have a VOIP phone too.


Click the Administration tab
then scroll down to IP Filter
Settings (adjust these for
P2P)
For TCP Congestion Control
select Westwood. Now make
sure the 3 settings below are
set to there default settings
on the right. ( Maximum
Ports: 32768 , TCP Timeout
(in seconds): 3600 , UDP
Timeout (in seconds): 120 )
Click on Apply Settings and
then Reboot Router.
Should work like a charm. No
need for QoS.
Give it a whirl. Improved my
VOIP performance.

Crow550
November 21, 2013 at 5:14 pm Reply

Maybe your phones are


http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Wireless G and its set to


Wireless N only?
Try going to the Wireless Tab
and under Wireless Network
Mode select NG-Mixed.
Could also be your Wireless
Security key too. Either those
phones do not support WPA2
or your key is too long. Some
devices do not like long
security keys.
Also make sure to set the
TCP Congestion to Westwood
like I suggested in the
previous comment. Will make
everything in your network
snappier.
Good luck!

James
October 30, 2013 at 11:33 am Reply

Joey. Thanks for posting this


tutorial. I have been using
ddwrt 14896 since 1-2 years
now. However, in the last 5
months or so, I have had to
schedule the router to reboot
itself as the wifi just craps
out. Despite a schedule auto
reboot at 4am, it still craps
out.
Im thinking may be to
upgrade to a newer build
(next build up) but Im not
sure thatll solve my problem
or perhaps make it even
worse (new issue). I did a
reset today from the web
interface and will see how it
works for the next few days.
What do u recommend? I
know u are using an older
build from ur post which
seem to be stable. You also
mentioned that u dont this
router any longer. Whats
your take on this?

aldis
October 30, 2013 at 6:08 pm Reply

Hi,
I just installed DD-WRT
r22118 (2013.07.24 latest
currently available) on my
TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND v1.11
with serial starting 13 (S/N:
13xxxxxx) and latest TP-LINK
FW (v3.13.13 Build 130428
Rel.58290n).
My steps where: 30-30-30;
flashed factory-to-ddwrt.bin;
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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30-30-30.
For now it works like a charm
for whole day. Also WAN
worked without any extra
reflashing or configuration.
Hope it will do the same in
the future.

alec
October 31, 2013 at 7:40 am Reply

Is it possible to change the


device for french.Le firmware
est il ok?? Thanks

John M
November 10, 2013 at 10:42 am Reply

I cant figure out what is


wrong with my install, i put
the German version in first,
and that went fine, went back
to put in the dd-wrt firm and
that went fine, bu the router
went to reboot but never
came back to the dd-wrt set
up page. I tried a 30 30 30
rest twice and still cant get
into the router at 192.168.1.1
though my pc shows im
hooked to a network I cant
get into the router. Any
suggestions? Thanks John M

John M
November 11, 2013 at 9:04 am Reply

I just figured out that after


the firmware upgrade it had
made the IP address of the
router 192.168.11.1 so once i
figured that out, I was able to
get in to the setup. I have
everything and seems to
work, wan light is lit but no
internet. I changed IP to
198.168.1.1 thinking maybe
that would make a
difference, but did not, still
no internet. Should I start the
process over, or is there
something that Im missing?
Thanks

Janaki
November 16, 2013 at 7:31 pm Reply

Hi Joey,
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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I see the below in my


Routers home page:
Firmware Version: 3.13.4
Build 120926 Rel.40760n
Hardware Version:
WR1043ND v1 00000000
My Router Serial number at
the back of the Router is
10xxx.
Should I need to go thru the
German firmware to protect
my WAN link? Also, I had
upgraded the firmware from
the TP-link website. Looks
like that could have upped
the build no.
Thanks

Antonio
November 22, 2013 at 3:56 pm Reply

For anyone interested, I wen


to this website:
Files for reverting from DDWRT to STOCK FIRMWARE
http://www.ddwrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?
t=85237
And I downloaded the .bin
Revert file for TP-Link
WR1043N/ND v1. I went to
my DD-WRT routers
administration TAB and
acessed the option upgrade
firmware. I then used the
file downloaded above and
clicked OK.
After the reboot, my TP-LINK
WR1043ND was reverted
back to STOCK. No problems
at all! I did not have to
perform factory reset.
Then, as a last step, I went
to the TP-LINK website:
http://www.tplink.com/en/support/download/?
model=TLWR1043ND&version=V1#tbl_j
And upgraded to the most
recent official TP-LINK
firmware: TLWR1043ND_v1_130428
thanks,

Boaz
November 22, 2013 at 4:17 pm Reply

I have a 1043nd v2.1 router.


When I tried to upgrade to
factory-to-ddwrt I got error
18005. Any way to overcome
it? Is there a newer release
of the flash to ddwrt binary
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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file?

Boaz
November 23, 2013 at 11:15 am Reply

I am trying to convert
1043ND v2.1 to dd-wrt, but I
get an file error when I try to
load the factory-to-wrt.bin
file. Error 18005. I have tried
to rename the file to the
same format name as TPLink yet no such luck.
Joey Have you tried to
convert a v2.x 1043ND to ddwrt?

Joey Iodice
January 30, 2014 at 12:01 pm Reply

I dont think it is supported


yet. Only V1 right now. I
know someone said they
installed OpenWRT on a V2
though.

Magnus
December 8, 2013 at 1:45 am Reply

I started by installing the


german firmware
(wr1043nv1_de_3_9_17_up_boot(100331).bin)
and got that working alright
but after installing DD-WRT
from (openwrt-ar71xxgeneric-tl-wr1043nd-v1squashfs-factory.bin) the
router just died.I cant put it
into failsafe mode, there is
no quick flashing of LEDs
after pressing QSS, the LEDs
just flash twice and nothing
happens. I have tried both
telnet and ethernet, via eth0
with IP 192.168.1.1 but there
is no response.
Any ideas?

etis
December 18, 2013 at 3:52 pm Reply

Thank you very much! Great


tutorial, saved me a lot of
time and work. I read posts
on the dd-wrt for hours and
couldnt find a single post
saying this would work on a
v1.1 with a serial starting
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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with 13.
I just finished the setup and it
works flawlessly. Thanks!

Kevin C
February 8, 2014 at 3:07 pm Reply

Did you have to flash the


German firmware first? Ive
got a V1.11 with SN 13.,
and Im not sure if Ill need to
do that extra step or not.

Kevin C
February 9, 2014 at 9:55 am Reply

I got impatient and went


ahead and did the install. I
went straight from the
factory installed firmware to
dd-wrt by flashing factory-toddwrt.bin. Initially it didnt
seem to be getting a WAN IP,
so I flashed tl-wr1043ndwebflash.bin Im not sure if
this step was necessary or
not, but after flashing that it
got a WAN IP and seems to
be working perfectly.
Again, thats HW V1.11 with
a SN starting with 13, and I
installed DD-WRT 02-042014-r23503.

Joey Iodice
February 11, 2014 at 11:14 pm Reply

I am actually working on
updating this tutorial since it
seems that TP-Link finally
fixed the bug in their
software so I just have to
narrow down which firmware
version it was fixed in and
what HW versions it works
on. I think if the TP-Link
firmware is relatively new,
you can just do the factoryto-ddwrt.bin file and then a
30-30-30 reset and be good.
I think by you flashing the
webflash.bin file also, it did a
factory reset which probably
is why it got the WAN
working.

Kevin C
May 17, 2014 at 1:12 pm - Reply

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Well, it worked fine for about


6 weeks and then it started
dropping WiFi. Resetting the
router with a 30-30-30 or
flashing a different version of
the firmware will both get it
working for a couple of
weeks, but then it will start
dropping WiFi connections
again. Its extremely
annoying. I think Im going to
be trying to return this router
to Amazon and go for the
more expensive Asus.

christian
December 30, 2013 at 9:34 am Reply

Hi,
thanks a lot just installed
r23204 on a router version
1.11
CU

Csaba Bocskai
January 14, 2014 at 3:20 am Reply

I apologize if this is kinda


offtopic. Do you know which
is/are the cheapest routers
supporting Virtual LAN on DDWRT?
Thanks!

Joey Iodice
January 30, 2014 at 11:56 am Reply

http://www.ddwrt.com/wiki/index.php/VLAN_Support
Cisco E1000 would probably
be the cheapest.

Csaba Bocskai
January 31, 2014 at 1:39 am Reply

Ok. Thank you!

[email protected]
January 20, 2014 at 10:21 am Reply

buenos dias, soy de


venezuela y quisiera saber si
el router tl-WR1043ND, es
compatible con moden 3g
dado que lo compre
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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pensando que como tenia


conexion USB, podria
conectar mi internet por esa
via. ( poseo Internet A traves
de pendriver Movistar)
agradezco el apoyo q me
puedan brindar.

Lohana Medeiros
January 28, 2014 at 4:14 pm Reply

Thank you! Works great (0110-2014-r23320-fix)

eternallord
February 16, 2014 at 9:02 pm Reply

hello,i just want to be sure if


it is okay if i found the same
version but different
BUILD,thx

Joey Iodice
February 17, 2014 at 1:57 pm Reply

different build of what file?

eternallord
February 17, 2014 at 2:03 pm Reply

tp-link WR740 , i just read


the BUILDs in DDWRT
website and i didnt see that
my routers BUILD match
their specs but same
Version,so its fine to modify
my router or its risky,thx

brothergabrielBGM
February 17, 2014 at 11:37 am Reply

When I flashed my 1043ND,


the upgrade went fine, but I
couldnt find the router. I
discovered that although the
TP-link firmware set the
router at 192.168.1.1, the
DD-WRT firmware put the
router at 192.168.11.1 so
dont think your router is
bricked if you cant find it.

Joey Iodice
http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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February 17, 2014 at 1:56 pm Reply

Yea, I have seen a few


comments with people saying
their router did this. Usually
do to not properly doing a
30-30-30 reset.

Bart
March 2, 2014 at 11:56 am - Reply

Hello, Thanks for this tutorial,


it helped me a lot. Do you
know if Radio Time
Restrictions works for TPLINK ?

wongjunjin
March 15, 2014 at 10:29 am Reply

You may have heard this


many times, but I swear
mine is different!! Ive
followed your steps and
installed DD-WRT. Im using
ver 1.11 SN 13x. But I cant
seem to go online. Im not
getting any WAN IP. (my
WAN port has light so I dont
think the german firmware
will help). Anybody solved
this problem? I bought this
wr1043 for DDWRT and now
it doesnt seem to work.

wongjunjin
March 15, 2014 at 11:32 am Reply

Hi. Not sure why my


comment did not appear. Ill
re-write.
I have a problem. Using
WR1043ND ver 1.11 with
serial 13x, when I load
DDWRT into it, WAP IP
remains 0.0.0.0. Ive done
everything from 30/30/30
reset to the german
firmware. Nothing works.
here are some other
findings:
1) my SYS led does not light
up when in DDWRT
2) i cannot telnet into my
DDWRT
Please help

wongjunjin
March 15, 2014 at 11:36 am http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Reply

Hi, this is my 3rd time


writing. Not sure why it keeps
disconnecting.
I cant seem to get my
WR1043ND ver 1.11 serial
13x to work with DDWRT.
The WAN IP just remains
0.0.0.0. Ive tried all from
30/30/30 to german
firmware install.
Here are some other
findings:
1) SYS led does not light
when in DDWRT. It blinks in
stock firmware
2) I cannot telnet / ssh into
my DDWRT.
Can anybody please help??

Onesiforus
March 24, 2014 at 9:02 am - Reply

How about changing other


TP-LINK wireless router
firmware from orginal tp-link
firmware to DD-WRT based
type firmware..for example,
TD-W8961ND? I do really
need your help
buddy.Thanks!

JFT
April 24, 2014 at 1:57 pm - Reply

I didnt see this from my


quick scan down the thread
but (if it is mentioned I
apologize) but, is does DDWRT support IPv6? Ive had it
up and running on the Belkin
NR600 w/ Tomato Firmware.
TP-Link said they dont know
when their engineers will
have an upgrade out. And
BTW. This is the greatest
router blog Ive ever seen.
Great work.

Joey Iodice
May 3, 2014 at 11:01 pm - Reply

It looks like they do have


IPV6 but it requires some
configuration:
http://www.ddwrt.com/wiki/index.php/IPv6

sebastianauedSebastian
May 15, 2014 at 10:53 am - Reply

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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Hi there! Ive update my


wr1043 with the latest dd-wrt
firmware. I setup it as a
repeater, and it works fine,
but after a few minutes It
loses internet connection.
The wireless connection
works, but I cannot navigate.
If I reboot the router, the
problem seems to be solved
but after a few minutes it
fails again. Did you hear
about this problem????
Thanks a Lot! Sebastian

Rodolfo Yannarella
July 17, 2014 at 8:31 am - Reply

i flashed my TP-Link
WR1043ND v. 2.1 with a beta
firmware from ftp://ftp.ddwrt.com/betas/2014/06-232014-r24461/tplink_tlwr1043nd-v2/. Its a S/N
13.
After flashing both the
system and wireless LEDs are
off and i have no wifi.
Want to revert to factory but
only revert firmware ive
found is for the v. 1.x.
will that work? and if so, will
the german firmware work
on this v. 2.1?
thank you very much.

James Allen
January 26, 2015 at 11:14 am Reply

I attempted to upgrade my
TP link firmware to DD-WRT
but now the router wont
emmit any signal and you
cant access the router
settings page

Morley
March 6, 2015 at 9:34 am - Reply

Great instructions. The link


for Brainslayer has changed
since you wrote the article.
Now the file is found here:
http://download1.ddwrt.com/ddwrtv2/downloads/others/eko/BrainSlayerV24-preSP2/2014/12-222014-r25697/tplink_tlwr1043nd-v2/

http://joeyiodice.com/converting-tp-link-tl-wr1043nd-to-dd-wrt/

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7/16/2015

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Converting a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND to DD-WRT - Joey Iodice

7/16/2015

Copyright 2015 Joey Iodice

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