First of all, thank you very much!
I had frequent disconnections with the original firmware.
I installed DD-WRT, and it works great!
Also, when the router was used in range extender mode, the original firmware broadcasted the relay network with the same SSID as the relayed one, which caused problems. With DD-WRT, I can choose another SSID and have two distinctive wireless access points.
If somebody is interested in GPIO informations about the TL-WA730RE, here is what I figured out:
To make a pin an input:
echo 0 > /proc/gpio/n_dir
To make a pin an output:
echo 1 > /proc/gpio/n_dir
(where n is the number of the pin)
To switch a led on:
echo 0 > /proc/gpio/n_out
or
gpio disable n
To switch a led off:
echo 1 > /proc/gpio/n_out
or
gpio enable n
To get the status of an input:
cat /proc/gpio/n_in
This prints 0 when button is pressed or 1 when it isn't.
or
gpio poll n
This constantly monitors the button state and prints 00 and a newline when button becomes pressed, and 01 and a newline when it becomes released.
Beware that changing the direction or the output of a pin might crash your router and you would have to plug it off and back on.
Some people even reported that they bricked their router by tweaking GPIOs (to what extent? definitely bricked?), though I don't know if it possible to do that on the TL-WA730RE.
Below are the only pins you should have to play with.
Code:
Pin Direction Name
GPIO 0 Output Range Extender LED (gpio disable 0 -> ON, gpio enable 0 -> OFF)
GPIO 1 Output System LED (gpio disable 1 -> ON, gpio enable 1 -> OFF)
GPIO 11 Input Reset button (cat /proc/gpio/11_in : 0 -> pressed, 1 -> not pressed)
GPIO 12 Input Range Extender button (cat /proc/gpio/12_in : 0 -> pressed, 1 -> not pressed)
GPIO 13 Output LAN LED (gpio disable 13 -> ON, gpio enable 13 -> OFF)
I couldn't find the pin number for the WLAN LED.
I think this LED isn't wired to the CPU as a GPIO, and so isn't accessible by /proc/gpio.
Maybe it's wired directly to the network chip.
On my TL-WA730RE, the WLAN LED blinks when there is Wi-Fi activity.
I wanted to post this pin numbers table on this page under the GPIO Information section:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/LED_Scripts
But since wiki registrations are currently suspended, I couldn't do so.
If somebody who's already registered could post it, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
Is it also possible to use the TL-WA730RE as a Wireless Router with this firmware? As soon as I enable the WAN port (DHCP) I can't reach the router anymore and have to do a factory reset.
To gvanerk:
When you say "wireless router", you mean that the TL-WA730RE connects to a WiFi network, and a computer connected to the Ethernet port of the WA730RE can access the wireless network?
If so, then try configuring the TL-WA730RE as a repeater bridge with the link I posted above, except that you can skip the part at which we add a virtual interface (the WA730RE will connect to the WiFi network, without extending it).
Then go to Setup -> Basic Setup, and check the "Assign WAN port to switch" checkbox.
The endgoal is to use the TL-WA730RE to act as a Hotspot voor Guests by connecting it to my existing "regular" router.
So my first step was to connect the Ethernet port to on of the ports of my existing router. The port only seems to work when I assign it via "assign wan port to switch".
I successfully flash the TL-WA730RE with 19342 build and configured as a range extender. WA-730RE set as WDS AP, and configure mac adresses on WDS tab on both diviceses. My main router D-Link dir-615 D4 on Ralink 3042. NG-Mixed mode not working, only pure G-mode. Not yeat trying security mode, now with not security.
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 21:28 Post subject: IP address configuration for WA730RE
My network is based on 192.168.2.* mask. Anyone know if I can install DD-WRT firmware without having to reconfigure the IP addresses on all my devices? Thanks.
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:35 Post subject: Re: IP address configuration for WA730RE
Mambo George wrote:
My network is based on 192.168.2.* mask. Anyone know if I can install DD-WRT firmware without having to reconfigure the IP addresses on all my devices? Thanks.
the firmware can be installed regardless of the IP addresses you are using in your network; you will only need to properly configure it, after installing it.
(assuming your WA730RE IP is the factory default one: 192.168.1.254)
- connect your PC to the WA730RE using a network cable
- set a static IP belonging to the same address range for your PC's (wired) network connection (e.g. 192.168.1.123)
- open the WA730RE web interface in your preferred browser (http://192.168.1.254)
- upgrade the firmware
- reboot your WA730RE
- after rebooting it, access it again (its new address, now, should be dd-wrt's default: http://192.168.1.1)
- NOW, you can change its address to match your actual network settings (maybe 192.168.2.1, 192.168.2.254 or pick and choose any other free address in the 192.168.2.x range)
NOTE: choose an address outside of the range that your DHCP is currently leasing, in order to avoid conflicts (just check your access point's DHCP settings)
- save ad reboot
- again, set a static IP belonging to the new address range for your PC's (wired) network connection (e.g. 192.168.2.123)
- now you can proceed with the setup as explained in the guide.