Joined: 02 Aug 2017 Posts: 153 Location: Central Michigan
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 20:33 Post subject: Re: Which Firmware for Linksys EA8500
msoengineer wrote:
Mark1958 wrote:
XenoBIT78 wrote:
Hi i just sold my old Linksys EA8500 so i thought i just update it for the guy who just bought it. it got an older kong build on it.. (haven't been used for some time)
Which firmware is the best at moment??
can i without trouble flash from kong to BS or back ??
I'm new to this unit but my guess is that would be a good start for a new user.
Mark
I can confirm that 33772 was a pretty solid BS build and I didn't run into issues; but, I was not doing anything outside simple QOS.
Thanks for confirming msoengineer, I just figured it would be a good starting point.
Like I said above mine should be here tomorrow, cant wait to get my hands on it and see what I've been missing with my WRT3200.
Thanks Mark _________________ ISP: Charter
Modem: Netgear CM600
Router:(2) Asus RT-AC86U Merlin 384.5
Router: LinksysWRT3200Acm{RIP}
Router: Linksys EA8500 kongat r35030m (Vpn)
Router: Netgear X4S kongat r35965M
Vpn: IpVanish
Unbrick your 3200acm with usb to ttl cable: https://tinyurl.com/y9azvrkg
Joined: 21 Jan 2017 Posts: 1783 Location: Illinois Moderator
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 21:11 Post subject: Re: Which Firmware for Linksys EA8500
Mark1958 wrote:
Thanks for confirming msoengineer, I just figured it would be a good starting point.
Like I said above mine should be here tomorrow, cant wait to get my hands on it and see what I've been missing with my WRT3200.
Thanks Mark
Scrolling back to about pg 97 the two most recommended builds are BS 33986 and Kong's 34800M. I am running one version newer of Kong (35030) and it's been running great for me. While Kong may not have all the bells and whistle's of BS, for the average person it should be a solid build. Certainly Kong makes tweaks specific to this router because he actually owns one, where BS doesn't. BS's builds have been unusable on the EA8500 since 33986- switch to new Linux Kernel. The new kernel makes any hope of QOS on 100mbps connections impossible. It also may affect internal PC to PC transfer speeds from what I recall. That's why anyone running firmware newer than December 2017 is likely only using Kong's. Kong is building stable builds; albeit with fewer features.
Welcome to the EA8500, it's a rock solid performer. It's too bad the marvell chipset didn't work out well on the WRT series routers.
Joined: 02 Aug 2017 Posts: 153 Location: Central Michigan
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 21:29 Post subject: Re: Which Firmware for Linksys EA8500
msoengineer wrote:
Mark1958 wrote:
Thanks for confirming msoengineer, I just figured it would be a good starting point.
Like I said above mine should be here tomorrow, cant wait to get my hands on it and see what I've been missing with my WRT3200.
Thanks Mark
Scrolling back to about pg 97 the two most recommended builds are BS 33986 and Kong's 34800M. I am running one version newer of Kong (35030) and it's been running great for me. While Kong may not have all the bells and whistle's of BS, for the average person it should be a solid build. Certainly Kong makes tweaks specific to this router because he actually owns one, where BS doesn't. BS's builds have been unusable on the EA8500 since 33986- switch to new Linux Kernel. The new kernel makes any hope of QOS on 100mbps connections impossible. It also may affect internal PC to PC transfer speeds from what I recall. That's why anyone running firmware newer than December 2017 is likely only using Kong's. Kong is building stable builds; albeit with fewer features.
Welcome to the EA8500, it's a rock solid performer. It's too bad the marvell chipset didn't work out well on the WRT series routers.
I was looking for the (35030) that you speak of with no luck might you have a link?
Also I have to agree, that had Linksys went with any other chip-set than Marvell there would be a lot less issues if any!, because as a router they are Rock Solid it's weak link are the radios. _________________ ISP: Charter
Modem: Netgear CM600
Router:(2) Asus RT-AC86U Merlin 384.5
Router: LinksysWRT3200Acm{RIP}
Router: Linksys EA8500 kongat r35030m (Vpn)
Router: Netgear X4S kongat r35965M
Vpn: IpVanish
Unbrick your 3200acm with usb to ttl cable: https://tinyurl.com/y9azvrkg
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:27 Post subject: Differences between BS and Kong builds?
Hi all,
Background:
I haven't been actively involved or using DD-WRT since I installed it on my old TP-Link gigabit port wireless N router over 10 years ago and then retired it a couple of years ago for a set of Belkin branded routers I got for a "deal" on Woot.com (big mistake: couldn't run 3rd party firmware, needed daily rebooting, and didn't play well wirelessly with some Apple devices).
I have since upgraded my whole wired network to gigabit (luckily the mixture of CAT5 and CAT5E wiring I installed in the late 90's was good enough quality that it handles gigabit well, and I just had to upgrade my switches). I have not yet upgraded my internet service to gigabit -- it is still a bit too pricey here -- it just became available a couple of months ago in my area of the Portland Oregon metro area.
In the last year I decided to upgrade my wireless capability to handle wireless AC, and got a couple of EA8500 routers as they had great reviews and seemed the best "bang for the buck", and I also knew they could run DD-WRT.
I am getting ready to flash dd-wrt onto my two EA8500 routers (one used as an access point). I have been reading this thread to find the recommendations for the latest stable DD-WRT release for the router. The later posts in this thread indicate that the BS 33986 and Kong 35030 builds are good and stable.
From what I have read here, it seems that the BrainSlayer builds are a more complete version of DD-WRT, but that the Kong builds are more tweaked and debugged to run on the EA8500 since he uses this router.
My question to you all:
Can one of you knowledgeable folks point me to a post or posts that identifies the differences between what is included in the BS builds (using the older Linux kernel) and Kong builds?
Links to specific documentation and/or posts would be very helpful. I could spend hours trying to find this information by myself, but would rather leverage the knowledge you folks have already gained.
Joined: 02 Aug 2017 Posts: 153 Location: Central Michigan
Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 21:30 Post subject:
I received my EA8500 this weekend and I followed mrjcd's guide and must say it was so easy even a caveman could do it. lol
I did have to use my desktop computer because my laptop
would not work, not sure why because I didn't do anything different on the desktop.
But I did manage to get Kong's (35030) on one partition and BS (r33772) on the other, now it's all about seeing what works the best for my needs.
I also had some extra time over the weekend, so I did mount a SMT header socket in the back of the router by drilling a small hole and using X-Acto knife to make a small rectangular opening and gluing it in, and then soldering it to the pins on the board with some wire.
It might be a little overkill but now if I ever get jammed up I won't have to disassemble the router again.
So at this point I would like to Thank mrjcd for his contribution in the forum's as well as his guide to flashing the EA8500's !!!
Also thanks msoengineer for the link to (35030) I really appreciate it.
Mark _________________ ISP: Charter
Modem: Netgear CM600
Router:(2) Asus RT-AC86U Merlin 384.5
Router: LinksysWRT3200Acm{RIP}
Router: Linksys EA8500 kongat r35030m (Vpn)
Router: Netgear X4S kongat r35965M
Vpn: IpVanish
Unbrick your 3200acm with usb to ttl cable: https://tinyurl.com/y9azvrkg
I'm pondering the purchase of a local (Australia) EA8500.
I understand that in the US, firmware is locked to Linksys only and router needs to be opened up etc
On the Linksys website, there is a US version and a rest of the world version of their firmware.
Would this Australian (world) stock firmware be able to be flashed directly to DD-WRT Kong without cables?
The discussion here back in late February is unclear.
Edit: I think the Kong EA8500WW version is for non-US, and should be used initially. _________________ ------------------------------------
Linksys WRT3200ACM DD-WRT r55819 (Gateway)
Linksys EA8500 OpenWrt-23.05.3 (Wired AP)
Netgear WNDR3700v4 DD-WRT r55819 (spare Gateway)
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickant44/albums
Joined: 21 Jan 2017 Posts: 1783 Location: Illinois Moderator
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 15:23 Post subject:
nickant wrote:
I'm pondering the purchase of a local (Australia) EA8500.
I understand that in the US, firmware is locked to Linksys only and router needs to be opened up etc
On the Linksys website, there is a US version and a rest of the world version of their firmware.
Would this Australian (world) stock firmware be able to be flashed directly to DD-WRT Kong without cables?
The discussion here back in late February is unclear.
Edit: I think the Kong EA8500WW version is for non-US, and should be used initially.
My understanding of the situation is that you should be able to go from stock world-wide (WW) Linksys firmware to Kong WW. That said, I would use an older build from Kong back from November or December 2017. I do not retain WW Kong Firmware. Maybe someone on here has an older version they can share. MRJCD doesn't appear to archive the WW versions either.
The reason why I suggest an older version is that I think, unconfirmed, the new builds from kong may have a larger NVRAM size- I don't know if that hurts anything or not. I know that BS builds certainly do have larger NVRAM. All BS builds after 12/10/17 should be avoided on our EA8500.
Joined: 02 Aug 2017 Posts: 153 Location: Central Michigan
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 20:59 Post subject:
Per Yngve Berg wrote:
It's better to get a Netgear R7800. Same SOC.
I found a used R7800 this week on Craiglist for $80, and have been testing this week with both stock-V1.0.2.46 & kongat r35700m firmware, and quit honestly also compared the Ea8500 & R7800 in the same location of my house and did not see that big of difference beside the cost.
You can get the Ea8500's for around $80-100 new, now on the other hand the R7800 are around $150-200.
And with nickant being down under in Oz land everything more Cash.
Mark _________________ ISP: Charter
Modem: Netgear CM600
Router:(2) Asus RT-AC86U Merlin 384.5
Router: LinksysWRT3200Acm{RIP}
Router: Linksys EA8500 kongat r35030m (Vpn)
Router: Netgear X4S kongat r35965M
Vpn: IpVanish
Unbrick your 3200acm with usb to ttl cable: https://tinyurl.com/y9azvrkg
Thank you all for the input.
The Kong builds are 27MB in size, while the BS builds are 38MB, so I will go with a Kong WW build.
Given that even the latest Kong is still 3.18 kernel, I may as well go for the current Kong and see how it goes for now.
And yes, an R7800 would be nice but the EA8500 is costing me $60 locally; the R7800 is just under $200 used here.
I'm now also trying to get a cheap Asus RT-AC68U from a guy interstate for only $40 - they usually go for $120 used. If I can get the Asus, I will flash Merlin on it and compare it to the EA8500 on DD-WRT.
The winner will be my new router, the loser will be my new AP!
Nick _________________ ------------------------------------
Linksys WRT3200ACM DD-WRT r55819 (Gateway)
Linksys EA8500 OpenWrt-23.05.3 (Wired AP)
Netgear WNDR3700v4 DD-WRT r55819 (spare Gateway)
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickant44/albums
