Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 12:55 Post subject: TP-Link TL-WR841N v10 to 30dbi (real 23~24dbi)
I accidentally discovered that the openwrt hack to 30dbi works after installing dd-wrt back to the router.
The power is actually around 23-24dbi (see this topic - https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?pid=319197#p319197 ), but the signal is noticeably better than at the 21dbi max before.
So, what I did. I have two 841n v10 - one at work and one at home. They have been working for maybe a year and more and I
am nearly satisfied with the cheapy routers and dd-wrt at the max power of 21dbi. At work i needed a bit more tx power and installed openwrt just for the try,
because the router goes to 24dbi with the 30dbi hack for openwrt ( https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr841nd#dbm_tx_power_hack_v9 ). I rolled back to stock fw and then upgraded to the ready openwrt image with ART part. unlocked and reg hacked for 841nv10 (link below in the post) and did the 30dbi hack as described. I was ready for a possible brick of the router, because the hack is meant for v9, but it worked like a charm and i got the 30dbi setting in the config. The tx at work got noticeably stronger and I was satisfied, but after a week or so I wanted to use dd-wrt again because I liked it's config, updates and web gui better and I have used it for quite some time. After putting dd-wrt back using winscp I transferred the factory-to-ddwrt.bin (the good, stable v3.0-r30082) to the /tmp dir of the router and executed sysupgrade command via putty.
The good old dd-wrt was back and I did all the settings just like before. I always put 37dbi in the Wireless--Advanced Settings--TX Power field just for the joy and Canada as Country. After all my setup was done, I rebooted the router and noticed that in the Status---Wireless window, 30dbi appeared and the signal at work was (and still is) as strong as it was with openwrt. The WiGLE android app shows overall 6 to 10 dbi gain in my work room from before! When I got home I did the procedure to my home router as well and yes, the signal has got stronger. So the steps I did are:
1: back from dd-wrt to stock tp-link fw with the .bin from wr841nv10_webrevert.rar (link here: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=85237&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45#1031065 )
2. when on stock fw, upgrade to this ready openwrt image with ART part. unlocked and reg hacked for 841nv10 (updated new working link: https://drive.google.com/u/0/uc?id=0B04Rm7S5I3txY25icUM2dEJhMG8&export=download )
p.s. rename the openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr841n-v10-trunk-r47244-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin file to fw.bin or something short to be able to upgrade!
3. when on openwrt, use WinSCP or similar to upload the artHACKED.bin file to the /tmp dir of your router. (updated working new link for the art file here: https://drive.google.com/u/0/uc?id=0B04Rm7S5I3txejBUS2tpcXNxeTQ&export=download )
4. open putty, login to openwrt and run the command: mtd -r write /tmp/artHACKED.bin art (described here: https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr841nd#dbm_tx_power_hack_v9 )
the router will reboot and you will have up to 30dbi (yes, real 23-24dbi) in the wireless settings.
5. now, you need to get back to dd-wrt and enjoy the hack. Use WinSCP or similar to access the router, transfer the factory-to-ddwrt.bin r30082 or other revision of Your choice file to the /tmp dir of your router. (updated new working link here: https://download1.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2016/07-01-2016-r30082/tplink_tl-wr841ndv10/factory-to-ddwrt.bin )
6. using putty, login and go to your /tmp dir (cd /tmp) and execute the upgrade command: sysupgrade factory-to-ddwrt.bin
7. dd-wrt is back. Login like usual, go to your wireless settings and set 30 (or higher) dbi in the Advanced settings and NEW_ZEALAND as country.
8. Enjoy the max power of your TL-WR841N v10!
I am not that good at linux or coding, but I wanted to share my experience with You and please excuse me for any spelling errors. If some of the links aren't accepted in this forum, please remove them. I hope i helped. Have a good day! _________________ TP-Link WR841N v10 ....... DD-WRT r34929
TP-Link ARCHER-C7 v4 ..... DD-WRT r43334
Last edited by sonyscribe on Mon Jan 31, 2022 8:06; edited 5 times in total
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:57 Post subject: thank you
very nice way of putting the pieces together, providing valid links, and making a perfect solution for several angles.
thank you, may this knowledge last
but the tx power of the router low, so the coverage also low. I cant use wifi after 2 rooms.
I wonder that if the tx power may increase.
I have tried for artHACKED.bin flash via scp and putty but it did not done due to art and reg locked.
If anybody can modify and recompile this firmware or unlock the ART part and reg hacked for for increase the TX power.
https://downloads.openwrt.org/chaos_calmer/15.05.1/ar71xx/generic/openwrt-15.05.1-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr740n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin
Thanks for advance and sorry for bad English..[/url]
Joined: 24 Feb 2013 Posts: 1634 Location: Belgrade
Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:57 Post subject:
you can use this tool to backup and edit ART partitition and then with pepes2k's u-boot you can upload ART partitition through WEB when you are in recovery mode...
My unit (Gl-iNet AR-150) has pepe's u-boot and IMHO this is the easiest way for doing it...
Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 8:41 Post subject: ART Modify danitool/ar9285
Mile-Lile wrote:
you can use this tool to backup and edit ART partitition and then with pepes2k's u-boot you can upload ART partitition through WEB when you are in recovery mode...
My unit (Gl-iNet AR-150) has pepe's u-boot and IMHO this is the easiest way for doing it...
The Tplink 741v2 has ar9285 wifi chip.
I have search over the github.com and found that developed a tool (danitool/ar9285_art) for increase the TX power by art modifing.
But I am very new at programming.
please modify my art for the same or please guide me how to use ar9285_art tool in linux.
In attachment I was shared your modified ART partition and EEPROM file (cutted from it). It works(you can chose) up to 30dbm, but for me its only works up to 26dbm. For example, if I chose 27dbm TX power settings - real TX power will be drop-down to minimum. I.e. for my chip AR9285 - real maximal power is 26dbm(400mW) - it better than 17dbm by default!
