correction: dataentry page, not devicepage 
Dataentry: https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/tp-link/tp-link_archer_c50_v5
Devicepage: https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer-c50
Regarding the dataentry: I'm wondering if it should be v5 (US) instead of v5 only.
It seems like the v5 is only sold in the USA ?
If there is another C50 v5 in another region that uses totally different hardware, then we would need to label them differently. In the mean time, I'll add a comment about US version in the data entry page.
As far as I can tell, v5 is US (North America) only anyway. Current for EU is still v4.
I did some testing last night and can post numbers as well.
I can say that with stock TP-Link Firmware that the 2.4ghz wireless network is not stable. In fact, what I can see is that the speeds drop, range drops, and internally it looks like eventually the router restarts that radio/driver and everything comes back. This is routinely multiple times per day.
V5 is for US only. as they think us customer like that ID.
V4 is for EU, the difference from V3 is the antenna, the 2 antennas of V4 on side is shorter than the V3
don't ask why i know that...
Hi,
In another article, it is reported that the Archer A5 and Archer C50 v5 are the same hardware in the US.
I am in the UK and have an Archer A5 V4. Is it known if the European Archer A5 V4 will be the same as the European Archer C50 V4?
If not, is there a way to check?
The firmware image is "0.9.1 0.2 v0093.0 Build 190125 Rel.63783n(4555)", which has the same build number (190125) as mentioned on the OpenWRT page for the C50, which seems to be another suggestion that it may be the same device.
Hello, The Devices may be physically different but they may have the same CPU, if they are the same, you need to try to find from both OEM firmwares (UK A5 V4 and EU A5 V4) if they are the same, after checking, comparing and confirmed that you may be able to try to install at your own risk the prebuilt image for the Archer C50 V4 Via Tftp. for your Archer A5 V4 UK Version.
Mine was the US Version Sold by Amazon and worked very Well. Just the 2.4 Ghz Is still not fixed and that wasn't a problem for me since i use only 5Ghz and the Ethernet Ports.
The firmware may be old since the one who made the prebuiilt image did like 1 or 2 years before (For the C50 V4), and the last one, he made just one recently ( as i requested him via PM )so they may differ, and of course you can't use the prebuilt image for my A5 V5 for your A5 V4, So you may need to install the latest sysupgrade after sucessfully installing the C50 V4 Prebuilt image.
Any Doubts, please Let me Know.
Greetings.
Hi - did you mean comparing the TP-Link firmware for the UK A5 V4 and UK C50 V4?
The ZIP file for both the A5 V4 and C50 V4 has the same MD5 checksum, so I guess that means the routers must be the same.
231e50c9308067c9ed5858b8ab7ba30e Archer C50A5_V4_190125.zip
231e50c9308067c9ed5858b8ab7ba30e Archer C50(EU)_V4_190125.zip
The A5 file even also has C50 in the name
Yes, You should try then at your own risk, installing the prebuilt image for the c50 v4 via tftp. in the device link there are the instructions how to install via that method, read carefully and try. Good luck and let us know.
Hi - I finally got around to trying OpenWRT on the Archer today, having diverted my self with an X86 based router for the last few months.
I built my own image, and it loaded and runs fine. I went for the option of loading via the TP-Link GUI, rather than TFTP - both methods are covered in the GIT commit log for adding support for the V4.
Awesome i am glad to hear that it worked for you!
Very interesting that you got this to work...
However, in real practice, this statement is nonsense. I don't see any reason that you need the bootloader to make a build for this. Nothing in the steps you describe is "necessary", rather this is just an experiment. The proper way to work on a new device is with the serial console: opening the case, recording chip models, booting over TFTP, making a backup of the entire flash, etc.
I'm not trying to insult you or your discovery...just watch your words, because others can easily confuse this hack as a proper method for adding board support.
Could you please share your pre-built Open-wrt firmware for Archer C50 V5? I tried building my own but failed to install on my Archer C50 V5 via TFTP. The best I could do then is to revert back to OEM firmware V4. Thank you very much!
Hi,
I have since moved on from this router, as wifi is barely functional with the available drivers for openwrt. Sorry, but I don't know what I did with the files I had
I can provide you my file. I made all the recommended code modifications that improved things, but can say the 2.4ghz is not fantastic still.
That would be great! What is the best way to exchange file here? I am new to the forum. Thanks!
Hi, could you please email me the file (OpenWRT firmware for TP-Link Archer C50 V5) at oneopenbox@gmail.com? Thank you very much!
Thank you very much for the file, I followed the instructions on the Wiki page to build the tp_recovery.bin with your file file but was still unable to install with TFTP.
This is what I have done:
dd if=/dev/zero of=tp_recovery.bin bs=196608 count=1
dd if=tpl.bin of=tmp.bin bs=131584 count=1
dd if=tmp.bin of=boot.bin bs=512 skip=1
cat boot.bin >> tp_recovery.bin
cat owrt.bin >> tp_recovery.bin
4. Install the tp_recovery.bin to router with Windows 10 TFTP32 application.
Result:
TFTP was able to send the firmware to the router, but NO LED on after the power cycle.
I then reverted the router back to OEM TP-Link Archer C50 V4 firmware, then tried upgrading firmware to your file (openwrt_xxxxx_sysupgrade.bin), but got an error message "file not accepted by device".
I am new to openwrt firmware installation, so your advice will be greatly appreciated!
Do you want my full tp_recovery.bin file?