Bought Netgear GS108T and need to block 8.8.8.8

rc4 runs fine on the v3. I had to reset it once to get the VLAN set up correctly in Luci.

afaik... the 108e i got recently just pops up once asking for online-rego... (no function limit)... still not really happy about that... but maybe it could they are scaling the mothership-dependency back overall?

imho... its a breach of consumer rights...

if everyone returns these units immediately it may motivate them better :wink:

@murraydr44 would you be so kind to outline step by step guide from stock to rc4, please ?

@anon50098793 in my jurisdiction, registration for warranty is illegal, warranty is a must regardless, hopefully same elsewhere...
I'm OK with stupid 30-day registration for warranty message, as long as I have full access...

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@mikma GS108Tv3 is probably best path to rc4, hopefully @murraydr44 will kindly assist with step by step guide, please ?

Warning, only the gs108t v3 is supported!
Having a (3.3V based!) serial console handy is strongly advised, even if you may not need it. Be aware of the management VLAN only listening on port 1 and VID 100 by default on OpenWrt (Support for RTL838x based managed switches - #367 by slh).

If you are unsure about any of the steps involved, after reading the supplied information - don't do it.

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@slh I have read these, however the OEM firmware and OpenWrt has evolved since, I was wondering if anything safer/easier was now a reasonable path ?

That's the documented information, and was apparently working when support for this device was merged in january. Personally I don't own this device (but other rtl838x based ones, working roughly similarly).

So this is ONLY a soldering iron serial upgrade ?

That's not what the information says, but I strongly recommend to be prepared to use the serial console (because if anything fails, you will need it).

return it as not fit for purpose (due to firmware requiring a login) and buy a tplink instead. Add a shitty review as well. Netgear deserve all the hate they get for this retroactive forcing of subscriptions. Its on their enterprise switches and they added it to consumer ones and caused a damn riot. They are firmly on my banned list for hardware.

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No, I have successfully flashed OpenWrt on my GS108Tv3 from the OEM gui. I did have a console connection, though. It is not required unless something goes wrong. And things can go wrong. So you should at least be prepared to add a console in the unlikely case that there is some unexpected problem.

  1. Flash the GS108Tv3 initramfs image from the OEM gui. Do NOT use the sysupgrade image.

I prefer flashing OpenWrt to image1 (the first system partition), leaving image2 for the OEM firmware, since the final OpenWrt installation always will overwrite image1. But this is optional. Either will work, and there is no way to switch back to OEM unless you are able to boot and log into OpenWrt annyway. So this is not a failsafe option.

  1. Log in to OpenWrt, observing the odd VLAN ID 100 on port lan1 restrictions mentioned by @slh, and run sysupgrade with the OpenWrt sysupgrade image.

Explanation; The reason you can't write the sysupgrade image directly from OEM is that the OEM flash tool silently drops everything after the end of the U-Boot image. This is the root filesystem in a sysupgrade image. Booting a kernel without a root filesystem means a bricked device. The initramfs image works fine because the root file system is part of the U-Boot image there.

Note the the bricking I talk about here is a soft-brick, which is easily fixed with console. And it is also easily avoided by following the instructions.

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@mercygroundabyss My understanding is that TP-Link gear phones home regardless without your knowledge or consent...
The Linksys registration issue is fixed with latest firmware as they only threaten to require it within 30 days in order to honour their warranty, illegal in many jurisdictions including mine.

@bmork Many thanks for tips, I'm used to Linksys easy failover partitions and removable media of RPi4, I'm trying to gather the courage to upgrade, but I'm still hesitant. I've never performed soldering before and I know some someone who killed a board doing so.

There is a lot of functionality in the OEM firmware :slight_smile:
8-Port Gigabit (PoE+) Ethernet Smart Managed Pro Switch with (2 SFP Ports and) Cloud Management Models GS108Tv3, GS110TPv3, and GS110TPP User Manual (netgear.com)

Am I wrong to presume most is not reproduced in OpenWrt ?

I'm not sure how things are 'fluid' and what information is 'scarce'. The GS108T v3 is well documented and all in all rather easy to flash. I've been a rather early adopter and it's been running fine here from pre-RC 21.02 code (now on 21.02 HEAD).

I'm unsure what snag @stintel ran into that made him add the warning about the brick, as the OEM installation section was test driven before being committed to the wiki page, and I know of other people following those very instructions and successfully installing OpenWrt.

Oh, and for the record: the wiki page also clearly states you don't need to register to be able to install OpenWrt.

I'm unsure but I think the VLAN ID 100 issues should be gone now as well for default setups.

@mercygroundabyss I do understand your motivation, and I'd fully agree if one wanted to use the OEM firmware, but given what I said above, combined with the fact people on these forums do buy hardware to run OpenWrt on, not software, it makes little sense in this context.

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Then I'd suggest getting help from someone with experience should it become necessary. Adding a header is simple enough, but it's probably better to play with a cheaper board first.

Lots of stuff I've never considered using, so I wouldn't know. Voice? CoS? Who cares? But all the important managed switch features are there. And much more, since you can run anything you want. Well, almost. It's not a very powerful device. After all it's only a switch :smile:

if you do attempt it... use single solid core CAT5 strands if you can get them... they are the easiest thing to punch through those filled in through holes for a beginner...

just don't bend them up too much or they'll snap internally...

once they are soldered in secure them on the board somewhere empty with hotglue...

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As a sidenote: The top image in the Wiki was of the unsupported/unsupportable V2 revision with "ProSafe" branding and a "factory defaults" button on the front right -- the V3 has neither. I fixed that now to prevent mixups.
(Also thanks to @tmomas -- who apparantly doesn't sleep nor rest to keep the Wiki and the Forum in line -- for fixing up some media file shenanigans.)

IMNSHO: For signal wires just treat holes as solder points, add some fresh solder and tag on the wires. That's plenty strong for signal wires as long as you're not using them to hang the device from the ceiling. Going into the holes is really only needed if you want or need to insert header pins.

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Bobcat,
I bought a Zyxel SG1200-8 port smart switch from Amazon to get access to VLAN100 on the SG108Tv3.
It took a day of playing on the Zyxel SG1200-8 to chart out how to talk to a VLAN on a PVID access port.
I found out that a router loaded with Openwrt could do the same thing, if the router had a cooperating switch built in.
To be safe, like bmork, I soldered in 3 Berg pins into the SG108Tv3; it took an hour, even with the photo from https://openwrt.org/toh/netgear/netgear_gs108t_v3.
I had to scrape off solder flux and check for solder bridges around the dense pcb.
After soldering, I added the wire colors to the table as follows:

Blockquote
Pin Name
1 3.3V REDPL2303 (unconnected)
2 Tx GRNPL2303
3 Rx WHTPL2303
4 Gnd BLKPL2303

I can't remember, so follow bmork's advice and use the initramfs image.
I didn't have to block 8.8.8.8, because I used a 2nd (USB) adaptor set to 192.168.0.32 to the switch at 192.168.0.239 which blocked internet access.

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Just to state the (hopefully) obvious, never rely on wire colours - while there are some customary choices around them, they're not standardized and may differ between vendors. Always make sure to confirm the actual allocation before. While you can (and often need to-) switch rx/ tx around, misplacing GND or Vcc can do real damage.

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