Works flawlessly. Used it on sisters modem lying at home. Tied to Etisalat and no option to bridge connection / use as extender repeater. This firmware helped unlock the device . Thank you kar200. Can use the device as an extender now. 
From a different thread: "If you are using WPA2 Personal (PSK) then the devices should switch from one AP to the next automatically as long as the SSID and the PreShared Key are exactly the same."
Thank you luizlaf. Shall change ssid to same on both devices .
Btw kar200. I made an account on the forum only to thank you for your firmware! As another user nirusha had commented, you could make a youtube video on your firmware installation. Altough it will cater to a niche audience , sure it will help many many more. Thank you kar200 once again!
That's the best way to use it. Have the same SSID and KEY should be enough.
The wireless cards also have support for 802.11r but it is not included in the firmware. This is meant to change from one station to the other without dropping the connection. I tried once with openwrt but it did not work for me.
For the youtube video I have never tried. The firmware cannot be simpler to fash so if a user cannot flash it the way it is then it is definately not for them.
One thing i thought about is to have some script to flash back the stock Dlink firmware as it needs to be done by accessing SSH and use the mtd_write command. But then I thought who would like to go backt to the stock firmware anyway since it is more crippeled than the official dlink one.
By the way if anyone is interested the firmware does contain the following packages. Some of them are not accessible through the gui.
### Enable IPv6 support
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_IPV6=y
### Enable USB support
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_USB=y
### Enable NTFS filesystem support via Paragon "ufsd" driver. ~0.4MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_UFSD=y
### Enable FAT/FAT32 filesystem support. ~0.1MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_FAT=y
### Enable exFAT (FAT/FAT32 too) filesystem support. ~0.12MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_EXFAT=y
### Enable EXT2 filesystem support. ~0.1MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_EXT2=y
### Enable EXT3 filesystem support. ~0.2MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_EXT3=y
### Enable EXT4 (EXT3/2 too) filesystem support. ~0.4MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_EXT4=y
### Enable XFS filesystem support. ~0.6MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_XFS=y
### Enable FUSE (filesystems in userspace) support. ~0.1MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_FUSE=y
### Enable swap files/partitions support. ~0.05MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_ENABLE_SWAP=y
### Include UVC camera modules. ~0.2MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_UVC=y
### Include USB-HID modules. ~0.2MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_HID=y
### Include USB-Serial modules (e.g. pl2303). ~0.03MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_SERIAL=y
### Include USB-Audio modules ~0.46MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_AUDIO=y
### Include XFRM (IPsec) modules & iptables extension ~ 0.2MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_XFRM=y
### Include network QoS scheduling modules. ~0.2MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_QOS=y
### Include IMQ module for shapers (a bit of performance degradation). ~0.02MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_IMQ=y
### Include IFB module for shapers. ~0.03MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_IFB=y
### Include IPSet utility and kernel modules. ~0.4MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_IPSET=y
### Include NFSv3 server. ~0.6MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_NFSD=y
### Include NFSv3 client. ~0.5MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_NFSC=y
### Include CIFS (SMB) client. ~0.2MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_CIFS=y
############################################################
### Userspace configuration
############################################################
### Include WebUI international resources. Increased firmware size
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_CN=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_BR=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_CZ=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_DA=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_DE=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_ES=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_FI=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_FR=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_NO=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_PL=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_RU=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_SV=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LANG_UK=y
### Include LPR printer daemon. ~0.12MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_LPRD=y
### Include USB-over-Ethernet printer daemon. ~0.05MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_U2EC=y
### Include "tcpdump" utility. ~0.6MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_TCPDUMP=y
### Include "hdparm" utility (allow set HDD spindown timeout and APM). ~0.1MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_HDPARM=y
### Include "parted" utility (allow make GPT partitions). ~0.3MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_PARTED=y
### Include SMB (and WINS) server. ~1.5MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_SMBD=y
### using samba3.6 instead of samba3
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_SMBD36=y
### Include HTTPS support for DDNS client. openssl ~1.2MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_DDNS_SSL=y
### Include HTTPS support. openssl ~1.2MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_HTTPS=y
### Include sftp-server. openssl ~1.2MB, sftp-server ~0.06MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_SFTP=y
### Include OpenSSH instead of dropbear. openssl ~1.2MB, openssh ~1.0MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_OPENSSH=y
### Include OpenVPN. IPv6 required. openssl ~1.2MB, openvpn ~0.4MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_OPENVPN=y
### Include Elliptic Curves (EC) to openssl library. ~0.1MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_OPENSSL_EC=y
### Include "openssl" executable for generate certificates. ~0.4MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_OPENSSL_EXE=y
### Include xUPNPd IPTV mediaserver. ~0.3MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_XUPNPD=y
### Include Minidlna UPnP mediaserver. ~1.6MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_MINIDLNA=y
### Include Firefly iTunes mediaserver. ~1.0MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_FIREFLY=y
### Include ffmpeg 0.11.x instead of 0.6.x for Minidlna and Firefly. ~0.1MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_FFMPEG_NEW=y
### Include Transmission torrent. openssl ~1.2MB, transmission ~1.5MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_TRANSMISSION=y
### Include Transmission-Web-Control (advanced WebUI). ~0.8MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_TRANSMISSION_WEB_CONTROL=y
### Include Aria2 download manager. openssl ~1.2MB, aria2 ~3.5MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_ARIA=y
### Include Aria2 WEB control. ~0.7MB
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_ARIA_WEB_CONTROL=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_CURL=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_DOGCOM=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_MINIEAP=n
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_NAPT66=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_SHADOWSOCKS=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_DNSFORWARDER=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_TTYD=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_HTOP=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_NANO=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_IPERF3=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_MTR=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_SOCAT=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_INCLUDE_SRELAY=y
Very simple to flash . Absolutely true. Haha. Don't think anyone will want to go back to stock firmware. But good option to have it none the less. Appreciate your effort and time. All the best & Thank you.
Ali
@kar200
I just landed to this post. it seems very interesting topic for me as i have been searching for long time how to use alternative firmware for Dlink DIR-853
Is it possible to send again the files so i can try, all above links have been expired ?
Thanks
Hi again, so excited to try this
I would like also to ask from all who could get the files if they can share it please !
Thanks
Hi, here you go.
By the way if someone knows a better way to share this please upload it and share the link here. I chose Wetransfer just because it was the first result on google and didn't really look into another way of doing it.
Thank you so much @kar200
after i flash, do i need to do the changes in post#12?
No that was for openwrt. Padavan works out of the box with no issues as far as I know (except some minor ones I didn't have myself )
Hi. I have padavan on asus n56 and now I am looking for new router with usb. I chose dlink, can you send me padavan fw too? Thank you!
Can you please confirm which dlink router you have?
D link Dir 853
There are 4 different models (maybe more )
A1,A2,A3 and R1. Which one do you have ?
I dont have it on my hands now. Is this info on label on router? I will let you know. Padavan is only for a3?
Yes it will be on the label. The one I built yes it is for A3 only . And A3 is exclusive to one major telco in the middle east.
If you bought yours from a shop then it's definately not A3. If it's happens to be R1 I did manage to build one for someone else and it seemed it worked.
Once you get it please let me know which model you got.
Thank you for your cooperation, on www there is dlink 853/ee, i will try to check version before I will buy. I was looking for new router with usb and capability of running common firmwares yeserday. I want download movies directly to router with wget. In padavan there is optware... And I found this dlink in sale from 65 USD to 50 USD... https://tinyurl.com/yxok3fqx But there is no info about version/revison...
Maybe is EE another revision? https://eu.dlink.com/cz/cs/products/dir-853-ee
Hi. So EE is R1, i found FW on dlink page fftp://public@ftp.dlink.net.pl/dir/dir-853ee/driver_software/
Are you going to be using wget only/ will you be reading the USB content using samba or similar file server?
Depending on how often you will be using this I don't know if this is the most suitable way (and depending on the budget0. I have not used the usb function much (except making sure it works) so i won't be able to say if it is the right one to get.