[GCC 7.2 BUILD] Optimized TP-Link Archer C7 V2 AC1750 LEDE Firmware

@Chrisnetika
The difference is the flash chip: V2-> 16MB, V4 -> 8MB
You can replace the flash chip and use the V2 build.
Buy: Flash chip link
Video: How to replace
I can confirm it works.

why does wikidev list the v4 with 16mb flash then?
On top of that all the official firmware files on the tp-link website for v4 are over 14mb in size, not sure where your getting your info but from my research the only difference is the wireless chipsets and both are supported in Lede.
Perhaps the reason is this builds goes off latest stable and not snapshot, I understand v4 support was added in merely few days after latest stable.

Sorry,
You are right V4 has 16MB flash. I was confusing routers, in my case I have a WDR7500 V5 and I converted it to an Archer C7 V2 replacing the flash chip.
WDR7500 v2 v3 v4 and v5 can be converted to Archer C7 v2 because they use the same HW, but seems that C7 v4 isn't the same HW as V2.

Archer C7 V4 HW= QCA9561+QCA9888
Archer C7 V2 HW= QCA9558+QCA9880

That's why this build will not work for you.

Yes that is the difference from the "not much difference" part i'm referring to.I do see that it eventually got the needed support in LEDE trunk unfortunately it seems this build(and many others) use the stable releases.It is all good, my frustration is at myself for not knowing about the different hardware revisions before going to walmart to buy it not knowing that version I was getting was no good.Sometime this coming week i'm gonna return it and looking to get Netgear R7800 which seems way better and plenty support here for it and no different rev nonsense.. for now anyway.I am glad to see that there is life on LEDE forums, much welcome change from openwrt forums which in it good days was just as lively.I always look forward to see different builds made by the community.

Hi, i can confirm this behaviour.

Getting the same thing since the last update. Is there a solution to fix this?

Otherwise a great release. THx @root

Hello there,

First thanks for this great build. I almost bought a new router because it was unstable as hell, I found this custom build and it is working perfectly.

Only one question is it possible to disable dnscrypt so I can use my pihole adblocker from the Raspberry Pi. I tried it and I can't get it to work.

Thanks in advanced.

good catch klingon, that would be great to implement!!

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@r00t are you there? We miss you? :grinning::grinning::grinning:

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doesn't anybody have problems with responsiveness with this firmware? I mean when zapping through different webpages, router slows down and there are sites that show the message "this page cannot be displayed, try again later";
the speeds on 5ghz are great, better than stock but sometimes even router's own luci interface comes up very slow, with big lag; after putting back factory firmware, everything is great again in terms of zapping; I have tried several versions of this firmware, all with this same behaviour

I don't use this firmware directly, but I compile my own version of LEDE with the @r00t patches. I do that to use my own package selection, with no problems.

do you use a usb drive for overlay? that could be a bit faster, i havent had any issues with keeping up on the latest nightly's on @r00t github.

my post on external overlay:

I have tried several nightlies also, with same result; my internet modem is in bridge mode so I have the router auto-aquiring it's IP through DHCP on the WAN port (not through Pppoe); I have tried several manual introduced resolving DNSs (not those forwarded by my ISP) but all with same result; the lag becomes very high and I have big bufferbloat especially on upload...sometimes the ping test just fails with error message, so big is the LAG !!
sometimes even it's own luci interface is unreachable, I have to refresh several times for it to appear;
everytime I put back the factory firmware, everything is OK and fast with no lag in terms of browsing even after several days with no reboot of the router.
I can't believe that nobody faced this lag problem, since I am flashing the same firmware(s) like all of you; if it is an isolated problem on my side, could this be due to ISP's modem? should I ask for an exchange? strange, because with factory firmware everything is alright, but downside is the few configuring options

Have you tried to configure Archer C7 as main router, removing your modem?

@paradoxman
I never faced that problem, and I'm using a similar setup as you: ISP cable modem in bridge mode, the router receives a public IP address from the modem via dhcp (router wan port attached to the ISP modem).
Can you connect to your router when you are experiencing problems via ssh and execute the logread command and post the output here?

@cliobrando, yes, I will try that logread command; for the moment I have the factory firmware back but I'll soon try to put back LEDE and paste the output of that command;
@Klingon, I cannot eliminate the modem cause it's translating fiber optics into ethernet, all this connected in bridged mode to this Archer C7

I tried to install the kernel module to get a heart beat on one led.
The system is failing to install it, due to kernel version mismatch.
Official Lede (and modules in the repo) has 4.9.77, while this marvel version has v4.9.67, as reported by the status page:

Firmware Version: LEDE Reboot SNAPSHOT r5464-5a8e9846af / LuCI Master (git-17.342.53118-6d086bf)
Kernel Version: 4.9.67

The installation process fails with this message:

Installing kmod-ledtrig-heartbeat (4.9.77-1) to root...
Downloading http://downloads.lede-project.org/snapshots/targets/ar71xx/generic/packages/kmod-ledtrig-heartbeat_4.9.77-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Collected errors:
 * satisfy_dependencies_for: Cannot satisfy the following dependencies for kmod-ledtrig-heartbeat:
 * 	kernel (= 4.9.77-1-41794377a8800be48618261f92ebecb1) * 
 * opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package kmod-ledtrig-heartbeat.

Is there any plan to port this very firmware to the latest Lede kernel version to avoid other mismatches?

@paradoxman We are facing the same lagging problem like you (router is working in "Client Mode" to separate our network from an existing DHCP network). We have to reboot the router when the lagging is starting. At the moment we are using the following little workarounds till the already mentionned bug in this thread is fixed (the new rfkill support did not help in our case):

  • daily reboot of the router in the night time
  • we switched back to automatic frequency band channel detection (static before): it looks like the router is "longer" stable with that setting

thanks for the feedback, so it looks that I'm not the only one facing this problem, that means that this BUG IS deffinetelly in this firmware and it wasn't adressed till now;
with dd-wrt or factory firmwares I'm not facing this lag problem at all !
for me, rebooting the router is not a solution because lag comes back very quickly afterwards
this is happening in AP mode with auto-dhcp on WAN, 5GHZ, VHT80, CH 149

too bad, because download speeds are really great with this firmware, but this LAG problem and big bufferbloat, spoils all the fun

@cliobrando, can you give me a link to your own compiled firmware for testing purposes?
I'm very curious if my lag problem will persist with your firmware
I'm not using the most packages from this firmware anyway, I need only fastpath included, and ability to update my DNS host on afraid.org;
thanks in advance

@paradoxman
Here's the link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rx_Wp8cnkMIepCUrIcLjaQIzd-ukjYje/view?usp=sharing
That's the build that I'm currently using.