Installing OpenWRT on Netgear WAX218 - looking for latest instructions please

Installing and Using OpenWrt
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I have been following instructions to install OpenWRT on the Netgear WAX218 which I found at https://git.openwrt.org/?p=openwrt/openwrt.git;a=commit;h=7801161c4bb2413817b3dfd01695050e2da27bf3

I noticed that the filenames mentioned in the instructions don't match up with the files available to download at https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/netgear/netgear_wax218_1

I'm assuming that web-ui-factory.fit could correspond to openwrt-23.05.5-ipq807x-generic-netgear_wax218-initramfs-uImage.itb

and that nand-sysupgrade.bin could correspond to openwrt-23.05.5-ipq807x-generic-netgear_wax218-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin but it's a bit of a leap.

I have found "netgear_wax218-web-ui-factory.fit" on https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/qualcommax/ipq807x/ along with some other files but don't feel comfortable guessing without having anywhere near as much knowledge as the experts on here.

I have tried to work it out for myself and have tried web and SSH installation methods to different degrees but am taking a step back for the moment before I break the access point completely.

Any help would be really appreciated, I will write up the installation steps clearly if I can get it working to share with everyone else.

Thanks for your help.

1 Like
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Hi,
I have the same device. Support ended a while ago, so i think i will flash openwrt sooner or later.
Not an expert, but i think that the nitramfs-uImage.itb is only for flashing with TFTP / initramfs or during other stages.
I tried to extract this info from the instructions of the netgear rax120V2, they are quite similar ?.

Good luck and the first among us to attempt the installation, will report back if possible :slightly_smiling_face:
Maybe it would be helpful to make a page dedicated to the device, if I can I might spend some time on it. Meanwhile, it's my primary access point, so I have to come up with something before playing...

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Hi, thanks for the reply.

If it's your primary wifi access point, definitely be patient as I broke mine over the Christmas holidays :joy:
I got it cheap so am not too annoyed and have a UART adapter so will attempt to fix it soon. Plus I have my original access point in the meantime, so it's not a big problem...

Mine is now in an odd state, so not ideal for writing up instructions.
I'll try to get it fixed!