OpenWrt on TL-WPA8630P V2

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hi all, just about to pick up a couple of powerline adapters (The TL-WPA8630P V2's, UK plug).

I can see that OpenWrt can be installed based on:

https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/tp-link/tp-link_tl-wpa8630_v2

Is there any config required for the powerline interface, such as setting encryption key, etc. Or is that obfuscated away from the user?

Additionally, what is the best route for stable setup with WiFi working? Install snapshot from:

http://www.netadair.de/openwrt/snapshot.20190617/releases/18.06-SNAPSHOT/targets/ar71xx/generic/openwrt-18.06-snapshot-r7781-f63a1caf22-ar71xx-generic-tl-wpa8630-v2-squashfs-factory.bin

Or has anyone tested any other builds?

p.s.

@netadair, if I could gain any insight from you that would be appreciated. :slight_smile:

2

If the powerline is already paired then no there is nothing to do. You can however change that using plc-tool (haven't used it myself).

Don't instlal any snapshot. As far as I know you can install the factory image directly from the web interface. Nothing else to do.

Once you install it maybe add luci. The space is already reduced on the image (around 1mb left after initial install). You can then manage your wireless using Luci.

3

The OpenWRT snapshot images are well tested by now, see the wiki for more info.

Like most consumer powerline devices, The TP-Link PLC devices come setup out of the box using the default Network Membership Key based on the "HomePlugAV" password. You can set a new NMK in the TP-Link stock firmware before switching over to OpenWRT.

Or, once your running OpenWRT, you can change it easily with this:

NMK=$(echo "MyPassword" | hpavkeys -M)
plctool -i br-lan -M -K "$NMK" "$plc_mac"

For the other powerline adaptors you can use the TPPLC windows utility. You might also be able to use plctool for those too via the Ethernet side, but its trickier and depends on the device.

See these for more info: