TP-Link Archer C7 Router AC1750 V5 is it fully functional for OpenWrt?

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hi Experts,

I need to buy two new routers and I've found for TP-Link Archer C7 Router AC1750 V5 but I need to know if it is fully functional in order to buy it for sure.

Is someone who has this model to tell me a little bit about it working with OPENWRT?

Thanks,
Emerson

2

Yes, it should be fully functional.

However it still is rather pricey for what it has to offer (single core mips), you'll find newer and better devices among the ipq40xx SOCs for pretty much the same money.

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3

And as if that wasn't enough, they actually reduced the USB ports to 1 after they were 2 ports in earlier revisions.

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4

Thank you for your answer, here in Brazil this router costs around US$ 100.00.

Could you recommend others fully functional devices cost effective?

Regards,
Emerson

5

http://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/19.07.0/targets/ipq40xx/generic/

https://openwrt.org/tag/ipq4018?do=showtag&tag=IPQ4018 and https://openwrt.org/tag/ipq4019?do=showtag&tag=IPQ4019 would be nicer to read, but it's slightly incomplete.

6

My point is that if you are looking for a low-end or mid-range router, get a used one, because there are always people who are upgrading their routers and selling their existing one, especially if you are flashing your router which is an operation that involves risk and not converd by the warranty anyway.

So probably best way is to see what's available on your country within your budget, check against OpenWrt table of supported hardware, then ask people here to choose among the candidates.

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7

This is very valid advice, it's surprising what you can sometimes find on the used markets (although it does need patience to find the really good deals).

However especially the archer c7 sells for way too much money in used condition - and it's (in general) not so different for contemporary devices that are still selling new (quite often above the new from the store prices).

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8

Yeah I was talking about other mid-range devices from Linksys and Netgear etc.; I think there are some decent ones in the range of $50~$70, but then availability differs between countries, so best to start by looking at what's easily available and from it from there

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9

2nd Post in this thread has refurbished devices
https://forum.openwrt.org/t/want-to-upgrade-but-not-spend-a-lot/55931

There is an Archer C7 AC1750 for ~$52USD. Not sure what version or shipping costs
Here another one for ~/$35USD.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/TP-Link-Archer-A7-AC1750-Wireless-Dual-Band-Gigabit-Router-Official-Recertified/264273847010?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225655%26meid%3D183c92d74718443094330942be4426e8%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpf%26sd%3D254382473649%26itm%3D264273847010%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWeb&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
There is a way to contact TP-Link maybe they will provide the Version.

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10

Excellent idea!!! Very good price and I would buy a refurbished one, but they don't ship to Brazil :frowning:

Do you know if TP-link Archer "C7" AC1750 and Archer "A7" AC1750 are the same? I am afraid to brick the router.

Thanks!

11

The A7 is a directly supported model, so use its build. The only difference between it and the C7v5 seems to be in software.

Last week Amazon sold the A7 (new) for $51.00 but price is up now.

12

Hi Guys,

I've bought a TP-link Archer C7 AC1750 V5 here in Brazil and it will arrive until Friday.
What's the best way to flash it with OPENWRT? Directly by the tp-link web interface or using tftp ?

Thanks,
Emerson

13
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14

Hi,
My router arrived today and I will to flash it.
I've read your link and the name of the firmware is a little bit different from here:
https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/tp-link/tp-link_archer_c7_v5
Firmware OpenWrt Install URL:
http://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/19.07.1/targets/ath79/generic/openwrt-19.07.1-ath79-generic-tplink_archer-c7-v5-squashfs-factory.bin

Link file name = lede-ar71xx-generic-archer-c7-v5-squashfs-factory.bin

Is it correct or there is another place to download?

Thanks,
Emerson

15

Either will work, but ar71xx is now deprecated. The ath79 build should be used.

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