TP-Link Archer MR600 exploration

Awesome work guys, looking forward to trying it!

Is sending SMS possible with this build? Via AT to the modem maybe?

There are different possibilities to configure the wan interface. With the default config there is a tool (sms-tool) and external luci app but I use ModemManager(mmcli) with a script to forward sms by mail.

Hi @Djfe

I have an Archer MR600(EU) v1. Is there any way I can help with implementing OpenWRT support for it?

I only want to use it in bridge mode. My TV has a crappy wifi interface, so I want to connect it to the MR600 using ethernet, and connect the MR600 to my home wifi network.

I didn't find enough time to look at v1, yet.
Last time I stopped because I'm trying to figure out whether the modem works on stock rom.
Right now the mr600 v1 doesn't detect my nano sim (with adapter). Could be due to the adapter not sure. I want to know whether it works before figuring out implementing OpenWRT support.
Anyone else has problems with the device not detecting your sim card?

For your use case you could use any other router that already has support.
The MR600 v1 is only feasible if I can find a way to install openwrt without serial access.
I don't want people to need to open the case to install openwrt since it damages the case.

I can confirm that the WiFi signal is really bad. Even my roommate (who didn't know that I flashed OpenWRT on the router) noticed it, because now, the signal doesn't reach our kitchen...
Does anyone know of a possible solution? Or how to find out what the issue is?

hey can you help me install the openwrt?? I don't find any tutorial for that. Plzz help me. Thanks.

I just created a PR with a fix for this here: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/12311

Luckily, the -a con be overriden on a per-device basis, so it doesn't affect all other TP-Link images.

Has anyone figured out a way to communicate with the modem? I would like to send AT commands.
I only got as far as finding that the modem runs Android and it has an inbuilt webserver that can be activated via adb shell. But I wasn't able to access the web panel (it seems to have a TP-Link UI for adjusting bands etc), and that doesn't seem to give access to AT commands anyway...

Hi,

First of all, pls excuse my ignorance as I am not an expert / developer etc.

I recently purchased an Archer MR600 v3 (latest version, from TP-Link via Amazon Germany).

There is a major issue with having a stable / continuous 4G+ connection. See, for example, the varios discussions on TP-Link's forum, e.g.:

I understand from a chat with TPL's support that:

  1. It is possible to connect to the Archer MR600 via Telnet (if necessary, need to factory reset first, then do not set-up via the GUI but connect (via LAN cable) directly to the device (and use "admin" as password if required))
  2. The modem of the Archer MR600 v3 uses a Snapdragon (X12?)

I also understand that there is no "stable" OpenWRT version for this device, and in any event OpenWRT not affect the modem part but only the router part?

In any event, has anyone any suggestion how to fix the modem (FW?) of the device in order to get a stable 4G+ connection? I note the previous post by isthiskreiv asking how to send AT commands to the modem. If this is possible, could this also be used to fix the connection issues?

Many thanks

Hi @linosgian @Djfe @linosgian1 @hypr @Bartvz @relghuar is it possible to select specific LTE band in this openwrt firmware??
I am looking forward to flash this, but can't find any method to change band. As I need band 3 for better internet connection in my area.

If possible plz give some idea towards it.
And sorry for tag.

Thanks.

Tutorial by @isthiskreiv
youtube link
from source

Did somebody successfully access the modem using AT commands? Like @firefoxOnFire I am looking into band selection/carrier aggregation but I had no luck starting the webserver nor creating the /dev/ttyUSB0 device using the OpenWRT tutorial [1].

[1] https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/wwan/ltedongle

I got my MR600 working with a 4G SIM. Massive thanks to relghuar for making this possible.

A couple of points I got stuck on:

  • If you're using the 4G modem, then the WAN interface is 'wwan0', not the default 'wan0'. wwan0 is the 4G modem. wan0 is just an ethernet port. In LUCI, go to Network/Interfaces/WAN and change the device from wan0 to wwan0.

  • In Network/Interfaces/WAN, you need to uncheck "Bring up on boot", otherwise the modem setup fails at the next boot and you're left without an uplink. The failure happens with this message in 'logread':

qmi_wwan 1-2:1.4 wwan0: Cannot change a running device

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Also: the table of hardware doesn't have an entry for the TP-Link Archer MR600, but it does have an entry for a completely different router with a similar name, the Open-Mesh MR600.

Is it OK to add the TP-link to the table of hardware, or is the table only supposed to contain hardware that works without soldering?

i guess so. can you try locking band on openwrt??

I gave it a quick try and gave up.

The tools I think I need (not sure) to fiddle with band, i.e. kmod-usb-serial) depend on a newer kernel than the one I happen to have, and fixing that is for a rainy day.

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Hello, did someone run the firmware on the revision of the V1 router?

for AT commands try:

adb shell 'cat /dev/smd11'
adb shell 'echo -e "ATI\r\n" > /dev/smd11'
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For better security, we should find out how to update the modem with the stock firmware files.

Some plain text commands can be extracted from "/usr/bin/httpd" and "/lib/libcmm.so":

echo 1 > /proc/tplink/lte_recovering
mount -t auto -o remount,rw /dev/sda /tmp/udisk
/tmp/udisk/Upgrade/update.zip
adb shell "echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches 
adb shell update_normal.sh force

From update_normal.sh:

    echo 2 > /etc/reboot-cookie
	busybox rm -rf /misc/recovery
    busybox mkdir -p -m 0755 /misc/recovery
    busybox echo --update_package=/cache/Upgrade/update.zip > /misc/recovery/command
    sys_reboot recovery

Perhaps the stock firmware was able to mount the modem cache directory into /tmp/udisk and update.zip is the modem.zip. But this is just guessing.