TP-Link Archer C9 User manual

Contents

1 Hardware

Specifications

•

2 How to install

DD-WRT

2.1 TP-Link

Archer C9 v1

♦

2.2 TP-Link

Archer C9 v2

♦

2.3 TP-Link

Archer C9 v3,

♦

•

3 Troubleshooting

3.1 Bricked

Router

♦

3.2 Recovery

Mode

♦

•

Hardware Specifications

FCC ID TE7C9

Industry Canada ID 8853A-C9

Power 12 VDC, 3.3 A

CPU Broadcom BCM4709 @1 GHz

Architecture ARM Cortex A9 (2 cores)

RAM / Flash (ROM) 128 MiB / 16 MiB

Switch Broadcom BCM4709

LAN/WAN ports 4 /1 @ 1 Gb/s

USB Ports 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0

JTAG internal

Serial internal, 4-pin header, 3.3V TTL

WI1 chip Broadcom BCM4360

WI1 protocols an+ac

WI1 MIMO config 3x3:3

WI1 antenna connector U.FL, RP-SMA

WI2 chip Broadcom BCM4360

WI2 protocols bgn

WI2 MIMO config 3x3:3

WI2 antenna connector U.FL, RP-SMA

The Archer C1900 is identical.

TP_Link_Archer_C9

Contents 1

How to install DD-WRT

TP-Link Archer C9 v1

Ensure you have latest firmware from TP-Link• Download factory-to-ddwrt.bin from the tplink_archer-c9v1 directory from one of the links here.• Read New Build and model-specific threads to determine the stability of a given build.•

E.g. build 04-05-2016-r29409 factory-to-ddwrt.bin◊

Upload the dd-wrt firmware using the standard TP-Link UI and wait until router reboots• Do a normal reset or nvram erase via telnet/ssh (Do not 30/30/30 an ARM router!)•

TP-Link Archer C9 v2

Ensure you have the latest firmware from TP-Link (tested with Archer C9(UN)_V2_160517)• Download factory-to-ddwrt.bin from the tplink_archer-c9v2 directory from one of the links here.• Read New Build and model-specific threads to determine the stability of a given build.•

E.g. build 04-05-2016-r29409 factory-to-ddwrt.bin◊

Upload the dd-wrt firmware using the standard TP-Link UI and wait until router reboots• Download the last appropriate dd-wrt firmware here• Upload the latest good webflash.bin build using the dd-wrt GUI found under

Administration->Firmware Upgrade

•

DD-WRT v3.0-r30385 std (08/12/16) has been tested stable◊

TP-Link Archer C9 v3, v4

Device thread: https://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=305884

Do not use builds since 34080 (15088 KB, while 33772 was 13796 KB):

http://svn.dd-wrt.com/ticket/6144

Seems fixed since 35452♦

•

WARNING: Enabling JFFS bricks the router: "That seems to nuke all the way up to 0xFEFFFF in the SPI

flash."

TheDoc's fix for bricked v3/v4 is here.•

Troubleshooting

Device Forum Thread: https://dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=282831

TP_Link_Archer_C9

Troubleshooting 2

Bricked Router

Symptoms: all the LEDs are ON, and you can't access to UI

Follow these steps:

Switch off the router• Download a complete binary-image of firmware

From the official v1-page OR v2-page♦ From the dd-wrt beta downloads (not tested)♦

•

Rename the downloaded firmware with the following name: archerc9v1_tp_recovery.bin or

"archerc9v2_tp_recovery.bin" if you have a v2 router

•

Serve as TFTP server the renamed firmware on the following IP: 192.168.0.66• Switch on the router, holding the RESET button for 2-4 seconds• The firmware will be automatically downloaded and installed by the router•

Symptoms: after the dd-wrt installation the MACs are changed!

https://dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=282831&start=345• https://www.dd-wrt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1003571• https://www.dd-wrt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1116768•

Recovery Mode