From DD-WRT Wiki

[edit] Hardware Specifications

[edit] Flashing Instructions

[edit] Prerequisites

1. Download the factory-to-ddwrt.bin file (or the factory-to-ddwrt-us.bin if the router was bought in the US) from the tplink_tl-wdr4300v1 folder.
   See Where do I download firmware? for links.
2. Optional: Download tl-wdr4300v1-webrevert.rar in case you need to restore to stock firmware.

[edit] Procedure

1. Remove Ethernet cable from the WAN port on the router.
2. Perform a factory reset. With the Router powered on, press and hold the WPS/Reset button (approximately 8 seconds) until the SYS LED becomes quick-flash from slow-flash. And then release the button and wait for the Router to reboot to its factory default settings.
3. Using Internet Explorer and a PC connected via Ethernet, flash factory_to_dd-wrt.bin using the web interface.
4. Confirm the router has rebooted by visiting http://192.168.1.1 and you should see the dd-wrt gui now
5. Set user/password (or just type root / admin), and click enter.
6. Perform a reset to factory defaults of dd-wrt in the gui under the admin tab>factory defaults.
7. After the router has finished rebooting, visit http://192.168.1.1 to setup your preferences.

[edit] Upgrading DD-WRT

1. Download the tl-wdr4300-webflash.bin file (or the tl-wdr4300_us-webflash.bin if the router was bought in the US) from the tplink_tl-wdr4300v1 folder.
   See Where do I download firmware? for links.To upgrade dd-wrt use the appropriate webupgrade file.
2. Go to 192.168.1.1, then navigate to the Administration -> Firmware Upgrade tab
3. Select the previously downloaded webflash.bin file and clicK "Upgrade".
4. After the router has finished rebooting, click "Continue" if it doesn't automatically redirect you to the Setup -> Basic Setup page.

[edit] Multiple VLAN and SSID Configuration

NOTE: This section is deprecated on newer releases, most everything can be done via the webUI in the Setup -> Switch Config and Setup -> Networking tabs

Interfaces and VLAN names

To properly configure multiple bridges and multiple VLANs it's necessary to get the interfaces names and port IDs right. The confusing thing is that there are three different naming schemes present:

• 1st the printed labels on the chassis
• 2nd the labels used in the web frontend
• 3rd the names used on the CLI

Since most of the Layer 2 (switching and bridging) features are only configurable through the CLI the diagram and the following descriptions refer to the names used in the CLI. Once configured properly though the CLI the names appear in the WEB frontend as well.

The 4300 has a powerful 5 Port Switch which is capable to use the ports in tagged mode (802.1Q) as well as port based VLAN mode. Even mixed mode is possible.

The default configuration as seen in the diagram shows the following interfaces:

ath0

the radio for 2,4 GHz - is not used as layer 3 interface (has no ip-address).

ath1

the radio for 5 GHz - is not used as layer 3 interface (has no ip-address).

eth0

the interface on which the switch is connected - is not used as layer 3 interface (has no ip-address). This interface is also used to configure the switch using the swconfig command.

vlan1

the logical interface that represents the LAN - is not used as layer 3 interface (has no ip-address).

vlan2

the logical interface that represents the WAN

br0

the logical interface for the complete LAN. This is the interface has the LAN-IP-Address.

If you configure additional SSIDs they will be named ath0.1 or ath1.1 depending of the radio. If you decided to "add the WAN Port to the LAN Switch" the vlan2 interface will be added to the bridge br0.

to properly configure the Layer 2 environment you will need the following commands:

ifconfig

to view or alter interface settings (up/down) as well as IP-Adress Configuration

swconfig

to configure the built-in switch.

vconfig

to add additional vlans

brctl

to configure the logical switch (or bridge)

[edit] Howto/Example: Additional SSID bridged to a tagged VLAN

Let's say you want to use your TL-WDR4300 as a multi SSID parallel band access point. You've already got two IP-Networks (Internal and Guest) up and running. Internal network has no VLAN-ID (is untagged) and the guest network has the VLAN ID 6. Both networks arrive on a cable that are connected to the port labelled "Port 1" on the Chassis.

• you add an additional SSID on both radios. This will give you two additional interfaces ath0.1 and ath1.1
• Next you configure the built-in switch to accept a vlan 6:

swconfig dev eth0 set enable_vlan 6

• Next you tell the switch to add the ports to the cpu (0) and the "Port1" (2) to vlan6 in tagged mode:

swconfig dev eth0 vlan 6 set ports "0t 2t"
swconfig dev eth0 set apply

• Next you crate a "Vlan 6" on the eth0 Interface

vconfig add eth0 6

• Next you need to connect all the interfaces together in one new bridge:

brctl addbr br1
brctl addif br1 vlan6
brctl addif br1 ath0.1
brctl addif br1 ath1.1

• just to make sure eveything is up:

ifconfig br1 up
ifconfig ath0.1 up
ifconfig ath1.1 up
ifconfig vlan6 up

Since this configuration is based on the CLI you have to use the "Administration->Commands" Tab in the web GUI to save your script as a startup script.

[edit] How to replace OpenWrt with DD-WRT

See Where do I download firmware? for links.

1. Set up an HTTP server.
2. Download the firmware file "/tplink_tl-wdr4300v1/factory-to-ddwrt.bin" from the build folder, and save the firmware file to the root of the public web server folder. You must use the "factory-to-ddwrt.bin" file when writing with mtd. Do not use the "tl-wdr4300-webflash.bin" file, which will brick your router.
3. Login by SSH.
4. View the partitions.

   cat /proc/mtd

5. Verify that you have a "firmware" partition for mtd to write.
6. You must download the firmware file in the "/tmp" directory.

   cd /tmp

   wget http://192.168.1.100/factory-to-ddwrt.bin

7. Write the firmware.

   mtd -r write /tmp/factory-to-ddwrt.bin firmware

[edit] Restoring Stock Firmware

1. Download tl-wdr4300v1-webrevert.rar from the router database.
2. Download latest stock firmware
3. Browse to http://192.168.1.1
4. Browse to Administration -> Firmware Upgrade.
5. Select the extracted tl-wdr4300v1-webrevert.bin and click the Upgrade button.
6. After the router reboots, browse to http://192.168.0.1 and login with admin/admin.
7. Browse to System Tools -> Firmware Upgrade.
8. Select the firmware file you chose in step 2 and click Upgrade.
9. Browse to System Tools -> Factory Defaults and click the Restore button.

[edit] Useful Links

How to unbrick the TL-WDR4300

General support forum thread