Linksys EA6500 V1

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DISCLAIMER
This page, like the rest of the wiki, is not updated frequently. Be sure to check when the last edit was made and read/ask around the forum before considering the details on this page to be accurate


Contents

Overview

EA6500 v1
Specificationsref
Release date / price 28 August 2012 / $199
CPU Broadcom BCM4706
CPU Speed 600 MHz
Flash ROM 128 MiB (Samsung K9F1G08U0D)
RAM 128 MiB (Hynix H5PS5162GFR-Y5C × 2)
Radios 2.4 GHz bgn: Broadcom BCM4331

5 GHz an+ac: Broadcom BCM4360

WLAN Protocal a/b/g/n/ac
WLAN Max Speed 450 Mbps + 1300 Mbps (1750 Mbps)
Antenna Location Internal
Bands 3x3:3 MIMO x 2
Switch 4xGigE LAN, 1xGigE WAN

Broadcom BCM53125

USB 2 x USB 2.0
Power 12VDC, 3A

Barrel type connector

Stock bootloader CFE 1.0.37 BCM947XX
Stock firmware kernel Linux 2.6.22
Default SSID/IP/passwd CiscoXXXXX

192.168.1.1, <blank>:admin

OUI C8:D7:19

WARNING

HARDWARE VERSION: V1 AND V2
This page is for the EA6500 V1. Currently, there are two versions of the EA6500 router available, the V1 and V2. The contents of this page cannot be used as a guide for the V2. If you have a EA6500 V2, check the hardware specific page or the forum for support


READ!
You should not be installing DD-WRT unless you have done sufficient reading on the process, drawbacks and recovery process listed throughout this page and elsewhere


BETA
The DD-WRT firmware for this router, at the time of writing this page was still in beta, so expect things to broken


FILE INTEGRITY
It should be common practice to check the integrity of the files you are using whenever and wherever possible #


Known issues

  • GigE doesn't work at full speeds --EA6500v1 20:35, 21 July 2017 (CEST)

Pre-installation

Read the following before attempting to install:

OEM Firmware files

Linksys Original FW
Version Download Checksum Hashes
1.1.27 Link MD5: CCFBEA9CE39524E35ED2AB4A1683BF86

SHA-256: E2A95AA4133C5B5F28D92FE0543CB5486301BCD83A23BF354A74E3B7FCD5162C

1.1.28 Link MD5:5C8723F9E158A08617B8953BBA9D1D4F

SHA-256: E100D438BBB535B8A4827E26BD7522615B195A80DE8F758D89466C554C976F54

1.1.29 Link MD5: 8E0BBB275331A60D48E45AD2AF0E02AB

SHA-256: 90E3E68E1C61850F20C50E551816D47D484D7FEB46890F5BC0A0E0DAB3E3BA0B

First-install recommended firmware files

Recommended DD-WRT FW for first-install
Version Download Checksum Hash
fractal r22524 Link 1

Link 2

MD5: 4116608B9A1D2616FCF3551C9AF0837C

SHA-256: 64CF74E346549805A3AD13943FB3C15B0F3931A992EB9B60CE6543085AD21552

bs r23082 Link 1

Link 2

MD5: 80FB817C2DAA19BF120F2E86A52171E5

SHA-256: FE295CC120722D77A95A80E9C55C81E2ECF37047567AA1FAB0AE2862573D3FB8

Build from the source

Building_From_Source#Building_DD-WRT_from_Source

Install/Upgrade DD-WRT

Prerequisites

Find your hardware version

Before installing, check whether or not your EA6500 is indeed a V1 and not a V2. There are two ways to do this:

Check your stock/OEM firmware version

EA6500
V1 V2
Firmware version ≤1.1.29 ≥1.1.34
Reference CHANGELOG CHANGELOG

Check the sticker at the bottom of your router

These are what the stickers should say for the two versions:

EA6500
V1 V2 Notes
Model No. EA6500 V1 EA6500 V2
FCC ID Q87-EA6500 Q87-EA6500V2
IC ID 3839A-EA6500 3839A-EA6500V2
Rating* 12V ⎓ 3A 12V ⎓ 3.5A not definitive
Top right logo* CISCO LINKSYS not definitive
EA6500 V1 & V2 comparison


Installing from stock firmware

This section is currently in the middle of a major revamping.
As a courtesy, please do not edit this section of the page while this message is displayed. Thank you!

I've had better success with OEM FW 1.1.27 duing the handful of times I had to flash DD-WRT from stock. --EA6500v1 00:08, 23 July 2017 (CEST)
  1. Go to your router's web interface (usually @192.168.1.1) and log in through the Linksys web page (default password is admin)
  2. Head over to Connectivity under Router Settings on the left panel and choose one of the recommended DD-WRT files under firmware upgrade (bigger DD-WRT files may work too)
  3. Click Start and Yes on the consequent dialog to begin the install process. Once done, your router will restart and the total process should take less than 5-10 minutes
  4. Head over to 192.168.1.1 and you will be greeted with the Username and Password change page on the DD-WRT firmware (the password you choose here will be the password for telnet too)
  5. Done! Check the post-installation section for some useful tips

This section is currently in the middle of a major revamping.
As a courtesy, please do not edit this section of the page while this message is displayed. Thank you!

Post-install to-do (highly recommended)

  • Upgrade to a newer version of DD-WRT after your initial install. Be sure to Reset to Default settings before doing so. Upgrade instructions are mentioned below
  • At the time of writing this page, r32170 was the latest firmware that was stable --EA6500v1 20:16, 21 July 2017 (CEST)

Upgrade from the web interface

  1. Go to Administration > Firmware Upgrade
  2. Select Reset to Default settings from the drop down menu and select the firmware you wish to upgrade (or downgrade) and click Upgrade
  3. Wait a few minutes, do not turn off or reboot/reset the router until done
  4. You should be greeted with a Username and password change page that appears after your first-install

Upgrade from the CLI

  • NB: wget was broken for HTTP/HTTPS links at the time of writing this page for busybox v1.26.x, use FTP links and verify MD5 before upgrading
  • NB: According to the peacock thread, EA series routers should never be hard reset (the infamous 30-30-30). Doing so can erase the CFE (bootloader) and brick your router. I haven't found anything on the peacock thread to suggest the EA6500V1 is not affected by it, and the EA6500 thread seems too saturated to search about it. Update this remark if you have a source to say otherwise/that the EA6500 V1 is indeed not affected by 30-30-30/erase NVRAM
  • I personally have not had issues with either doing a 30-30-30 or erasing the NVRAM via the CLI which conflicts with the peacock thread. Your mileage will vary and doing so is a risk you have to consider. I suggest keeping hard resort/erasing NVRAM as a last resort and if possible try a TFTP instead --EA6500v1 23:28, 21 July 2017 (CEST)


  1. SSH/Telnet into your router
  2. Change directory from ~ to /tmp by either of these two:
         cd ..
         cd /tmp
  3. Download firmware by:
    wget <ftp/http/https link to your desired firmware file>
  4. Wait for download to complete (no progress bar) and check the MD5 hash of the file by:
    md5sum <filename>
  5. Upgrade firmware by:
    write <filename> linux
    Do not turn off or reboot/reset the router until done
  6. [WARNING; READ NOTES ABOVE] Erase NVRAM by:
    erase nvram
  7. Reboot:
    reboot

Restoring to OEM firmware

Follow the instructions to upgrade either via the DD-WRT web interface or the CLI, and use one of the OEM firmware files (select Reset to Default settings before clicking Upgrade)

Troubleshooting

Downgrading to an older firmware

Follow the same steps for an upgrade via the web interface or CLI

Bootloops/Bricks/Recovery

This is the section of this page that may be outdated or may not have the best solution. With that being said, reading more on this topic is always safer and you should be checking the following before proceeding with the instructions mentioned in this section to make sure these instructions still apply to the EA6500 V1:

Recovering via SSH/telnet (soft brick)

A soft brick is when DD-WRT is functioning and when LAN/WAN connection may be fully functional, but you cannot access the web interface and cannot fix whatever you broke or revert back to a non-buggy firmware.

In this case you can either telnet/SSH into your router over a wired connection preferably after setting up a static IP, appropriate gateway IP and subnet mask.

telnet is enabled by default, and SSH may need to enabled separately. Follow the instructions to upgrade from CLI and use a stable firmware that has worked for you or is known to be functional

If telnet is broken/disabled and SSH isn't an option either, then do a 30-30-30/hard reset to clear the NVRAM variable that might have broken your setup. This may not work if the firmware is buggy and broken to begin with. And do keep in mind that EA series routers should not be hard reset as mentioned here.

If a hard reset does nothing or seems to risky, try to TFTP the smallest OEM firmware (1.1.27)

Recovering via TFTP (hard brick; bootloops)

This should never be used as a first step if you've bricked your router.

Follow note 6 to find out if your router is even TFTP'able, and note 11 to TFTP.

I personally have TFTP'ed twice when I was stuck in bootloops and it was possible for me with the OEM FW 1.1.27. Everything else seems too large to be TFTP'ed in that short window you get before the next boot starts. You mileage may vary. --EA6500v1 02:01, 22 July 2017 (CEST)

If you cannot TFTP, then head over to the JTAG section

Recovering via JTAG/serial (hard brick; corrupt CFE)

This section is currently device non-specific and I haven't found anything of much use yet. --EA6500v1 02:01, 22 July 2017 (CEST)

Useful commands, links and scripts

Enable Cisco/Linksys LED

  1. Go to Administration > Commands and type the following in the text area:
    gpio disable 2
  2. Press Run Commands and then press Save Startup and the light will turn and stay on on every time it boots up!

Decrease NVRAM size

Text area within the web interface that is no longer being used can sometimes retain code and occupy space on the NVRAM. Doing the following will allow you to safely decrease the size of your NVRAM:

  1. Go to Administration > Commands and type the following in the text area:
    nvram show | grep =$ | wc -l
    for line in `nvram show | grep =$ `; do var=${line%*=}; nvram unset $var; done
  2. Press Run Commands and then press Save Startup and this will run the command at boot up

Contribute!

If you would like to contribute to this particular page, then feel free to do so or leave a comment on the EA6500 megathread

References

  1. Peacock thread: https://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51486
  2. EA6500 megathread: https://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=162802
  3. Broadcom sub: https://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=1