Netgear R6300
From DD-WRT Wiki
This is only for v1 (MIPS) hardware, which has "R6300" printed on the bottom label. The R6300v2 has an ARM SoC and is not covered here.
Contents |
Hardware Specs v1
CPU | Broadcom BCM4706 |
---|---|
CPU Speed | 600 MHz |
Flash ROM | 128 MB |
RAM | 128 MB |
Radios | BCM4360 5 GHz & BCM4331 2.4 GHz |
WLAN Support | a/n+ac 3x3:3 & b/g/n 3x3:3 |
WLAN Max Speed | 450 Mbps on 2.4Ghz and 1300 Mbps on 5Ghz |
Antenna Location | Internal |
Switch | 4x GigE LAN + 1 GigE WAN |
USB | 2x USB 2.0 |
Power Adapter | 12VDC 5A |
Flashing Instructions
It is good practice to read the Peacock Thread for reference on Broadcom-based routers. It is an excellent historical reference for how these devices work and related processes and procedures.
Initial DD-WRT Installation
NOTE: Read the entirety of this page before installing dd-wrt, especially the Build Info section. Builds marked as "recommended" may be outdated, and newer builds can be used once their "New Build" thread is reviewed. Every build should have a .chk file intended for initial installation.
To go from stock Netgear firmware on the R6300 to DD-WRT:
- Download trailed initial flash (.chk) R6300 firmware.
- KRACK fix trailed build 33772 can be directly flashed from OEM (V1.0.2.80_1.0.59 tested) Do not consider this a build recommendation. See Where do I download firmware? for links.
- Reset router:
- Turn on router, wait for Power light to go solid green.
- Press & hold Reset button for 20sec, or until Power light starts flashing.
- Release Reset button, and router should reboot with much flashing of lights.
- Wait for Power light to go solid green again.
- Disconnect PC from any network (wired or wireless).
- Connect PC Ethernet port to a router Ethernet port (not the yellow Internet port) with a cable, and wait for PC to be configured by router DHCP (which can take up to a full minute).
- Open Web browser and clear cache. (Initiate by holding down Shift and Ctrl while pressing Delete.)
- In Web browser, go to http://192.168.1.1 or http://www.routerlogin.net
- At Configuring the Internet Connection select No, I want to configure the Internet connection myself.
- Proceed through the confirmation.
- Click on Advanced > Administration > Router Update
- Browse to the downloaded initial trailed (.chk) build, and proceed.
- Ignore any message that the update is older than the existing firmware, and proceed to update.
- After router says it is done, wait until it fully reboots and the power light is solid green again.
- This may take several additional minutes.
- In Web browser, go to http://192.168.1.1 and verify DD-WRT successfully installed.
- Reset router (as described above), and wait for Power light to go solid green again.
- In web browser, again go to http://192.168.1.1 and you should see the DD-WRT create password screen.
- Set a strong password, login, and configure DD-WRT.
DD-WRT Upgrade
To upgrade the R6300 from DD-WRT to another version of DD-WRT:
- Download desired firmware for R6300. Recommended: See the forums. See Where do I download firmware? for links.
- Reset router as described in Initial DD-WRT Installation.
- Disconnect PC from any network (wired or wireless).
- Connect PC Ethernet port to a router Ethernet port (not the yellow Internet port) with a cable, and wait for PC to be configured by router DHCP (which can take up to a full minute).
- Open Web browser and clear cache. (Initiate by holding down Shift and Ctrl while pressing Delete.)
- In Web browser, go to http://192.168.1.1 and login.
- Click on Administration > Firmware Upgrade
- Choose File to select firmware downloaded in Step 1 above, and proceed.
- After router says it is done, wait until it has fully rebooted and Power light has gone solid green again.
(This may take several additional minutes.) - In Web browser, go to http://192.168.1.1 and verify DD-WRT successfully upgraded.
- Reset router (as described above), and wait for Power light to go solid green again.
- In web browser, again go to http://192.168.1.1 and you should see the DD-WRT create password screen.
- Set a strong Password, Login, and configure DD-WRT.
See Kong's Wireless starters guide for first time dd-wrt users
Return to Stock
Flashing back to stock Netgear firmware is supported. Use the DD-WRT Web interface to upload Netgear firmware using the DD-WRT Upgrade procedure, and be sure to then reset the router as described in Initial DD-WRT Installation.
Build Information
Please note that all DDWRT builds for many years now are "beta" builds, as development is ongoing. Brainslayer has not made an official "stable" build since about 2009. In most cases beta builds are as stable as and have many more fixes than official releases. It is therefore recommended to use the latest beta build but be sure to review the "New Build" threads first. See Where do I download firmware?
Kong Builds: What makes Kong builds different from Brainslayer? See the from Kong's official Readme. NOTE: The readme was taken down when Kong retired from ddwrt, a pastebin mirror is linked instead.
Kong no longer supports r6300v1 (only v2 is still supported). Therefore the Kong K3-AC 25015-SP1' build is the last Kong build for r6300v1. Kong's changes get rolled into the official SVN repository for Brainslayer's builds. As of September 2019, Kong has retired from DDWRT and will no longer produce builds for any routers.
Limitations
Prior to build 33006, DDWRT did not support accelerated NAT[1] which is required for Gigabit throughput on WAN port for this router. Internet speeds will be capped around 110 to 120 Megabit. This is a non-issue for ISP service providing less than these speeds. For anything faster you would have to switch to Tomato (http://tomato.groov.pl/?page_id=164) custom firmware or use Stock firmware to achieve Gigabit speeds on WAN side.
- [1] Broadcom's proprietary module is called CTF (Cut Through Forwarding), but Qualcomm's SFE (Shortcut Forwarding Engine) was open-sourced, allowing integration including to Broadcom devices (kernel 3.10+).
Alternative Firmware
Shibby ceased development of his Tomato fork in 2017 (on build v140). Since then multiple forks have been made. Latest stable build of Duxa's mod can be found here.
Resources
Forum Threads
- Support for Netgear R6300 & R6300v2 (Be careful as this covers v1 and v2)
- Also check "New Build" threads for R6300 results and/or issues.
Guides
- Kong's Wireless starters guide for first time dd-wrt users
- See Firmware FAQ for lots of important info including general recommended wireless settings.