How to Install BrainSlayer's DD-WRT Firmware on the NETGEAR WNDR3800 Wireless Router

If you have used DD-WRT firmware in the past, you probably have heard 'BrainSlayer" mentioned more than a few times.

He has recently released a firmware update, version number r18777. In this release dated 03/19/2012 there is new firmware included for the WNDR3800.

You can get this new firmware here. I have tested it and after a few wireless tweaks, it is working fairly well. Before you run over and grab it, however, there are a few things you need to know.

The main thing is that if you are running the latest factory firmware you will receive a notice that says "This firmware file is incorrect! Please get the firmware file again and make sure it is the correct firmware for this product." and it will not allow you to install it.

This has nothing to do with the firmware actually working on the router; it is just a check from the latest NETGEAR firmware that fails.

There are a couple ways you can get around this.

One way many people choose to get around this is to install an earlier firmware by downgrading to version 1.0.0.16.

You can also install either the Tomato beta firmare found here or the DD-WRT beta here. Once you install either of those, you can install the DD-Wrt-r19777 without issue.

After installing the firmware you should do a hard reset:

  1. Power off the router. 
  2. Press the small reset button in the back of the unit with a pin and hold it in.
  3. Power the router back on and continue to hold the reset button in for 30 seconds.

Once it reboots, you can then setup all your basic options. You probably will have to setup and tweak the wireless settings to maximize its performance. A good place to start is by reading this article and their suggestions. Although it does give some good recommendations, you may have to adjust things further from there.

Here is how I set mine up.

I found that, for some reason, the Wireless Channel set to Auto worked best for me. Even if I selected a channel that was not competing in my area, auto always seemed to work better.

If you have devices that can connect to your router using wireless 'N' then you will want to set the security to WPA2 Personal and WPA Algorithims to AES only. If set other than AES, you may lose the ability to get the highest speeds.

If you get the chance and don't mind installing a different firmware before installing this version then we would love to hear your experience with it.

If you would rather wait, they do know about the upgrade issue--and it most likely will be fixed in the next firmware update.


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solsidan
solsidan's picture
How is the ipv6 tunnel

How is the ipv6 tunnel support?

Do both the wireless frequencies work?

I am running stock now and I don't think it works so well.

Brandon C
Brandon C's picture
solsidan said: How is the

solsidan said: How is the ipv6 tunnel support? Do both the wireless frequencies work? I am running stock now and I don't think it works so well.

Both wireless frequencies do work. Far as ipv6 tunnel support I don't know. I suggest you give it a try. You can always go back to the OEM firnware if not happy.

Jos???? Luis
Jos???? Luis's picture
I installed mine yesterday.

I installed mine yesterday.
Both antennas are working fine.
It is not getting hot

jl

solsidan
solsidan's picture
I am using dd-wrt now and I'm

I am using dd-wrt now and I'm happy.

 

The ipv6 tunneling isn't easy, but it works.  You have to do a lot of scripts and check around, but it works now.  Certainly not as easy as it is with Tomato.

 

But the gui is super fast and my router has been up for more than a month with no performance or memory isssues.

 

I haven't tested both frequencies, but they work in the gui.  I just don't have a 5ghz host to test with.

 

Highly recomended.  

Eugenix
Eugenix's picture
I installed this firmware

I installed this firmware because sometimes the original netgear firmware stopped to work (wireless connection) and I had to restart.

Now it's ok!

Very good, I recomend it.

solsidan
solsidan's picture
Yes, I agree...stable as hell

Yes, I agree...stable as hell. No problems at all. Handles everything like a charm. I increased the number of possible connections for bittorrent so that helps. No load on the router even though i've got so many connections.

btw, brainslayer has started to put out new revisions lately.
(SVN revision 19342) is the latest from the 8th of June.

ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2012/

Eugenix
Eugenix's picture
solsidan said: Yes, I agree..

solsidan said: Yes, I agree...stable as hell. No problems at all. Handles everything like a charm. I increased the number of possible connections for bittorrent so that helps. No load on the router even though i've got so many connections. btw, brainslayer has started to put out new revisions lately. (SVN revision 19342) is the latest from the 8th of June. ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2012/

But is this release stable for installing?

solsidan
solsidan's picture
Seems good so far!

Seems good so far!  Brainslayer usually makes incremental updates and they seldom if ever cause complications in my experience.

My guess is that he is just making bug fixes and not major new implimentations that could cause a problem.

He's conservative in his changes.  Unfortunately there are no version notes to see what has been changes.

So far so good with this new version.  I think i will stick with it a while.

 

My wireless and ipv6 scripts are still working.  No real change in my experience, but I haven't examined all the menus yet.

BitBasher
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mule64 said: Hi, I upgraded my WNDR3800's firmware to the latest DDWRT. Now I'd like to go back to Netgear's OEM firmware but I cannot revert it. After 7 seconds upgrade process gives error Upgrade failed. Anyone know why and how do I revert OEM back?

 

I assume you are attempting to flash NG firmware using dd-wrt's web interface?  That only supports .BIN files but the NG firmware is .IMG file.

All is not lost.  The unit has a mode where you can restore firmware from a special fail-safe mode on bootup.  You will need the NG firmware file, and a tftp client on your PC.

  • First if you want to "come back" to dd-wrt, make a backup of your settings that you can restore later.
  • Next, turn off the unit.
  • Set you PC to a STATIC IP address of 192.168.1.2 (subnet 255.255.255.0).
  • Press and HOLD the reset button on the unit, and turn it on - keep holding the reset button.
  • Wait until the power LED turns flashing green (NOT flashing amber).  About 45 seconds.
  • Release the reset button.
  • On your PC use your tftp client (in BINARY mode) to connect to 192.168.1.1 and "put" the NG firmware.

It will upload VERY fast, but the unit will take many mintues to re-flash the firmware - DON'T TOUCH IT!  :)

When it is completely re-flashed, the power LED will eventually turn on solid green.  If in doubt WAIT.  If the power LED is not on solid green after 10 minutes, you may have a bad flash or the unit needs a power cycle.

I used linux tftp, so here are the steps I did to re-flash:

tftp
> mode binary
> connect 192.168.1.1
> status   # optional to confirm connection
> put netgear-firmware-file.IMG
> quit
# WAIT HERE until solid green power LED (about 3 min)

Faison
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IP

IP

Faison
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MS

MS

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