Transform the NETGEAR EX6200 into a Wi-Fi Router with DD-WRT

Introducing: DD-WRT for the NETGEAR EX6200.

[Download DD-WRT for NETGEAR EX6200 at MyOpenRouter]

The EX6200 is naturally a Wifi Range Extender -- now, it gets a special upgrade using DD-WRT open source firmware. DD-WRT will transform this Range Extender into a full featured Wifi Router.

By default, the EX6200 has 5 LAN ports and no WAN port. DD-WRT allows you to use one of the LAN ports as a WAN port + 4 LAN ports. Since there are differences in features, I'm going to explain a few of the changes when using it with DD-WRT.

In the picture below you can see that once you have flashed DD-WRT, you will have one WAN port, which is port 5 on the router.

The LED with label "Connected" will show WAN status, once it lights up you are connected to WAN either through a cable connection or wifi connection, e.g. Client Bridge. The wifi lights will only display if the radio is online or offline.

 

 

NETGEAR logo is used as diag light indicating DD-WRT diag events, e.g. if you press Save or Apply in the web, this light will confirm this action. The WPS button on the back is being used as radio on off switch. This is useful if you want to quickly turn on/off the radios, e.g. you have defined a schedule to turn off the radio at certain times and it is currently turned off you can quickly turn the radios on in order to have wireless access.

The reason why I think this hardware is interesting to use as a wireless router with DD-WRT are the following:

  • For the price, you will get a router with very good range, most wireless routers in this class only come with internal antennae
  • Good usb storage performance as it features a arm dual core cpu (2x800Mhz)
  • The unit is smaller than other routers in this class
  • It looks damn good :-)

What is not so good about this unit:

  • It has limited flash size and therefore we cannot add all features

Features:

  • WAN Support Static/DHCP/PPPOE/PPPOE Dual/PPTP/L2TP/Mobile Broadband 3G/4G
  • Dynamic DNS-VLAN Support
  • Wireless AP/Repeater/Repeater Bridge/Client/Client Bridge/Guest Wireless
  • DHCP Server
  • SSH Server
  • FTP Server
  • Network Filesharing Samba
  • WAN Traffic Counter
  • OpenVPN
  • PPTP Client/Server
  • Advanced USB Mounting by Labels UUIDs
  • CRON Jobs
  • Firewall with Logging to integrated syslog or remote logging server
  • Access Restrictions URL/Keyword/Protocol Based
  • Port Forwarding
  • Advanced QOS-DMZ
  • Connection Watchdog
  • Wireless Connection Watchdog
  • Schedule Reboot
  • WOL
  • Custom Script Tasks on Boot/Shutdown

The firmware file can be downloaded via this link.

 

 

    Tags: 

    GeertJ
    GeertJ's picture
    Found the latest build ;-)

    Found the latest build ;-) here: ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2014/12-02-2014-r25527/

    Going to install it.

    Thanks again!

    4 days later and after some minor problems i have everything up and running now at fantastic speeds. Thanks a lot!

    Van
    Van's picture
    Thanks, Kong! EX6200 has

    Thanks, Kong! EX6200 has just the range / power on dual-channel I need for my LAN setup.

    I had a d-link DIR-601A set up previously and have 2 publics, but haven't figured out how to get the 2nd public working, which was an iptables port forward ALL to a VM on my LAN. The primary forwards to 28 different internal vm / physical servers / services from the primary public.

    I used to use this to bring up the 2nd public on the d-link in my startup script:
    ifconfig eth1 72.215.200.77 netmask 255.255.255.240

    Can't seem to get the 2nd public routing. I've tried binding it to vlan2:0, eth0 (not on the bridge), and myriad other setups, but seem to be stuck. Since the EX6200 config is different than other multi-wan configs I've seen, I'm not sure, if I need to unbridge one of vlan2's ports; pitch another ethernet cable in, or what.

    I could use the d-link for the 2nd public, but would rather keep it contained in the EX6200.

    Thanks, again for your awesome port! Speed on the wireless devices is fantastic!!!

    -Van

    jretzlaff
    jretzlaff's picture
    Can anyone offer a tutorial

    Can anyone offer a tutorial or link on exactly hwo to flash this firmware to DD-WRT for the EX6200? I haven't done this before and everywhere I look it says to make sure to follow the directions for each specific router, however I haven't been able to find a walkthrough for this unit.

    Thanks in advance,

    JR

    GeertJ
    GeertJ's picture
    @jretzlaff: download the

    @jretzlaff: download the latest firmware on your PC and remember the location where you keep it; connect an ethernet cable from your PC to one of the LAN ports of the EX6200 and connect to it on 192.168.1.1 (Should you use a laptop then disconnect from WiFi first: disable wireless preferably). You then get the option of updating the firmware. Browse to the download location and select the firmware package. You will find tutorials on setting up the router on http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorials

    jretzlaff
    jretzlaff's picture
    I always seem to get hung up

    I always seem to get hung up on the easiest parts... So 192.168.1.1 isn't working to get into the ex6200 interface. A wiki page I found says 192.168.1.250... No go there either. With wireless turned off and nothing but the extender connected to my laptop via Ethernet, it's giving no IP address when I look up ipconfig.

    Just want to get this rolling but stumped with the stupid stuff... Help anyone? I can pay you with free smashburgers!

    jretzlaff
    jretzlaff's picture
    Ps - I'd love to im with

    Ps - I'd love to im with someone if they are available to burn through this quick. Again... Burgers for you time! ;)

    GeertJ
    GeertJ's picture
    @jretzlaff: I am not really

    @jretzlaff: I am not really into smashburgers :-)
    192.168.1.1 should do it. If you cannot get into the interface then try one of the other LAN ports. And sometimes it needs minutes before you are able to get in. Good luck!

    wmarsh
    wmarsh's picture
    Thank you Kong for doing this

    Thank you Kong for doing this. I bought the EX6200 intending to set it up as a WAP, only to find that was not possible. Today I installed build 25697 (downloadable off dd-wrt.com in the Beta folder) and it is working perfectly.

    openuser
    openuser's picture
    Can you still use the EX6200

    Can you still use the EX6200 as a wifi repeater in fastlane-mode (2,4ghz to router/5ghz to clients or vice versa) with DD-WRT flashed?

    openuser
    openuser's picture
    Can you still use the EX6200

    Can you still use the EX6200 as a wifi repeater in fastlane-mode (2,4ghz to router/5ghz to clients or vice versa) with DD-WRT flashed?

    wmarsh
    wmarsh's picture
    I don't know for certain

    I don't know for certain without setting it up that way, and I'm much happier setting it up as a wireless access port.

    However, looking at the configuration screen, I believe you would have that functionality if you set one radio normally, one radio as wireless bridge, and had the two interfaces bridged.

    It works rather excellently in fastlane mode with the stock firmware, so "if it ain't broke" would suggest leaving it alone if that's what you want.

    Kong
    Kong's picture
    openuser said: Can you still

    openuser said: Can you still use the EX6200 as a wifi repeater in fastlane-mode (2,4ghz to router/5ghz to clients or vice versa) with DD-WRT flashed?

    Fast-lane is a marketing name for a technology that has been implemented in opensource firmwares years ago. Thus this is something we had implemented 2 or years ago, when the first dual radio units came out.

    cippolaus
    cippolaus's picture
    error404 file not found

    error404 file not found

    quakel
    quakel's picture
    Hello Kong,

    Hello Kong,

    i'm new with dd-wrt. Can i update the firmware from my ex6200 with the dd-wrt.k3_ex6200.chk? (from the default firmware option in the webgui?)

    and can i also restore the original firmware over the curstom firmware?
    I'm very happy that you create a firmware for the ex6200.

    ROKIMOTO
    ROKIMOTO's picture
    Hi, I installed the firmware

    Hi, I installed the firmware and is working ok as a router but I can not enter to configure the extender using the link http://www.mywifiext.net/. How Can I enter to extender configuration again?

    GeertJ
    GeertJ's picture
    Hi All,

    Hi All,

    Being a newby i am interested as to how to convey this firmware into the EX6200's flash. Should i use a USB-TTL cable, an ethernet cable or can it be done via WiFi?

    I followed the links but none of the subsequent pages provided more info on that.
    BTW Kong, your latest build has moved to a different location on the desipro site, i was unable to dig it up ;-).

    Thanks for doing this great work!

    GeertJ
    GeertJ's picture
    Found the latest build ;-)

    Found the latest build ;-) here: ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2014/12-02-2014-r25527/

    Going to install it.

    Thanks again!

    4 days later and after some minor problems i have everything up and running now at fantastic speeds. Thanks a lot!

    Van
    Van's picture
    Thanks, Kong! EX6200 has

    Thanks, Kong! EX6200 has just the range / power on dual-channel I need for my LAN setup.

    I had a d-link DIR-601A set up previously and have 2 publics, but haven't figured out how to get the 2nd public working, which was an iptables port forward ALL to a VM on my LAN. The primary forwards to 28 different internal vm / physical servers / services from the primary public.

    I used to use this to bring up the 2nd public on the d-link in my startup script:
    ifconfig eth1 72.215.200.77 netmask 255.255.255.240

    Can't seem to get the 2nd public routing. I've tried binding it to vlan2:0, eth0 (not on the bridge), and myriad other setups, but seem to be stuck. Since the EX6200 config is different than other multi-wan configs I've seen, I'm not sure, if I need to unbridge one of vlan2's ports; pitch another ethernet cable in, or what.

    I could use the d-link for the 2nd public, but would rather keep it contained in the EX6200.

    Thanks, again for your awesome port! Speed on the wireless devices is fantastic!!!

    -Van

    jretzlaff
    jretzlaff's picture
    Can anyone offer a tutorial

    Can anyone offer a tutorial or link on exactly hwo to flash this firmware to DD-WRT for the EX6200? I haven't done this before and everywhere I look it says to make sure to follow the directions for each specific router, however I haven't been able to find a walkthrough for this unit.

    Thanks in advance,

    JR

    GeertJ
    GeertJ's picture
    @jretzlaff: download the

    @jretzlaff: download the latest firmware on your PC and remember the location where you keep it; connect an ethernet cable from your PC to one of the LAN ports of the EX6200 and connect to it on 192.168.1.1 (Should you use a laptop then disconnect from WiFi first: disable wireless preferably). You then get the option of updating the firmware. Browse to the download location and select the firmware package. You will find tutorials on setting up the router on http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorials

    jretzlaff
    jretzlaff's picture
    I always seem to get hung up

    I always seem to get hung up on the easiest parts... So 192.168.1.1 isn't working to get into the ex6200 interface. A wiki page I found says 192.168.1.250... No go there either. With wireless turned off and nothing but the extender connected to my laptop via Ethernet, it's giving no IP address when I look up ipconfig.

    Just want to get this rolling but stumped with the stupid stuff... Help anyone? I can pay you with free smashburgers!

    jretzlaff
    jretzlaff's picture
    Ps - I'd love to im with

    Ps - I'd love to im with someone if they are available to burn through this quick. Again... Burgers for you time! ;)

    GeertJ
    GeertJ's picture
    @jretzlaff: I am not really

    @jretzlaff: I am not really into smashburgers :-)
    192.168.1.1 should do it. If you cannot get into the interface then try one of the other LAN ports. And sometimes it needs minutes before you are able to get in. Good luck!

    wmarsh
    wmarsh's picture
    Thank you Kong for doing this

    Thank you Kong for doing this. I bought the EX6200 intending to set it up as a WAP, only to find that was not possible. Today I installed build 25697 (downloadable off dd-wrt.com in the Beta folder) and it is working perfectly.

    openuser
    openuser's picture
    Can you still use the EX6200

    Can you still use the EX6200 as a wifi repeater in fastlane-mode (2,4ghz to router/5ghz to clients or vice versa) with DD-WRT flashed?

    openuser
    openuser's picture
    Can you still use the EX6200

    Can you still use the EX6200 as a wifi repeater in fastlane-mode (2,4ghz to router/5ghz to clients or vice versa) with DD-WRT flashed?

    wmarsh
    wmarsh's picture
    I don't know for certain

    I don't know for certain without setting it up that way, and I'm much happier setting it up as a wireless access port.

    However, looking at the configuration screen, I believe you would have that functionality if you set one radio normally, one radio as wireless bridge, and had the two interfaces bridged.

    It works rather excellently in fastlane mode with the stock firmware, so "if it ain't broke" would suggest leaving it alone if that's what you want.

    Kong
    Kong's picture
    openuser said: Can you still

    openuser said: Can you still use the EX6200 as a wifi repeater in fastlane-mode (2,4ghz to router/5ghz to clients or vice versa) with DD-WRT flashed?

    Fast-lane is a marketing name for a technology that has been implemented in opensource firmwares years ago. Thus this is something we had implemented 2 or years ago, when the first dual radio units came out.

    Howard B
    Howard B's picture
    Hi Kong,

    Hi Kong,
    I installed the K3 revision and have sorta lost comms with the EX6200. I had it on 192.168.2.x domain hardwired to install. It sends wireless out on 192.168.1.x now. If I connect a laptop directly to it, the approriate connection light illuminates, but I cannot see it at all. Any idea?

    Howard

    wmarsh
    wmarsh's picture
    Enetty, I have not reverted

    Enetty, I have not reverted to stock firmware, nor will I do so until Netgear supports Access Point mode, which is what I am using my EX6200 for.

    However, Kong has posted "all official dd-wrt builds support flashing back to netgear" http://www.myopenrouter.com/forum/thread/54558/What-is-the-recommended-w...

    So I think all you need to do is download the stock firmware from Netgear
    http://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-range-extenders/EX6...

    And then flash it using the dd-wrt GUI.

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