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: 

    Lada
    Lada's picture
    Hello, just downloaded DD-WRT

    Hello, just downloaded DD-WRT firmware for my EX6200 but the file is .chk ??? What shall I do with that, because I am not able to open that file. Thank you very much, I am not tech guy. :)

    Kindle
    Kindle's picture
    Are there any latest update

    Are there any latest update on this DD-WRT F/W?

    sheridanrawlins
    sheridanrawlins's picture
    This sounds great, but every

    This sounds great, but every time I try to upload the new firmware, I get the following failure message.

    Firmware upgrade failed. Please check your file.
     

    Any ideas on how to proceed?

    bmrdriver
    bmrdriver's picture
    I'm having the same error

    I'm having the same error updating via web browser.  I'm using a .chk file.

     

    Firmware Version  V1.0.1.60_1.1.98

    Any ideas?

    todd2015ss
    todd2015ss's picture
    >sheridanrawlins

    >bmrdriver

    You must downgrade FW first.

    Let downgrade to old one(V1.0.0.46_1.1.70 or V1.0.0.38_1.1.52).
    After then you can flash any DDfirmware.

    tylercool
    tylercool's picture
    thank you todd2015ss that

    thank you todd2015ss that worked great!

    glitch
    glitch's picture
    this is amazing fast but i

    this is amazing fast but i have questions on advance setup with 2 subnets and 1 subnet just forwarding everything to the other, which is not what i want at all. 

    Is there a forum for our router that im just not seeing somewhere on this website or ddwrt ,which seems extremly hostile to new people.

    zanmato
    zanmato's picture
    Hi all, I have just flash my

    Hi all, I have just flash my ex6200 with this amazing opportunity to let it work as AP...  I'm a newbie and surely not an expert configuring stuff like that and i have a problem and a couple of questions if someone can gently help.

    The problem is:

    The fw version i have is the  DD-WRT v3.0-r27365M (06/18/15) mini and I have luckily set up the AP and it works fine with all wired and wireless devices I have.

    I wanted to mount and HDD (NTFS formatted) on the USB port but I wasn't able to see it in the usb section (following the guide). 
    I read, somewhere in the comments, that only the big release of 
    DD-WRT can mount NFFS file system... but i don't know if this was true in the past or even now.

    Is the mini able to se NTFS? If not is there a firmware version for the ex6200 that can handle NTFS and where can I find it?

    I have also tried with FAT32, ExFAT and ext3 and I was able to see the informations on the usb page:

    Volume name "BAHAMUT" 
    /dev/sda1 mounted to /tmp/mnt/sda1

    but as others I can't see the /mnt/sda1 in the samba dropdown list but only a /mnt/.  If some one can't suggest a solution ti will be really appreciated!

     

    The HDD will mainly store media stuff that will be played  via a raspberry pi conneccted to the ex6200 so the question is which will be the best file system for my HDD.. if NTFS is not supported which is the one that I should consider (other than FAT32) to share these media throughout the AP?

    USB + NAS (samba) is the only way to see the HDD on my network?

     

    Many, many  thanks 
    ciao

    Marco

     

    Joe NG
    Joe NG's picture
    Hi,

    Hi,

    Maybe that I did something wrong but my Netgear EX6200 does not let me upload the custom firmware. Any one can help on this ?

    funforums
    funforums's picture
    Hi guys,

    Hi guys,

     

    I have flashed the most up-to-date firmware of DD-WRT to my EX6200 and I am trying to set up a Repeater with the router of my provider. The EX6200 correctly bridges to the old router, and it has connection; however, as soon as I enable WPA2, devices are not able to connect to the virtual adapter. If no encryption is on, devices just connect fine. Anybody else with this issue? Any suggestion?

    alchemista
    alchemista's picture
    I want to share one Comcast

    I want to share one Comcast xfinitywifi hotspot with multiple devices, but only want to login once to the hotspot.

     

    So, the uplink WiFi hostpot is the public Comcast hostpot (broadcasts as xfinitywifi 2.4Ghz).  I want to connect with the EX6200 to the hotspot, login one time to my Comcast account, and then be able to connect multiple devices to the EX6200's WiFi without those devices needing to login with an Xfinity acount again.

     

    What happens when I connect with the EX6200 is that it connects OK to the xfinitywifi, but then each device that connects to the EX6200's extended WiFi has to login to the Xfinity hotspot splash page.

     

    Is there a way to just login one time (so that the EX6200 is what authenticates to my Comcast account), and then every other device just connects to the EX6200's broadcast extended WiFi, without needing a new login?

    murraykj709
    murraykj709's picture
    Early Christmas post.

    Early Christmas post.

    The 6200 is on sale at staples here in Canada for 89$ its fair for the product.

    I have used open firmware in a routers for years.

    To me it is a good product. It works in my application.

    Stock firmware is fine for most users. It is simple to use. But highly expandable to advanced application with ddwrt. (Small flash size)

    glitch
    glitch's picture
    so a basic question but just

    so a basic question but just making sure.

    Since in order to update the router/extender you have to (my understanding) first downgrade to an old stock and then reflash the newest, however how does this effect the backups i have for the router.

    If i update from the June snapshot to the october (most recent at the time) and then click restore from file will the settings of the june work on the october version or do i need to reconfigure everything again?

    danboy4
    danboy4's picture
    Hi Kong,

    Hi Kong,

    I have just flashed my EX6200 (AC1200) with this version of DD-WRT and am having issues. 

    I have a modem set up in bridge mode, and the EX6200 set up as PPPOE WAN. It connects fine and the wireless works, however I am getting loss of internet access randomly every x minutes for x minutes (eg every 5 minutes for 2 minutes). It will automatically come back online without me doing anything. 

    I ran a 24 hour ping test to 8.8.8.8 and got 35% packet loss. You will see a connection timeout every few minutes for 30 seconds or so (it's random as mentioned above). The ping test to 192.168.1.1 showed 0.2% packet loss so there was no loss to the router from my machine, however I do lose the ability to access the DD-WRT web GUI during these 'down' periods. The WAN uptime doesn't get re-set when I lose internet access. The WIFI signal is not lost either (I get the same issue when wired directly into the EX6200). 

    It is not my connection, as I had a different DD-WRT router set up before this one in the same way, which worked completely fine. 

    Any help would be amazing, I really would love to use my new EX6200 but right now it's unusable. 

    Sheng
    Sheng's picture
    Hi, Kong, how are you?
    Hi, Kong, how are you?
     
    I have an EX6200 flushed with your latest DD-WRT build of August 2016 from http://www.desipro.de/ddwrt/K3-AC-Arm/. I would like it to output maximum stable tx power, and Netgear claims it supports 700mW. I don't know whether the tx power can be 350mW each band. I tried  it before, but the wlan performance was worse. Also I don't understand how the TX power AUTO works? 
     
    If I disable the 5G band, can I increase the 2.4G tx power to, e.g. 350-400mW?
     
    I really appreciate if you can give me a brief answer or efer me to documentation.
     
    Thanks and  regards!
    ammy
    ammy's picture
    Doesn't work at all. Plugged

    Doesn't work at all. Plugged into my computer and the setup screen doesn't come up. OK, I think, I'll use the mywifi-ext.com and mywifiext.net sites that they suggest as a backup. Neither site is live. Just connection errors.

    xxjonathanxx
    xxjonathanxx's picture
    Hi Kong,
    Hi Kong,
     
    I have a question. I have the EX6200 on netgear firmware right now. I was wondering if the DD-WRT firmware will allow me to do the following.
     
    - Connect the extender(ex6200) to the main router with 5Ghz and allow wireless devices to connect to the ex6200 through both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.
     
    The reason is that I live in an apartment where wifi is provided but there are way too much interference with the 2.4Ghz band so it is super slow all the time(since I don't have access to the main router, I cant change the 2.4Ghz Channel). There is a spot inside my apartment where the 5Ghz signal is pretty good so I can extend that signal. However, some of my devices cannot use 5Ghz so I will need the 2.4Ghz.
     
    Thank you for your work!
    casabonka
    casabonka's picture
    Hi everyone,

    Hi everyone,

    Not sure where I have gone wrong - all the lights come up after installing the DD-WRT firmware and I can connect to it via wifi, but there is no internet connection. I cant ping it or connect through an IP address.

    Am I doing something wrong, or is this a bricked ex6200? 

     

    many thanks in advance!!

    mcac
    mcac's picture
    What is the IP address of the

    What is the IP address of the computer?

    use ifconfig or ipconfig.

    I ask because I had the same issue. If it is some 169.xxx.xxx.xxx, it is most likely that ex6200 not giving proper IP address. What I did is placed an IP address to the computer manually. 192.168.1.2 and subnet 255.255.255.0. After doing this, I was able to connect to 192.168.1.1 and configure it using GUI.

    mcac
    mcac's picture
    Now my turn for a question or

    Now my turn for a question or help to troubleshoot.

     

    I have 30Mbps download. Whether the ex6200 is connected as repeater bridge or ap, the 2.4GHz is only giving max of 10Mbps and sometimes drop to 1Mbps. What can I change in the configuration to improve it to even at least 20Mbps. @ 5GHz, there is no problem.

    comeaujo
    comeaujo's picture
    Hello I would like to know

    Hello I would like to know what is the procedure for installing dd-wrt on a router netgear ex6200.

    I succeeded on my r6200v2
    router by following the tutorial
    https://www.myopenrouter.com/article/how-update-your-netgear-r6200v2-dd-....
    I
    tried to do this tutorial on my EX6200, unless I do Revert to factory
    default settings "in the netgear genie, the config erases.
    I can not set the dd-wrt firmware without I need to configure the router ex6200.

    What is the procedure so I can succeed as I can then do with the excellent tutorial following
    https://www.myopenrouter.com/article/how-update-your-netgear-r6200v2-dd-...
    Firmware without I brick my router ex6200. Because I can not find any tutorial for the ex6200 router.

    Thank you very much for the information.

     

     

    willieswonderworld
    willieswonderworld's picture
    Hi,

    Hi,

    Can we do similar with EX7300?

     

    Thanks

    viccolo
    viccolo's picture
    Hi. I download latest version

    Hi. I download latest version but  when i try to upgrade to this custom firmware netgears program doesnt let me. I am on latest original firmware of Ex6200 any advice...Thanks

    BenjaminPond
    BenjaminPond's picture
    Using the link https:/

    Using the link https://itsourcehub.co.uk. How Can I enter to extender configuration again?

    sgapper
    sgapper's picture
    Thanks for all your work on

    Thanks for all your work on this. Just bought and EX6200v2 and can't flashh dd-wrt using dd-wrt.K3_EX6200. Is there an update on this? I see from the blogs that Netgear doesn't accept .chk on ths model? 

    DarkLogix
    DarkLogix's picture
    Any word on if this will work

    Any word on if this will work on an EX7300?  I'm not looking to make it a router just to ditch the crap firmware from netgear.

    capblah
    capblah's picture
    Any news on EX6200v2?

    Any news on EX6200v2?
    Was doing a quick check seeing the good routers at good price, typed EX6200, saw it here saying it could be flashed with DD-WRT (or similar/fork) and hit the purchase.

    Getting the device, I see the "v2" and doing some research seems to be a no go. :(
    is that so? Should I keep it as extender and get another in front of it? That would be a shame, as an extender would be a bit of overkill for me.

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