Thread Renewed: Belkin Sharemax N300 300Mbps 802.11n 4-Port Gigabit Wireless Router w/ 2 USB Ports, DD-WRT, Tomato, OpenWRT - $22 Shipped

General Information
User Manual F7D3301 v1 [belkin.com]

READ THE GUIDES BEFORE YOU FLASH!
DO NOT FLASH FIRMWARE OVER A WIRELESS CONNECTION!
ALWAYS FLASH OVER A WIRED ETHERNET CONNECTION!
ALWAYS FLASH USING A STATIC IP ADDRESS!
YOU MUST FLASH DD-WRT FIRST BEFORE YOU FLASH TOMATO!

Quote from K6-2 : eXpansys-USA offers Amazon Payments, in addition to PayPal and credit/debit cards as payment options. The usual sites offer 1.5-2.0% cashback at eXpansys. I ordered 5/20 using Amazon payments (PayPal was borked, for some reason). Received order acknowledgement e-mail within a half-hour. Received shipping notice e-mail with FedEx tracking number the next day (5/21). Estimated delivery 5/23. Reassuring, as I'd never heard of eXpansys. Turns out they have a 6-Month rating of 9.18 out of 10 at Reseller Ratings. [resellerratings.com] 575 reviews. (for comparison, Newegg.com is 9.08 / 10, with 35980 reviews) Link [resellerratings.com]

Flashing DD-WRT
Credits: RonR (FW)

Download these files before you start anything. F7D3301/F7D7301 ONLY!
1)MINI BUILD dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_f7d3301.bin [dd-wrt.com]
2)MEGA BUILD dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mega.bin [dd-wrt.com]
OR
3)BIG BUILD dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_big.bin [dd-wrt.com]

Once you have both files, make double sure that your PC is plugged into one of the four LAN ports on the back of the Belkin router, log into the Belkin router at 192.168.2.1 and set the factory defaults. Once that is done do a 30/30/30 reset (Hold reset button for 30 seconds, unplug power with reset button still held in for 30 seconds and plug power back in while still holding the reset button for 30 more seconds.)

Next, set your PC's static IP address to 192.168.2.8 with subnet 255.255.255.0
If you're using a NOTEBOOK make sure your DISABLE the WIFI radio before attempting this!
How to set your static ip. [howtogeek.com]

If you double checked and it's right refresh your browser at 192.168.2.1. You should now see a CFE Web Browser page that tells you to browse for a file. Browse for the file and point it to the dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_f7d3301.bin file first. Click upload it should tell you that it received the upload and it's now rebooting. *VERY IMPORTANT* DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE FOR THE NEXT 5 to 10 minutes and make sure you don't reset the router etc. Don't wait for it to finish, just give it a good 10 minutes!

Once done, change the static IP address on your PC to 192.168.1.8 with the same subnet of 255.255.255.0

Now open your browser and go to 192.168.1.1 You should now see DD-WRT firmware. Now change the root password make sure you save it and then from the administration tab click on firmware upgrade. Point it to the file dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mega.bin OR dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_big.bin and click upgrade. This will take another 6 or so minutes roughly, so let it do it's job and come back in 10 minutes!

Once this completes you should be in eko's new mega build! Open up your browser to 192.168.1.1 and start using DD-WRT. For those who are going to use this router as a client bridge or repeater bridge, if your primary router is on 192.168.0.1 for example, you need to change the Belkins IP address to coincide with your primary router's network setup, so change it to 192.168.0.2 or something along the same path of 192.168.0.x..

Keep in mind, it takes about a minute for this sucker to boot and even show a first light. Don't worry if you plug it in and it appears dead, give it a while before you see the light come on.

NOTE: If you have problems get CFE Web Browser to flash the firmware (e.g. "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" when uploading), you can also try flashing the ** MINI ** build through the Belkin routers firmware update page.. Understand that even though other users have performed the flash successfully, it is generally agreed upon that it is best to use CFE or TFTP to flash DD-WRT firmware onto this router.. Without saying, proceed at YOUR OWN RISK..

Flashing Tomato
Credits: NickB2B

1) Go here: http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/other-downloads?path=others%2Feko%2FV24-K26%2Fsvn15396%2F

Download: dd-wrt.v24-15396_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_f7d3301.bin

2) Go here: http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/toastman-releases-1-28-7493-4-5-6-7.36106/

Use the Mediafire link in the second post and download the build of your choice (I used the EXT version that has USB and NTFS support):
tomato-K26USB-1.28.7497.1MIPSR2-Toastman-RT-Ext.trx [mediafire.com]

• CFE menu only works when Belkin firmware is installed.
• If you already have Tomato or DD-WRT on this router, use administrator pages to upload factory firmware to go back to Belkin firmware

--Get into 'CFE Menu' Shortcut - Unplug the router. Hold down the reset button while plugging in the router. Let go of the reset button. (Credit to HaloFans).

Keep the reset button pressed in for the next three steps:
3) While the unit is powered on Press the reset button for 30 secs
4) Keeping the reset button pressed, unplug the power (do not let up on the reset button)
5) Plug the power back in and wait for another 30 secs
6) You can now let up on the reset button

Once the router is in this mode you will have access to a special "CFE menu".

7) Plug your desktop/laptop into port 1,2,3, or 4 and set your IP Address to 192.168.2.8 with a gateway of 192.168.2.1
8) Point your IE browser/Chrome (Do not use Firefox) to 192.168.2.1 and CFE menu will be available. (EDIT: I couldn't get it to work with chrome either. Had to use IE)
9) Load the bin file you downloaded in step 1

10) It will take about 5 minutes to load dd-wrt. After 5 minutes I opened a new tab and was able to connect to 192.168.1.1. (I think I had to reset my ip address back to dhcp in order to connect).

11) When logging into the ww-drt interface for the first time it prompts you for a password, I cleared the password just to be safe. (no need for a password if you are going to install tomato over it)

12) Navigate to the firmware upload screen and then load the trx file from step 2. I selected the option to reset the settings after flash.

13) I've seen mention of doing another 30/30/30 reset at this point but I skipped this as I think the reset settings option during the flash does the same thing.

13a) Enter the login: admin pass: admin to login to Tomato

14) Enable DHCP in the Tomato interface. You might have to reset your static IP to 192.168.1.8 in order to connect in and make this change.

NOTE: when cycling power to the router it can take up to 60 seconds before it's "booted up" and the green light is on. Be patient

Now to play around with the QOS settings. Any ideas on optimal settings for VOIP and NNTP?

Flashing OpenWRT
This section is a work in progress.
Patching OpenWRT Firmware for the N300 [blogspot.com]
Dev Discussion [openwrt.org]

Reverting Back to Belkin Firmware
Credits: bennor (FW)

There are two ways to revert back to the Belkin firmware. I've done it both ways. You will first need the Belkin firmware. My router initially came with 1.00.06. First step is to download the Belkin router firmware if you do not already have a copy of it.

Version 1.00.06 (Aug 14 2010): http://cache-www.belkin.com/suppo....00.06.bin
Or the newer firmware...
Version 1.00.08 (Dec 24 2010) : http://networking.belkin.com/upda....00.08.bin

The Easy Way if DD-WRT or TomatoUSB is Loaded:
Easiest way to update or revert back to the Belkin firmware is within either the DD-WRT or TomatoUSB administration page(s), go to the firmware update page and select the Belkin firmware you downloaded from the link(s) above, and then upload it to the router. Wait at least 5 minutes during which the router may reboot one or more times. After 5 minutes, configure your computer with the static IP 192.168.2.8, mask 255.255.255.0 and then log into the router's administration page at http://192.168.2.1. The Belkin status page should then load.

If for some reason the router behaves erratically (especially the wireless connection) do a 30-30-30 reset and go to the CFE web page and hit the clear/reset NVRAM link, then reboot the router.

The Longer Way:

Start by configuring your wired computer for the static IP 192.168.2.8, mask 255.255.255.0. Ensure your computer does not have any other network connection (like wireless) active while it is wired to the router. Remove any other wired connections to the router including the broadband modem if one is connected.

Do a 30-30-30 reset. press and hold in the reset button for 30 seconds, continue to hold the button in while you remove power to the router for 30 seconds, continue to hold in the reset button and reapply power and wait 30 more seconds. The router indicator light on the top front should be off.

Using Internet Explorer log into the router's CFE web page via http://192.168.2.1. Just to be safe I hit the clear/reset NVRAM link on the CFE page before uploading the firmware, don't know if this step is really needed. Select the browse button and locate the Belkin Firmware listed above and select the upload button. You should then be notified that the file has been uploaded (or something along those lines).
Wait at least 5 minutes. The router will reboot one or more times during the firmware update process.

When 5 minutes have passed, log back into the router at http://192.168.2.1 and (hopefully) you will be at the Belkin status page. You can then reconfigure as needed.

With the Belkin firmware loaded you can use the Belkin Setup, Router Monitor Software and Apps program (installed from the CD or the link below) to install/access any USB-router connected printers. Using the Belkin firmware/Apps program I can access all of the features (scanning, fax, etc.) of my USB-router connected HP Office Jet J5700 series multi-function printer.