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T-Mobile.com has
T-Mobile TM-AC1900 WiFi CellSpot Router (Certified Pre-Owned) on sale for $49.99 - Extra $10 off w/ promo code
CPOROUT (
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$39.99.
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Includes- T-Mobile TM-AC1900 WiFi CellSpot Router
- 3x External Dual-Band Detachable Antennas
- Power Adapter
- RJ-45 Cable
Be sure to apply your promo code while in cart to receive discount. Offer valid for online p purchase only - Discombobulated
Top Comments
(Up to date as of 5/2/19 with suggestions in this and later threads)
How to flash TM-AC1900 to RT-AC68U:
Install WinSCP, Putty, and a file archiver (click this link to download all 3 [ninite.com]). Install the Asus Restore Utility [asus.com], mirror [filedropper.com].
Connect your computer to the *yellow* port on the router by way of an Ethernet (LAN) cable
Check if SSH can be enabled - if so, enable it and jump to step #15
Go to Administration > System > Enable SSH > Yes > Apply
Ezlink: http://192.168.29.1/Advanced_System
Create a folder on your desktop, name it "router".
Download this file [mega.nz] and extract it to the newly made router folder. It contains a firmware to downgrade to, a firmware to upgrade to, and mtd-write.
Download firmware version 3.0.0.4.384.20308 from here [softpedia.com] and unzip the file
Disconnect the cellspot router from the internet if you haven't already
Set static IP for PC.
start > run > ncpa.cpl > double click Ethernet > properties > IPV4 >
IP: 192.168.29.5
Subnet: Default (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 192.168.29.1
Place router into Recovery/Restore mode
a. Hold reset button 10 seconds
b. Power off router (keep holding reset)
c. Wait 10 seconds, keep holding reset
d. Power on router holding reset for 10 more seconds
Go to 192.168.29.1 in a web browser - you should see ASUSTek CFE miniWeb Server
If Mini-CFE webpage won't load, try Chrome Incognito mode, else use Asus Restore Utility (linked in #1)
If having trouble with this step perform NVRAM Reset (see #24) and try #9 again
Flash TM-AC1900_3.0.0.4_376_1703-g0ffdbba.trx from the "router" folder you created (hit the choose button, select the file, hit upload)
Wait for reboot at least 5 mins – WiFi lights on router will turn on when boot is complete
Log in to router (admin:password)
Go to Administration > System > Enable SSH > Yes > Apply
Ezlink: http://192.168.29.1/Advanced_System
Open Putty and WinSCP and connect them to 192.168.29.1 using a admin:admin or admin:password
Tip: In WinSCP select SCP as file protocol, in Putty SSH
In Putty type:
cat /dev/mtd0 > original_cfe.bin
In WinSCP refresh the window on the right side and note that original_cfe.bin is present
Copy original_cfe.bin to a local drive
Download the new .bin
a. Upload original_cfe.bin to http://cfeditor.pipeli
b. Select 1.0.2.0 US AiMesh as Source CFE for Asus/Merlin builds, (1.0.2.5 recommended for DD-WRT or Tomato)
c. Click Download
Rename the new .bin file to "new_cfe.bin"
Through WinSCP, Upload new_cfe.bin & mtd-write & FW_RT_AC68U_30043763626.trx to router
In Putty type:
chmod u+x mtd-write
./mtd-write new_cfe.bin boot
mtd-write2 FW_RT_AC68U_30043763626.trx linux
Wait until the CRC OK message comes up
Perform NVRAM Reset
a. Power off router
b. Wait 10 seconds
c. Press and hold WPS button
d. Power up the router and continue to hold WPS button for 15-20 seconds until power LED starts blinking very quickly.
e. wait 5 minutes
Reset PC IP back to default
Log in to router using 192.168.1.1 and the router is now an RT-AC68U with 64MB jffs
username:/password is now: admin:admin
If router isn't showing RT-AC68U, try Chrome Incognito Mode
Enable SSH (see #14) Ezlink: http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_System
Reconnect Putty (see #15)
In Putty, execute the code for fixing MTD5 partition.
cat /dev/mtd5 > /jffs/mtd5_backup.bin
mkdir /tmp/asus_jffs
mount -t jffs2 /dev/mtdblock5 /tmp/asus_jffs
rm -rf /tmp/asus_jffs/*
sync && umount /tmp/asus_jffs
ln -s /sbin/rc mtd-erase
In the router page, go to Administration > Firmware and upload RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_384_20308-gead790e.trx
This is the file you downloaded in step #6
Perform NVRAM Reset (see #24)
Enable SSH (see #14) Ezlink: http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_System
When going back into the router at this point, it may prompt you to update the username/password, not allowing you to go directly to enable ssh
Make sure you don't forget what you change the username/password to
Reconnect Putty (see #15)
In Putty, execute the code for fixing MTD5 partition.
mkdir /tmp/asus_jffs
mount -t jffs2 /dev/mtdblock5 /tmp/asus_jffs
rm -rf /tmp/asus_jffs/*
sync && umount /tmp/asus_jffs
ln -s /sbin/rc mtd-erase
./mtd-erase -d asus
rm -rf /jffs/.sys/RT-AC68U
nvram unset fw_check && nvram commit && reboot
You now can (and should) flash an updated firmware, such as Asus, Merlin, Advanced Tomato, Tomato, and DD-WRT firmwares.
To flash newer Asus firmwares at this point, go to the router page, go to Administration > Firmware and upload the latest firmware from this page [asus.com].
At this point, for security purposes I'd recommend to either disable SSH or change it to 'LAN only". Also, definitely change both the default login id and password.
Additional Notes:
Yes, step 34 is partially redundant, but this is the way I did it twice and it caused no issues.
If you complete all the steps successfully, but you plug in the router to your network and there is no internet, your cable/fiber modem may coincidentally be on the same default IP as the router is. To fix this, go to the router webUI and on the status page you'll see an error stating an IP conflict which you can click so the router will change itself to a different IP
if you want to set up AiMesh, follow these steps
Feel free to message me if you get stuck, I may not respond immediately but I will try to help
It does not connect to the Tmobile network, and does not require Tmobile service. It will not give you internet if you don't have an ISP. It is just a regular modem, but branded.
Good luck with the conversion - it's not easy but it isn't rocket surgery! (Didya see what I did there?)
873 Comments
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I'm also going to comment that converting these to use alternative firmware is not difficult but it is tedious and can be painful if any problems. Mainly a warning for non-tech folks who could get over their heads if any problems are encountered. I don't want to scare folks, but trying to be realistic as it's not a push button process.
Make sure you're setting the channels for all bands manually and that they don't overlap between your routers. Then you'll most likely need to reduce the transmit power on the routers to something like low on 2.4 GHz and low-medium on 5 GHz. You also want to look for settings like disconnecting on low signal and RSSI minimum. Use an app on a phone or laptop and walk around your house to determine what the optimal settings would be for this. I use Wifi Analyzer on Android.
You can not apply any of the above. First and foremost AImesh uses only 1 channel, so if you have 4 aimesh APs, they will all be using channel 1 or whatever. And disconnecting on RSSI min is like pissing up a rope with asus (even merlin).
Yes it sounds wonderful to think that if you have 3 aimesh APs, they all have different non overlapping channels, and you can tell the software that they are all 15ft away from each other so you can set the correct RSSI, but that doesnt happen...
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Many phones/providers do native wifi calling these days anyway, so whatever that functionality was is irrelevant.
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