Step By Step Sky Fibre Working With DD-WRT (TP-Link TL-WR1043ND)

[Apache14]

This is a step by step guide for setting dd-wrt up for sky fiber on the TP-Link TL-WR1043ND.

A few quick things to keep in mind, this guide is mainly for the WR1043ND however most of the sections bar section 2 and the (VLAN2 interface name in section 3) should be relevant to all routers than can run dd-wrt. Also there are two extra measures here than no other guide has covered yet. The first being the MAC address clone (Although not necessary sky could start filtering for this at any point) again for the -V parameter that specifies the vendor line. Theoretically it should be fairly hard for sky to stop these set-ups from working if they ever tried.

Note
This could damage the TP link router to a point where you cannot recover and void the manufacturer warranty. By continuing with this guide you accept all responsibility and accept that the router may become damaged beyond repair. And The creater of this guide cannot be held in any way responsible for any damages

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Section 1 (Preperation)

1.1) Go to Router Database | www.dd-wrt.com

1.2) Type in "WR1043ND" to the device search and select the correct router (1.1/1.4 also works on 1.8 routers)

1.3) Download the "factory-to-ddwrt.bin" to a safe location

1.4) Navigate to your sky routers web interface

1.5) Select the maintanance tab within the sky web interface

1.6) Copy the LAN MAC address to a safe location

1.7) Copy the Original WiFi key (on the sticker of the sky router) to a safe location

1.8) Navigate to Sky Broadband Password Calculator - pH-Mb and enter your details from step 1.6 and 1.7

1.9) copy your ############@skydsl|################ line to a safe location

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Section 2 (Flash DD-WRT to TP Link Router)

2.1) Disconnect you sky router

2.2) Connect the router to LAN port 1 and the mains (do not connect WAN port yet)

2.3) Navigate to the tp-link web interface (192.168.1.1)

2.4) Select the "system tools" menu option then "Firmware Update"

2.5) Select the factory-to-ddwrt.bin file from step 1.3

2.6) Select Upgrade

2.7) Wait for the router to upgrade and reboot

2.8) Log on to the dd-wrt web interface (192.168.1.1) and set up your username and password (keep these safe :P)

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Section 3 (Setting up DD-WRT for sky fiber)

3.1) Log onto the dd-wrt web interface with the username and password from 2.8

3.2) Navigate to the "setup" tab

3.3) Make sure "WAN Connection Type" is set to "Automatic Configeration - DHCP)

3.4) Tick "Use DNSMasq for DHCP" and "Use DNSMasq for DNS"

3.5) Select the correct time zone

3.6) Click "Apply Settings"

3.7) Wait for the router interface to come back

3.8) Navigate to the "Administration" tab

3.9) Navigate to the "Commands" tab

3.10) Enter the below text into the commands box (replacing the "############@skydsl|################" with the one from step 1.9)

killall udhcpc
/usr/sbin/udhcpc -i vlan2 -V "5.27.1a4N|PCBAFAST2504Nv1.0" -c "############@skydsl|################" -p /var/run/udhcpc.pid -s /tmp/udhcpc &

(Note the & Symbol is for a continual command)

3.11) Click "Save Startup"

3.12) Wait for the interface to come back

3.13) Power off the TP-Link router and connect the WAN port to the BTO Modem

3.14) Power on the TP-Link router and wait for 120 sec

3.15) Navigate to the dd-wrt web interface and check that there is an IP address gained (WAN IP in the top right corner)

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Section 4 (Clone Sky router MAC)

4.1) Connect the WAN port (yellow) of the sky router to a LAN port of the TP link router

4.2) Navigate to the dd-wrt web interface

4.3) Navigate to the "status" tab and then the "LAN" sub tab

4.4) Under "Active Clients" there will be a client with a MAC address starting with "4C:17"

4.5) Copy this MAC address to a safe location

4.6) Navigate to the "Setup" Tab and then the "MAC Address Clone" sub tab

4.7) Select the Enable

4.8) Enter the MAC address from 4.5 into the "Clone WAN MAC" fields

4.9) Click "Apply Settings" and wait for the interface to come back

4.10) Power off and then on the router

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Thats it if you are still getting an ip address you can now setup your WiFi / QoS / ect. There is a great deal of information on this on the dd-wrt wiki pages

Hope this helps you all.

[jas0npc]

killall udhcpc
/usr/sbin/udhcpc -i vlan2 -V "5.27.1a4N|PCBAFAST2504Nv1.0" -c "############@skydsl|################" -p /var/run/udhcpc.pid -s /tmp/udhcpc &

Why the vlan2?

[Apache14]

that is the original WAN interface for udhcpc

You can see this if you telnet in and run "ps" abd look for the udhcpc line (Without the startup command set)

[andrewjr]

more comprehensive then mine.

just a question though, what is "5.27.1a4N|PCBAFAST2504Nv1.0" in the command line. the first part looks like the old firmware version of the sky router? what purpose does it serve?

EDIT: ah, its a part of the vendor thing you mentioned. the firmware version of my sky router is now 6.14.1aN_UNI. do i just input that in place of 5.27.1a4N?

EDIT 2: i entered the new firmware number into the command line and cloned the mac address and all is well

also thanks for the cloning guide

[tomthered]

Apache does this improve your connection speed in anyway or is it mainly for the wifi efficiency and extras? I assume it just replaces the Sky router only and the OR modem is still there? But excellent guide and perhaps it could be made into a sticky?

[jas0npc]

where in dd-wrt can I find my connection speed details, on the sky router it was router stats, One more thing where in the router can i change the dns servers, Say if i wanted to use googles 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 where can i put them in the router

[andrewjr]

where in dd-wrt can I find my connection speed details, on the sky router it was router stats, One more thing where in the router can i change the dns servers, Say if i wanted to use googles 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 where can i put them in the router

doesnt seem to be anywhere in the interface to show the sync info. if you have a huawei modem you can hack that and gain access to the sync speed, power info and turn off QoS (let DD-WRT handle it) to gain a slight impovment on up speed

[Apache14]

@jas0npc

1) AFAIK the sync info on the sky router is not from the BTO modem but more from what sky subscription you have (although im not 100% on this)

2) You can set static DNS with in set-up tab under the DHCP server settings within the Static DNS 1, 2 and 3 fields

Hope this helps

- - - Updated - - -

Also

@andrewjr yep changing "5.27.1a4N|PCBAFAST2504Nv1.0" to "6.14.1aN|PCBAFAST2504Nv1.0" without issue. This is just to make it harder for sky to find if you are using dd-wrt.

[jas0npc]

And will those dns over ride skys own?

[Apache14]

It will set the DNS servers provided by the DHCP server to the ones you enter. So all dynamic IP devices will use them over what sky provide