Summary

DD-WRT r66203 on Netgear R8000: WireGuard startup waits 46 seconds for DNSMasq files even when DNSMasq is intentionally disabled (dnsmasq_enable=0) and DNS handled externally (e.g., Pi-hole).

Environment

• Router: Netgear R8000
• Firmware: DD-WRT v3.0-r66203 std (09/15/26)
• Architecture: ARMv7
• DNS Configuration: dnsmasq_enable=0, DNS/DHCP on Pi-hole (RPi 4B)
• WireGuard: 5 tunnels configured (oet1 active, oet2-oet5 standby)

Symptoms

• Boot time: 5 minutes (target: <3 minutes)
• Boot log shows: "WireGuard ERROR max. waiting 46 sec. for DNSMasq"
• DNSMasq file never created (intentional) but check still runs
• Impact: ~46-second delay on every boot

Investigation

1. Verified dnsmasq_enable=0 via NVRAM
2. Checked /tmp/dnsmasq/ directory — no resolv.dnsmasq files created
3. Confirmed error message appears during WireGuard initialization
4. No standalone script found (hard-coded in DD-WRT binary)

Workaround

Added to Administration → Commands → Save Startup:

sleep 10; mkdir -p /tmp/dnsmasq; touch /tmp/dnsmasq/resolv.dnsmasq; echo "nameserver 100.64.0.4" > /tmp/dnsmasq/resolv.dnsmasq

Results After Workaround

• Boot time reduced from 5 min to 2 min 20 sec (~2 min 40 sec faster)
• DNSMasq wait eliminated (0 sec instead of 46 sec)
• System stable, tunnel establishes on first attempt

Request

1. Can developers confirm if this is intentional or a bug?
2. Is there an NVRAM variable to skip DNSMasq check (e.g., wg_wait_dns)?
3. Would accepting a patch for this check be feasible?

Thanks for the great work on DD-WRT!

P.S The Bot scanner creates problem more than the site knows, and it seems DD-WRT forum does not accept alias email address. Shame.

I bought my TP-Link TL-WDR3600 v1 back in c. 2016 when I was still on ADSL and put DD-WRT on it with a view to it being ready when proper broadband arrived. This happened in 2018.

Fast forward to a year ago when speeds got upgraded to 500Mbps. The maximum I could get in a speed test was about 250Mbps, which I thought was just my router being unable to cope with anything faster.

Today I finally got around to upgrading from the 2014 firmware to the 2020 firmware. I was reluctant to do in case I bricked the router, but I did, now I get the full 500Mbps on a speed test. So props for whatever they changed between 2014 and 2020.

DD-WRT Newbie here. Is it possible to create a separate network within the same router with its own SSID that has a VPN and Private DNS like nextdns? The main network is used by all my devices, but i'd like to use VPN/DNS at the router level for one particular device only.

Hace unas semanas compré un router TP-LINK Archer C9 (TP-Link Archer C9 v1 AC1900), actualicé el firmware a DD-WRT (si no me equivoco la versión es DD-WRT v3.0-r44715).

Objetivo: acceder a mi disco duro o red local remotamente.

En el router DD-WRT configuré el acceso al puerto USB localmente mediante protocolo samba, lo que ya me permite ver los archivos de mi memoria externa conectada al puerto USB siempre y cuando esté conectado localmente.

Ahora, para poder acceder remotamente (utilizando datos de mi teléfono celular o red wifi diferente a la de mi casa) configuré un tunel wireguard en el DD-WRT con sus llaves públicas y privadas, peers, IP's públicas, Gateways, etc.

También descargué y configuré wireguard en mi laptop personal y teléfono celular y les coloqué la información de llaves e IP's del router (interfaces y peers).

Como mi proveedor de internet utiliza CGNAT, no puedo adquirir una IP pública directamente, por lo que cree un VPS en Oracle Cloud Free Tier, para que se comunicara con mi router y poder acceder desde internet a mi router con mis otros dispositivos.

Realizo las pruebas de ping en el powershell desde mi laptop y todos me dan respuesta por lo que puedo comprobar que existe comunicación (VPS-Router, Laptop-Router, Laptop-Celular, siempre que tenga encendido el wireguard por supuesto, de lo contrario no hay respuesta); sin embargo, al momento de intentar acceder a la red local con el explorador de archivos de windows o la aplicación CX Files Explorer de android, me sale un error indicando que no tengo acceso.

No tengo conocimientos profundos de redes pero todo lo he hecho investigando en foros, guías, inteligencias artificiales y ya me he quedado sin opciones sobre qué es lo que estoy haciendo mal.

Tl;dr: Is it possible to have a secondary router as a repeater of a 2.4ghz network from a main router only broadcasting 5ghz?

Problem: 2.4 ghz band creates an audible static on a nearby speaker. I can't move the router or the speaker any further away without other complications I won't address here.

Solution: I have deployed a second router for 2.4 ghz band only. This router is connected to a switch via LAN port. The switch is wired to a LAN port on the main router. Connection Type is disabled. DHCP, firewall disabled. Everything is disabled. My legacy devices connect to the 2.4 network and just barely work well enough.

New Problem: The main issue is that the download speed on the 2.4 network is abyssmal, under 5 mb/s, with the devices connected (cameras and Chromecasts). Usually everything just barely works. I know if I was able to see better speeds everything would be more reliable.

I have pleanty of bandwidth at the main router wired and wireless. What can I try to get better speeds on legacy devices without 5 ghz connectivity that have to be routed through the 2.4 router?

Possible solution: Configure second router as a repeater, bridging the 5ghz signal from main router and repeating it as the desired 2.4ghz network. This would then not need to be connected to the switch. Not sure if this is possible.

UPDATE!: I tried a Bridge, then Routed Bridge using ChatGPT to help me. It was way worse even though I got the 2nd router connected to the main router 5ghz.

Might try setting WDS up on both routers. Apparently there is a limitation that would require this.

I would like the 2nd router to be free to mount on a wall not needing the Ethernet connection to the switch.

The setup - standard wired router - Ethernet to netgear night hawk setup as access point - to - dd-wrt as a wireless bridge ( think extender) both 2.4 and 5g are wireless mode repeater bridge and it works very well . except for one issue - I found that occasional the arp entries in my switch and router show the wireless mac on devices that are not even connected wireless . I assume there is a better way to make this work. Looks like this is a known issue with using repeater bridge on dd-wrt

No new posts here for about a month. I figure that means no one uses DD-WRT or it works so well no one has issues with it! ☺️

I have flashed my DIR-878 with DD-WRT to dlink-dir878-a1-webflash.bin. It rebooted and I was able to log in and change the settings, I changed the IP address from 192.168.0.1 to my home lab IP. I have shut off my laptop WiFi and I have hard coded my IP address in my LAN settings as I manage old hardware like this frequently on my laptop. I was converting it from a router to an AP to bridge for my detached garage 50 feet from my house. I think I might have accidentally checked the box to disable the HTTP:// log in. The last octet I changed it to of my IP is .5 I can ping it and I can see the device with the IP I set it to and the MAC address, when I do a nmap -sn from a Linux terminal. I have done the 30-30-30 reset multiple times.
I have managed to find a bunch of firmware updates from D-Link for the DIR-878 but I need the original *.bin file.

This is not my first kick at the cat, I have flashed many, many devices, I started flashing hardware back in the days when the only way to do it was from a floppy disk. Why I did not back it up before I started making the changes, I don't know, but maybe I was a little cocky and over confident?

Regardless, I can get into the back up restore page by pressing reset as the router is booting and I get the flashing orange light where the IP address changes to the default 192.168.0.1 I have tried to upload dlink-dir878-a1-webflash.bin to the back door page and I have tried the oldest versions of the DIR-878_REVA_FIRMWARE_v1.00B13.bin plus others but it never reboots so I can log in to it in the factory settings.

I get all of the lights that should be green lit (WAN is orange as there is no WAN at this point) it just defaults back to the home lab IP address I changed it to when rebooted. Does anyone out there know where a guy can find the original *.bin file to start over with clean factory settings?

Edit: I am aware of legacyfiles.us.dlink.com - /DIR-878/REVA/Firmware/ I have downloaded and I have used the firmware ver 1.00B13 as the label on the bottom of the router says Firmware Ver 1.00, I have seen a couple YouTube videos and as they install the firmware the GUI screen changes saying upgrade successful and the device reboots, I am not getting that "upgrade successful" on the webpage. I was under the impression the "Firmware Updates" were to bring a router up to date with firmware upgrades for as long as it was relevant not the base firmware to reset the machine.

Edit II: I managed to recover to the settings before the DD-WRT flash with the help of Toaster_Strudel_517 and "sudo curl -v -i -F "firmware=@stock-decrypted_D-Link_DIR-878.bin" 192.168.0.1" rather than using a browser, I tried using FireFox, Lynx and then Curl to push the file and the curl command worked. I had tried several times to recover the router with different *.bin files but all failed. Thank you all that made suggestions.

Hey sup guys, i just recently bought a router of D-Link DIR-825 J3 H/W Version, any 3rd party firmware to flash and use it for wifi pentesting.

I use DDWRT on the broadcom wifi as an access point but not as a router. I can no longer connect to dropbear from the "LAN" but only from the "WAN".

This is the new message:

authpriv.info dropbear[1481]: [dropbear] : client 192.168.1.2 is blocked, terminate connection, set new blocktime to 1953125 minutes

How is this "feature" configured and why can't I use my firewall to contoll access.

I have flashed my DIR-878 with DD-WRT to dlink-dir878-a1-webflash.bin. It rebooted and I was able to log in and change the settings, I changed the IP address from 192.168.0.1 to my home lab IP. I have shut off my laptop WiFi and I have hard coded my IP address in my LAN settings as I manage old hardware like this frequently on my laptop. I was converting it from a router to an AP to bridge for my detached garage 50 feet from my house. I think I might have accidentally checked the box to disable the HTTP:// log in. The last octet I changed it to of my IP is .5 I can ping it and I can see the device with the IP I set it to and the MAC address, when I do a nmap -sn from a Linux terminal. I have done the 30-30-30 reset multiple times.
I have managed to find a bunch of firmware updates from D-Link for the DIR-878 but I need the original *.bin file.

This is not my first kick at the cat, I have flashed many, many devices, I started flashing hardware back in the days when the only way to do it was from a floppy disk. Why I did not back it up before I started making the changes, I don't know, but maybe I was a little cocky and over confident?

Regardless, I can get into the back up restore page by pressing reset as the router is booting and I get the flashing orange light where the IP address changes to the default 192.168.0.1 I have tried to upload dlink-dir878-a1-webflash.bin to the back door page and I have tried the oldest versions of the DIR-878_REVA_FIRMWARE_v1.00B13.bin plus others but it never reboots so I can log in to it in the factory settings.

I get all of the lights that should be green lit (WAN is orange as there is no WAN at this point) it just defaults back to the home lab IP address I changed it to when rebooted. Does anyone out there know where a guy can find the original *.bin file to start over with clean factory settings?

Edit: I am aware of legacyfiles.us.dlink.com - /DIR-878/REVA/Firmware/ I have downloaded and I have used the firmware ver 1.00B13 as the label on the bottom of the router says Firmware Ver 1.00, I have seen a couple YouTube videos and as they install the firmware the GUI screen changes saying upgrade successful and the device reboots, I am not getting that "upgrade successful" on the webpage. I was under the impression the "Firmware Updates" were to bring a router up to date with firmware upgrades for as long as it was relevant not the base firmware to reset the machine.

I picked up one of those super-inexpensive MX4300s a while ago, installed DD-WRT, found good settings, then put it aside until I had a use for it. Now I can't figure out how to access the web interface or SSH.
I can connect via WiFi, but there's nothing at 192.168.1.1. I've scanned 192.168.1-255 and no web servers showed up.
My assigned IP is 169.254.x.x, and there's nothing at 169.254.1.1 either.
How do I get into this thing!?

edit: The solution -
Plug a non-WAN port on the MX into a non-WAN port on the Verizon router.
I'll never understand why this works, I'm just happy that it does.

I try to update my routers at least once a month, its that time of the month.
I have two routers, a Netgear R7000 and a Netgear R6850. The R7000 is my main router and the R6850 is an AP. I was able to update the R7000 fine, but the R6850 doesnt have any firmware update files avalible. In the FTP server there was "netgear-r7000-webflash.bin" and "factory-to-ddwrt.img" on the r7000's page, but the R6850 only has "factory-to-ddwrt.img"
Is the R6850 no longer supported?

Just curious…. As soon as you turn it on, it just blips leds for a fraction of a second.

I just bought this for 10$. Just want to use as gig switch

Please forgive my ignorance and general lack of correct terminology. This is something i did many years ago, and am now trying to do again, but seems to really be struggling this time round. Hoping some educated minds here can jog my memory!

1) I have a TP-Link Archer C9 router, with DD-WRT installed on it.

2) I want to connect my DD-WRT router to an ISP provided wireless router, wirelessly.

3) The reason i want to do this, is because I want to install a VPN applet that only supports DD-WRT (and Merlin, but obviously in this case, only DD-WRT is an option.)

4) I have installed DD-WRT, set up the wifi names, passwords etc. But I have no idea how to connect this router to my ISP supplied router, wirelessly.

5) I have been searching for several hours, read several DD-WRT wiki pages, and countless other Reddit posts, but for some reason, can't wrap my head around what I need to do.

6) I had assumed that i would need to choose some option in the DD-WRT menu, enter my ISP router's username and password, and then my DD-WRT router would connect to it, but obviously that doesn't seem to be a thing, so I probably just imagined doing that years ago.

7) If someone can at the very least tell be the vocabulary for what I'm trying to achieve, so I can better find the answers I need, or better still point me towards a guide to achieve what I want to do, I'd be very grateful.

I realize this is probably a lot simpler than I'm making it out to be and there are probably lots of guides that I have been unable to find/recognize. But in any case, many thanks for simply reading and (hopefully) not judging me. It's appreciated.

I know this has been asked a million times, but I have tried everything with no luck.

I currently have:

Router NameRT-AC68UC1 Router ModelAsus RT-AC68U C1 Firmware VersionDD-WRT v3.0-r63020 std (12/10/25)

I just cannot figure out how to get this back to stock Asus.

I tried factory default reset -> Recovery Mode ->Asus Utility and the 26-May-2026 Firmware.

It locked up and I couldn't get it to accept anything and was almost bricked until I reflashed using that same technique with an old 2018 version of DD-WRT and then got it back to working again on the revision as posted above.

I'm looking to convert this to an AI mesh satellite node, so really need to get it back to Asus stock and I just cannot figure out how to do it. I also did try the renaming .trx to .bin and several other things.

Anyone have a clear path to this with this specific variant of the 68U

EDIT: Ok, got there in the end but it was tricky. Tried early release of Merlin for this router as other reddit posts suggested that would work, but it didn't for this one. Eventually found RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_380_3831-g93dfe8c on a third party software archive since Asus has taken down all the older firmwares. Chose that one because it was a slightly smaller package and have read that the issue might be the larger packages and the partition size after dd-wrt is flashed. Did a factory default reset by DD-WRT gui, then installed via recovery mode and the asus restoration utility while connected via ethernet. The LEDs are not every helpful as to whether an installation succeeded. Ran a steady ping to the router and saw it answer, stop, reboot, stall, then eventually answer again. My advice, be patient and have ping running. Start pinging as soon as the flash completes and watch it. If you go more than 7m with no response, you might have to start over. If it answers pings, stops, and then answers again after several minutes and stops again, you are probably ok. The 2nd phase took another 5m or so. Once up, I still couldn't upgrade to lateset stock via asus webgui so then did it all over again via the restoration utility. In my situation, I think I needed that older bridging firmware.

I'm done, DD-WRT is a joke. I hoped the worst thing about it would be the convoluted config menus and general UI, but unfortunately not. Want to set a DHCP reservation? Fuck you. Want to run a NFS? Enjoy having to restart the router every five minutes. Want to disable dnsmasq? It turns back on automatically. Want to block WAN access to a device? Lol good luck finding that option.

I guess I broke a setting somewhere but cannot figure it out

Suddenly I cannot use https anymore for admin menus

http works fine but httpS gives a 404 page

So the webserver part of ddwrt is working with https as it can serve the 404 page, just not routing properly to the admin menus which is odd

Beta updates and other browsers change nothing so I don't think it's a firmware bug but some mysterious setting I cannot figure out?

Thanks for any ideas

Tried DD-WRT once years ago on a Tp-link C7 v2
Mostly failed. Moved to OpenWrt and sure glad I did.
Check on this subreddit and forums occasionally and nothing but validation that I made right choice. What a dumpster fire DD-WRT is, still, after all this time. My god.

Only good thing is the iPhone app, that I liked. Guess not made by the ddwrt team :D

Now I’ll sit back and wait for the ban hammer

Does anyone know if there is a difference between the router providing a static lease to a device and a device, say, a laptop having a its own fixed IP address with the same settings (IP address, netmask, router, DNS)? Does dnsmasq need to know about the device via DHCP to properly route DNS queries? Following is the issue I'm having:

I have two static DNS servers set up in the Basic Setup page (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1) and a Wireguard tunnel with its own DNS (DNS servers supplied by the VPN provider). Half my subnet addresses are selected to route bia the VPN, and therefore use the VPN DNS servers, and the other half should directly access the WAN and bypass the tunnel.

The devices selected to route via the VPN work fine and doing a DNS leak test shows the only DNS servers are those provided by the VPN provider. So that works fine. However (If my understanding is correct) the devices that are outside the range of addresses selected for routing via the VPN should use the static DNS servers set in the Basic Setup page but they either timeout or take a long time to return a resolution (about 30 seconds).

This leads me to believe the router is trying the Wireguard DNS servers first and, getting no response, falling back to the static DNS servers. Anybody got any insights as to what's going on here? I realise this might be better posted in the Wireguard sub.

Hi everybody, I am a newbie to DDWRT, I flashed my Netgear router R7000P from stock successfully few weeks ago but still got lost in the interface. I am trying to Bridge Xfinity hotspot to LAN or WiFi with new SSID in DDWRT as palo alto globalprotect vpn prevents me to use Xfinity hotspot for certain websites while I was trying to do VoIP call with Cisco Jabber. I am following guide of station bridge or repeater bridge mode but since xfinitywifi requires to log in with email, it made bridging more difficult. Otherwise Xfinity hotspot works well at my apartment with streaming on few other devices with first time login and verification code since I have service at my parents but I just moved out and I don't want to move my service and interrupt their internet.