TP Link Archer C2300

Background

I was presented this router as a X-Mas gift from my wife. For emotional reasons I decided to leave it with me instead of selling and buying something else, OpenWrt compatible. So I started looking around…

After some googling I found out that:

• the latest firmware for my EU version is dated November 2017, no update for a year now.
• it's based on ancient OpenWrt (Attitude Adjustment)
• it listens on SSH port, but there is no console available
• you can connect via ssh without console but with port forwarding - it works
• backup/restore functionality has binary format, not the regular .tar.gz from OpenWrt, so I can't even check what is there

I really like this router due to:

• very competetive price
• dual core 1.8ghz cpu with hardware AES encryption
• decent 5ghz wifi speeds
• built in samba support
• 2 USB ports

My goals were:

• have ssh opened for root access
• launch OpenVPN client (TP Link firmware allows to run OpenVPN server, but not client)
• enable USB LTE modem (currently running on second OpenWRT router with cdc_ether module) using second USB port - TP Link firmware uses it for network printer