TP-Link Archer C7 V2 Firmware Updated To Custom Firmware DD-WRT

WARNING FIRMWARE UPGRADES ARE DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK 

YOU COULD END UP WITH A BRICKED UNIT

AND ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR FIRMWARE

This is what worked for me, I tried Gargoyle, then OpenWRT and ended up using DD-WRT

Just to be clear I have no expertise in Linux, but I will show you what worked for me and how went about it.

I wanted to update the firmware on a TP-link router so I could monitor the bandwidth of my wireless network.
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Note that most firmware's seem to default to 192.168.1.1 and sometime 192.168.0.1

You will need to change your PC's Default Ip address to login into the router if your Pc has a Static IP and not DHCP.

Gargoyle version that worked for me : gargoyle_1.8.1-ar71xx-generic-archer-c7-v2-squashfs-factory.bin

Download : http://www.gargoyle-router.com/download.php

scroll down to archer-c7-v2

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OpenWrt version that worked for me : openwrt-15.05-ar71xx-generic-archer-c7-v2-squashfs-factory.bin

Download : https://downloads.openwrt.org/chaos_calmer/15.05/ar71xx/generic/openwrt-15.05-ar71xx-generic-archer-c7-v2-squashfs-factory.bin

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DD-WRT versions that worked for me

Download :

ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2016/01-19-2016-r28882/tplink_archer-c7-v2/factory-to-ddwrt.bin

ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2016/01-25-2016-r28942/tplink_archer-c7-v2/factory-to-ddwrt.bin

DD-WRT supported Devices : https://secure.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Supported_Devices

Firmware's not available in the Router-Database : ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/

Open the Year/Build (in my case 2016 then 01-25-2016-r28942), then scroll down to tplink_archer-c7-v2

Once the Firmware is uploaded you will need to Login with the default IP address of 192.168.1.1 but you will not be able to do this unless your computer is on the same network.

In my case I had to change my Static IP address to the same as the router.

To do this Go to Control Panel, then Network and Sharing center, then change adapter settings.

Right click on Network area connection, then properties,  then scroll down and double click to Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)

Change the Ip address to say 192.168.1.7

Subnet Mask as 255.255.255.0

Gateway and DNS as 192.168.1.1 (Routers default IP adress) 

As you can see I had to change it from 192.168.2.77 network to 192.168.1.7 network so I could access the routers default IP address of 192.168.1.1

  

Now login to the router by typing 192.168.1.1 into your web browser.

Now I needed to change the default IP address from 192.168.1.1 back to my networks address 192.168.2.201 on my network. (Change back to your local network address if needed)

You can now go through and change any other settings, including your wireless security settings.