Linksys E2500 Wireless Routers Instruction Manual

Linksys E2500 Wireless Routers

Product Information

Specifications

• CPU: Broadcom BCM5358UB0 (BCM5358x)
• CPU Speed: 300 MHz (v3: 500 MHz)
• Flash ROM: 8 MB (v3: 16 MB)
• RAM: 64 MB
• 2.4 GHz Radio: b/g/n (native)
• *5 GHz Radio:** a/n (BCM43236, USB2.0 interface)
• WLAN Max Speed: 300 Mbps (each radio: N600)
• Antenna Location: Internal
• MIMO Config: 2T x 2R
• Switch: 4x 10/100 LAN + 1 10/100 WAN

FAQ

Q: Can I revert back to the OEM firmware after flashing DD-WRT?

• A: With the specific build mentioned in the user manual, it is not easy to revert back to the OEM firmware. Please refer to this thread in the broadcom forum for instructions, but be careful as these commands can potentially brick your router if not executed properly.

Q: What is the maximum speed supported by each radio?

• A: Each radio supports a maximum speed of 300 Mbps, resulting in a total maximum speed of N600 (300 Mbps for each radio).

Product Usage Instructions

Flashing Instructions for the E2500

1. Read the Peacock Announcement carefully.
2. Disconnect all cables and wireless clients.
3. Do a hard reset using the small button on the bottom. Not the back.
4. Connect a LAN cable to the PC doing the flash.
5. Log into Linksys Web Interface Firmware Upgrade page at 192.168.1.1, click on the continue with an open and unsecured network, put root for your username and admin for your password, go to the administration/firmware Upgrade tab, and flash the firmware E2500 Trailed Mini Initial Flash Build.
6. MAKE SURE THE FIRMWARE YOU ARE FLASHING HAS E2500 IN THE NAME!
7. Wait 5 minutes to assure flash integrity.
8. Power cycle by unplugging E2500 for 10 seconds.
9. Plug E2500 back in and wait about 3 minutes until it finishes booting.
10. Do a hard reset using the small button on the bottom. Not the back.
11. Wait 3 minutes and log into web interface.

Flashing Hardware Version 2

The initial flash with the trailed build works the same with v2 hardware as it does with v1, despite the trailed build not indicating a version in the ftp site. There is no difference using dd-wrt on v2 versus v1.

Flashing Hardware Version 2.1 (E2500-RU)

• There is a Russian model E2500-RU, hardware version v2.1.
• It has been reported that one can hexedit the first four bytes of the E2500v1 trailed build’s header from E25X to 25RU, to allow flashing to DD-WRT.

Flashing Hardware Version 3

Fractal ported an unofficial 23569 E2500v3 build for initial flashing, which can be found in this thread. Otherwise follow the instructions above. Many have reported success with flashing K3X build 26947 mega after Fractal’s initial flash. There is no official initial flash, but other builds can be modified (not supported): The first four bytes change from ’45 32 35 58′ to ’32 35 56 33′

You cannot easily revert back to OEM firmware with this build. See this thread in the broadcom forum, but please be careful in following the steps. These are dangerous commands that can brick your router if you are not careful or do not wait long enough: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=283212

Build Information

This unit was supported with build 18946 or greater, for the v1 and v2 hardware, this means you cannot use a build with a number lesser than 18946, also avoid the test builds within the E2500 forum thread and the builds linked in the dd-wrt router database as they are known to cause a reboot loop.

Known Limitations: The 5 GHz radio does not function* on this device when running dd-wrt because the 5 GHz radio USB interface (not PCI) ‘brcmfmac’ driver does not support the BCM43236 rev2 chip, only the rev3 ‘B’ variant.

Hardware Information

***** See ‘Known Limitations’

Flashing instructions

Flashing instructions for the E2500

Initial flash requires the mini trailed build (with E2500 in the file name).
Upgrades require the nv60k or trailed E2500 builds, or the router may brick.

1. Read the Peacock Announcement carefully.
2. Disconnect all cables and wireless clients.
3. Do a hard reset using the small button on the bottom. Not the back
4. Connect a LAN cable to the PC doing the flash.
5. Log into Linksys Web Interface Firmware Upgrade page at 192.168.1.1, click on the “continue with an open and unsecured network”, put “root” for your username and “admin” for your password, go to the administration/firmware Upgrade tab, and flash the firmware E2500 Trailed Mini Initial Flash Build
   • MAKE SURE THE FIRMWARE YOU ARE FLASHING HAS E2500 IN THE NAME!
6. Wait 5 minutes to assure flash integrity.
7. Power cycle by unplugging E2500 for 10 seconds.
8. Plug E2500 back in and wait about 3 minutes until it finishes booting.
9. Do a hard reset using the small button on the bottom. Not the back
10. Wait 3 minutes and log into web interface.

• After the initial flash, you can flash a build with more features like K2.6 nv60k big or mega, or a K3X mega (E2500 or nv60k) build. Builds after 33772 have the KRACK fix, and K3X has SFE accelerated NAT.
  • Flashing build K3X 33772 Mega has been tested successfully. Do not consider this a recommendation.
  • Flashing build K2.6 47090 Mega has also been tested successfully. Do not consider this a recommendation.
  • See Where do I download firmware in the FAQ. Example build thread: NEW BS Build 11-16-2017-33772· ¨
• Before flashing, ensure V1 or V2 builds are 7995392 bytes or less, or you risk bricking.

Flashing hardware version 2

The initial flash with the trailed build works the same with v2 hardware as it does with v1, despite the trailed build not indicating a version in the ftp site. There is no difference using dd-wrt on v2 versus v1.

Hardware version 2.1 (E2500-RU)

There is a Russian model E2500-RU, hardware version v2.1. It has been reported that one can hexedit the first four bytes of the E2500v1 trailed build’s header from “E25X” to “25RU”, to allow flashing to DD-WRT.

Flashing hardware version 3

Fractal ported an unofficial 23569 E2500v3 build for initial flashing, which can be found in this thread. Otherwise follow the instructions above. Many have reported success with flashing K3X build 26947 mega after Fractal’s initial flash. There is no official initial flash, but other builds can be modified (not supported):

• Initial flash conversion involves hex editing a e2500.bin file to change the string E25X to 25V3
  • The first four bytes change from ’45 32 35 58′ to ’32 35 56 33′

You cannot easily revert back to OEM firmware with this build. See this thread in the broadcom forum, but please be careful in following the steps. These are dangerous commands that can brick your router if you are not careful or do not wait long enough: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=283212

Build information

This unit was supported with build 18946 or greater, for the v1 and v2 hardware, this means you cannot use a build with a number lesser than 18946, also avoid the test builds within the E2500 forum thread and the builds linked in the dd-wrt router database as they are known to cause a reboot loop.

Known limitations

The 5 GHz radio does not function* on this device when running dd-wrt because the 5 GHz radio USB interface (not PCI) ‘brcmfmac’ driver does not support the BCM43236 rev2 chip, only the rev3 ‘B’ variant.

Note: Shibby and Advanced Tomato support the 5 GHz radio, but it is unstable.

If you get an “upgrade failed” message and are sure you followed the instructions exactly, first verify you are not trying to flash v1/v2 firmware on a v3 router (or vice versa), and then try a different browser.

Overclocking

The BCM5358UB0 has many configurations that run up to 530 MHz, including the E2500v3 which runs at 500. The 5358 shares the 20MHz PLL (NVRAM: xtalfreq=20000) table for the 5357 (pll20mhz_table), from which the first three settings reference the ‘clkfreq’ parameter. However, the v1 hardware CFE is locked to 300 MHz.

Reverting to stock firmware

It has been asked about: “how do i revert back to stock firmware?” and the answer is download the stock firmware image from the manufacturer’s website, reset the router back to defaults using a 30-30-30 hard reset, then flash the stock image from within the dd-wrt webgui. After 5 minutes it should finish, you will then need to do another 30-30-30 reset and then access the stock webgui @ 192.168.1.1 The v3 model might require that you use tftp. See note 11 of the peacock announcement for further guidance.

References

• DD-WRT :: View topic - E2500 V3 Revert to Linksys?

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