I have just bought a Solwise SAR-600EW. I would like to try your firmware but am having a problem with the "cat /proc/ticfg/env" command and am getting " invalid input at caret".
Also the CPU in the router is a TNETD7300AGDW and not the TNETD7300GDU as in the compatibility list.

Just out of interest I also have a Westell Versalink 327w, the retail European version of what is supplied by Verizon and Bellsouth to some of their US customers, it looks like it came off the same production line as the Solwise SAR-600EW. My Westell has a TNETW1130 WIFI card, a TDNETD7300GDU and K4S281632E -TC75 Samsung memory and a Marvel 88E6063-RJC switch
Any help would be much appreciated.

If the command prompt that you see is something like "cli>", then your are at the cmcli prompt. You need to go to to "shell" - by running the command: "shell". When you get the "#" prompt, then you can run your "cat /proc/ticfg/env".

With both the Solwise and the Westell, you need to run that command, to see what the bootloader, etc., is. And you also need to backup whatever you find there, in case you need to restore the environment later. In order to checlk whether your wireless card is compatible, run this command
The output will reveal much.

The 88E6063 Marvell switch should be OK as only part of it's functionality is used in the AR7 routers.
The Samsung memory is the RAM 16MB. more important is the manufacturer of the FLASH memory as different ones use different programming algorithms (usually either AMD or Intel but even then not always 100% compatible ).

I swapped the wifi cards between the 2 routers and it all seemed to work. I will check what firmware chip the Westell has in it but the Solwise has a sticker on it and I assume you already know which type of chip that has in it.
I have tried to telnet into the Westell but the port seems to be closed?
Will the different cpu in the Solwise be a problem with the firmware?

The Westell firmware chip has the number M29DW323DB on it.
I have not managed to telnet into it so can't get any more info from it.
Any idea's?

From your description, the Westell would seem to be compatible at the hardware level. If it is a SAR600EW clone, then it is probably okay. But there is no way to guarantee that, if you can't get information from the router itself. At the very least, you will need to know what bootloader it uses. If it uses an AMD or Intel flash chip (which is likely), then you should be fine. If it uses the Atmel flash chip, our release firmware will not be compatible. Without further information, I would not advise trying anything with the Westell.

That is an "ST Microelectronics, Inc." FLASH Not seen any reference to it in JTAG de-brick utils so is an unknown quantity and could be risky.

One other way to check the env is to use the PCTool if that won't connect and get the env then DON'T attempt an upgrade even if it does as the FLASH is an unknown quantity then could still be risky.

Thanks for your help on the Westell, I haven't been able to get into any CLI session on it and as it's a reliable router I don't see much point in turning it into a brick, maybe someone in the US may want to have a go as they are two a penny on Ebay (given away as part of some of the Verizon and BellSouth packages).
Last night I loaded the Routertech firmware onto my Solwise 600EW without a hitch, I will play with it over the next few day's but looks like a great piece of work.
Having used the Westell AR7 platform the fimware is completely different compared to the Solwise and Routertech firmware, in the Westell you have access in the GUI to the firewall scripts which can be useful.
A feature of the Westell which I think maybe unique to Westell is the Turbo TCP, which has been mentioned in another post. This is likely to be the one reason I will probably keep my Westell as my main router.
This feature does not work like the QOS in the routertech firmware but targets ACK packets on the upstream side and gives them highest priority to ensure the downstream traffic is not held up waiting for the acknowledgment packets (which happens when there is a lot of upstream traffic). For P2P such as Bittorrent this makes a huge difference. So if you do get a moment to look into it, it would for me be the icing on the cake.

That certainly sounds like very interesting and useful stuff; very useful for home web server operators too.

Here are a couple of links about turbo TCP, it does what it says on the tin.
Of course I am blissfully ignorant of what it would take to implement this feature.

http://www.westell.co.uk/support/downlo ... bo_TCP.pdf

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/hardware/ ... -6000.html

Thanks for the links.



Likewise.

A decision on this kind of thing with respect to the RT firmware is thus entirely up to the development team.

It is very interesting. We might well support it when we figure out how to do it.

Hi,

I see you have a westell 327W second version. A long time ago I got into this. I have an aztech dsl600ew and noticed on the FCC website that the aztech and westell ID's and submission documents were the same. Clearly the came from the same manufacturer with a different branding . Later the documents for the westell 320W disappeared and resurfaced with other ID's and pictures. From the pictures on the FCC website it became clear that westell was using a new board , a newer TI wifi chip and vlan q capable marvell switch. Basicly it had nothing in common anymore with the aztech.
I got a hold of the newer firmware through some support website. The os used by westell is not linux, but some obscure realtime OS. The same as netopia 3300 series.

I think the change of you getting linux on this thing is almost zero. You have a exotic bootloader, a newer wifi chip with no linux drivers and no easy way to recover in case you want to test it out.

But on the bright site, the westell 327w second version has some really nice features. Vlan q, the ability to add a second external modem. WPA2 if my memory serves me well.