EnGenius EAP1300

The Engenius EAP1300 is a fairly powerful WiFi access point that supports Power over Ethernet (PoE). Marketed as a “business” device, it does 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz and is engineered to be mounted on the ceiling.

The OEM firmware for this device is based on OpenWRT and runs a custom version of LuCI. It is thus possible to install OpenWRT by uploading a sysupgrade image in the web UI. Only specific firmware versions will let you upgrade this way though.

1. Download the OEM firmware version 3.5.3.5 (sha256sum: 28840da6ff0a8ddd808a6513af69e12aa3a742cda2251bbb13e28d640db0549a). It can be retrieved on the OEM's website. A copy is also available on archive.org if that file were to be removed.

2. In the web UI, go to System Manager > Firmware > Firmware Upgrade, and upgrade the firmware.

3. Once the device has rebooted and is on OEM firmware version 3.5.3.5, upgrade the firmware as described before, using the latest openwrt-ipq40xx-engenius_eap1300-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin sysupgrade image. BEWARE! You should use the sysupgrade image and not the install image (ipq40xx-generic-engenius_eap1300-initramfs-fit-uImage.itb), as otherwise you will brick your device.

You will need a serial adapter to perform the following steps. To set up the flash memory environment, do the following:

1. As a preliminary step, ensure that the board console port is connected to the PC using these RS232 parameters:

• 115200bps
• 8N1

2. Confirm that the PC is connected to the board using one of the Ethernet ports. Set a static ip 192.168.99.8 for Ethernet that connects to board. The PC must have a TFTP server launched and listening on the interface to which the board is connected. At this stage power up the board and, after a few seconds, press 4 and then any key during the countdown.

U-BOOT> set serverip 192.168.99.8 && set ipaddr 192.168.99.9 && tftpboot 0x84000000 openwrt.itb && bootm

→ generic.sysupgrade

• Browse to http://192.168.1.1/cgi-bin/luci/mini/system/upgrade/ LuCI Upgrade URL
• Upload image file for sysupgrade to LuCI
• Wait for reboot

If you don't have a GUI (LuCI) available, you can alternatively upgrade via the command line. There are two command line methods for upgrading:

• sysupgrade
• mtd

Note: It is important that you put the firmware image into the ramdisk (/tmp) before you start flashing.

• Login as root via SSH on 192.168.1.1, then enter the following commands:

cd /tmp
wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/XXX/xxx.abc
sysupgrade /tmp/xxx.abc

If sysupgrade does not support this router, use mtd.

• Login as root via SSH on 192.168.1.1, then enter the following commands:

cd /tmp
wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/XXX/xxx.abc
mtd write /tmp/xxx.abc linux && reboot

→ generic.debrick

→ failsafe_and_factory_reset

→ Basic configuration After flashing, proceed with this.
Set up your Internet connection, configure wireless, configure USB port, etc.

To use this device as an access point:

1. Disable the DCHP server on the device.

2. Use a network configuration that looks like this:

config interface 'loopback'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
	option netmask '255.0.0.0'
	option device 'lo'

config globals 'globals'
	option ula_prefix 'fd57:4798:2621::/48'

config interface 'lan'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '192.168.1.60'
	option netmask '255.255.255.0'
	option gateway '192.168.1.1'
	option ip6assign '60'
	option device 'br-lan'
	list dns '192.168.1.1'

config device
	option name 'br-lan'
	option type 'bridge'
	list ports 'eth0'

The EnGenius EAP1300 has the following buttons:

Front:

Back:

Inside cover 1:

Inside cover 2:

Note: This will void your warranty!

1. Remove the 4 Phillips 1 screws at the back of the case that secure the 2 pieces of the white plastic shell together.

2. Remove the 2 Phillips 1 screws that hold the PCB to the white plastic shell. Note that those screws are also used to ground the metal shielding to the rest of the device.

Main PCB:

Shielding:

The serial port on this device is fairly accessible and consists of 4 through-holes:

Space for additional notes, links to forum threads or other resources.

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