TP-Link WR740N OpenWrt Backfire 10.03 Kismet Drone Server

This is a memo for flashing the OpenWRT Backfire 10.03 on the TP-Link WR740N v2.4 wireless router and running Kismet Drone on it.

1. Hardware spec.

Model: TP-Link WR740N ver 2.4

Please see the specifications from TP-Link’s official website:

http://www.tp-link.com/products/productDetails.asp?class=&content=spe&pmodel=TL-WR740N

This is a really good choice for those who want to play OpenWRT or even DD-WRT, the cheapest wireless router in the market that support fully Linux base that only costs you about 12US$ or 500Php in the Philippines.

2. OpenWRT

2.1 Installation

From OpenWRT’s wiki [http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr740n], ver 1.1 was tested successfully. I have tested that the image file (which is based on backfire 10.03) in the trunk [http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr740n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin] works like a charm on the one (ver2.4) I bought. The easiest way to flash the WR740N with Backfire 10.03 is: 1) download the image file from the URL mentioned before, 2) use TP-Link’s original web interface to upload a firmware to load the downloaded image file, 3) wait for a couple of minutes, then you are done.

2.2 Configuration

a. the Web based management interface

The image file doesn’t include the uhttpd and luci package for the web management. If needed, one might use the following command to install it online:

• #opkg update
• # opkg install uhttpd
• #opkg install luci

b. How to put the WiFi into client mode

Refer to http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/routedclient

Basically, two files need to be modified:

• /etc/config/wireless
• /etc/config/network

3. Kismet Drone

Since the storage on the WR740N route is extremely limited, it is a good idea to run the Kismet in the Drone mode on the WR740N router, and running the Kismet Server and Client on a Linux PC.

To install the kismet drone:

#opkg install kismet_drone

To configure the Kismet drone:

• # vim /etc/kismet/kismet_drone.conf
• ncsource=wlan0
• dronelisten=tcp://the-ip-addr-of-the-interface-that-connects-to-your-linux-pc:2502
• droneallowedhosts=the-ip-addr-of-your-linux-pc

4. Kismet Server on the Linux PC

Change the following configurations:

ncsource=drone,the-ip-of-the-interface-of-the-tplink-router-that-connects-to-your-linux-pc,port=2502