Saturday 19 January 2013


Looking for English interface for your TP-Link TL-WR703N router?  The wait is over.

Disclaimer  : Before u go ahead with the steps, let me make it clear that I am not responsible for any bricked devices so please do it at your own risk.
I’ve tried my best to make it as easy as possible  to understand and follow but if u still have any query u can leave comments.

It works with v1.5 and v1.6 (these have been tested).
See pic below to find out which version of router you've got.



Pre-requisites : 
LAN/RJ-45 cable (u don’t want to flash your router wirelessly huh!!)
New bin File… Click here to download
WinRAR or 7Zip or any other software to extract the files.

Known issues:
Since we are flashing modded bin of TL-WR3020 to TL-WR703N(both have the same hardware except number of LED's) the only issue till date is that LED won’t blink when connected through a DSL modem but that doesn’t affect the functionality(I don’t think that’s a deal breaker as you r gonna get an English interface) and who keeps looking at the LED all the time?

LED works just fine if you use it with any USB dongle and Of course you always have the option to go back to the stock firmware.


Procedure : 
1- First extract the zip file you just downloaded.
2- Connect ur router to ur computer through a LAN/RJ-45 cable, 
3- Open your web browser(preferably Internet Explorer). In the address bar type 192.168.1.1 and hit enter.
Username : admin
Password : admin
4- Now you need to select the bin file for flashing.
How to know where to click to select the bin file? Check screenshot below(Click on image to enlarge).


Click on appropriate options as shown above and select upload bin fine and click on OK
Wait for 2-3 minutes, router will auto restart Just wait n watch you’ll have the English interface in front of you.

If after flashing you are not able to access your router using the default IP(192.168.1.1) then access it using IP - 192.168.0.254

Do NOT turn off the power or remove the Ethernet cable during the upgrade process 

Not happy with the new interface? Wanna go back to old Chinese interface?
Click here and download the Original bin and simply follow the aforesaid instructions to flash n you’ll have the old interface back.

Hope it helps...Please don't forget to leave Comments

Happy Flashing :)




86 comments:

  1. Download link to Chinese original bin is dead.
    Please upload it again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Link restored... Thanks for informing :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi
    I have just ordered a wr703n and will try to upgrade firmware when it arrives.
    Thanks for the firmware updates.
    I did a binary compare against TL-WR3020 mr3020nv1_en_3_12_11_up(120320) and found changes at beginning like 3020 to 703
    What version of 703n does the reversal firmware reverse too, as I couldn't find a good match in 703n stock firmwares.

    Thanks
    Ed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As far as i remember its v1.6

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Thanks for the clear instructions.

    However more clarity on the rationale behind the process would be very helpful so as to understand what is happening and why.

    For example why does the 3020 bin have to be modded? Afterwards can official unmodded TP-Link 3020 firmware be applied as and when? (e.g.as more 4G modem support updates come along)
    If not then what?

    Hope you can help ;=) Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't tried as i never needed it, but a friend of mine successfully updated with unmodded 3020 firmware.. so if u wish u can give it a try.

      Delete
    2. Hi Thanks for reply. Ok I'll rephrase the questions.

      1) What are the mods to the 3020 bin?

      2) If your friend uses unmodded 3020 bin(s) then why bother with modded ones?

      Delete
    3. your questions has been answered by DJSmiley in the last comment :)

      Delete
  7. This bricked my TL-WR703N, I have HW v1.6, any way to recover it? During power up, LED lights for a second, goes out and then flash’s very quickly and disappears again, can’t ping it i.e. 192.168.1.1. Have also tried the reset button to no avail.
    Any idea on what I can do next to recover it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry i was busy with exams and yes as suggested in comments below u need to try accessing your router using IP 192.168.0.254

      IP may or may not change after flashing but please check n reply soon. I am adding this up in the original post.

      Also i have already mentioned that LED will only work with USB dongles and won't work with normal modems, it does not affect the functionality. It seems flashing has been successful and u just need to access your router using the correct IP, so please check and reply.

      Delete
    2. Sorry for the delay in getting back... was busy getting a life :)...

      192.168.0.254 worked, thank you so much!! :)

      Delete
  8. Might need to change IP to 192.168.0.254. I think he should include that in the guide. IP changes with update.
    Test and see. Might be working ok

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot for helping him in my absence and reminding to update my post.

      Delete
  9. Hi!

    Any chance to get the lastest (August2012) firmware as a modded version?
    And why did you use an old March2012-firmware for a MOD in 2013?

    And any chance to get the information what exactly was modded?

    Cheers! raimerik

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After installing the March2012 fw you can just downloaded and install the Aug update from within the GUI. Model no check only applies when upgrading from the original Chinese stock FW.

      Flash the stock fw with this fw, download latest MR3020 from TP Link site, update this FW with latest downloaded one.

      If you want to directly install the AUG 2012 fw, just replace the first 140 bytes from the newer (MR3020) fw with the ones from this modified FW.

      Delete
  10. "If you want to directly install the AUG 2012 fw, just replace the first 140 bytes from the newer (MR3020) fw with the ones from this modified FW."

    How do you do that? ;=)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi, after successfully flashing the modded TL-MR3020 FW via ethernet cable, my router (TL-WR703N China Version) IP changed from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.0.254. Then I successfully flashed the Aug 2012 official update. However, when I tried to connect to the router via wifi, it prompted me for the Security Key which I can't find as it is not printed on my router label. So I tried to access my router GUI via ethernet cable, but my laptop only sees it as an unidentified network and I can't access the router GUI using 192.168.0.254 IP address. Please help!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also had u entered any Security Key before/after flashing?
      If yes then did u try using that?

      Delete
  12. Did u try accessing using the default IP i.e. 192.168.1.1 ?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Φίλε μου, ορμώμενος από blogspot.gr μήπως είσαι Έλληνας;
    Ο λόγος είναι ότι δυσκολεύομαι να σου πω το πρόβλημα που έχω στα Αγγλικά.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Είμαι ινδική αλλά u να δημοσιεύσετε στα ελληνικά εγώ θα μεταφράσει.
      ποιο είναι το πρόβλημα που αντιμετωπίζουν

      Delete
  14. My frend.
    Because your Greek is worse than my English I write in English.Well, I installed the firmware MR2030 and is shown to work well. But because the led is not working, I decided to put another firmware (DD-wrt). I downloaded the Chinese prototype that you have, installed it and now I have a problem. The Ethernet port does not work. Now I have firmware Chinese and I can not replace it because Ethernet not work. What can I do now? Throw it? Got any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Did u install Chinese firmware after installing DD-wrt?
    is the wifi working?
    are u able to access the router GUI?
    and have u tried resetting the router?

    and last thing is why throw it? if its under warranty i guess u can get it replaced...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Did u install Chinese firmware after installing DD-wrt? NO, after wr2030.
    is the wifi working? YES
    are u able to access the router GUI? Only from wifi
    and have u tried resetting the router? YES but nothing change.
    Throw it because is my fault and buy it from China (ebay).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried finding out a solution..

      All i can think of is how about flashing the router with the modded firmware over wifi? i know there is a risk of bricking so it's your call...

      Let me know if it works...

      Delete
  17. I have the same issue, the ethernet port stop working and i flahs to open wrt over wifi but now i don't have wifi also so i can't enter to the device.
    With failboot i can't enter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could u please tell from start which firmware u flashed before open wrt?

      Delete
    2. Sure, i flash in this order:
      1 - enligsh firmware
      2 - Back to chiniese firmware
      3 - Open wrt.

      In the step 3 i have to flash it over wifi because the ethernet port was not working, i supposed after i flashed it the wifi is disabled and the ethernet port is not working so i can't enter to the device.

      Delete
    3. still my through wifi i can enter but not through lan. i think those firmwares are not right i do have 1.6
      now in chinese but not working lan :(

      Delete
  18. I wonder if it is also possible to flash the TP-Link TL-WR702N firmware, it looks like the same device but this time with the english language http://uk.tp-link.com/support/download/?model=TL-WR702N&version=V1#tbl_j ??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hardware doesn't seem to be the same as in 702n USB port is missing and it doesn't have any support for 3G/EVDO dongles... while 3020/703n supports almost every 3G/EVDO dongle from all parts of the world....

      702n is a stripped down version of 703n... so even if the firmware of 702n works on 703n(i haven't tried.. as can't afford the risk... i am a student with limited resources)still it won't be of much use as 3G/EVDO functionality will get disabled for sure....
      while in modded firmware everything works fine except the LED issue already mentioned in the original post... :)

      Delete
  19. Hi,

    Does MR3020 given firmware supports ZTE MF190A 3G Flash modem? When I can find the supported modem list?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MF190 is supported... As u have not mentioned ur country u can check the full list urself by selecting ur country from here---

      http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/3g-comp-list/?model=TL-MR3020&location=1151

      Delete
  20. Hello! Did any of you successfully flashed this firmware on a WR703N with v1.6 on the router but with Build 120925 in the GUI?
    On the WR703N OpenWrt page it says that also if on the router is written 1.6, Build 120925 is v1.7.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well they r right, version on the outside sticker and inside of router may differ.. But you can give it a shot if you don't mind taking risk...

      I took a risk and this blog was born... :)

      Delete
  21. it worked on english but not as i expected, then i turned back to chinese now when i connect lan cable it wont generate ip. tried with static ip wont connect ... need help only through wifi i can log in...
    wr703n v1.6

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try flashing back to English on wifi.. if going back to chinese ain't working. Once reflashing is successful use only the English Firmware as Chinese one provided by me does not seem to be working for you....

      Delete
  22. I could not connect to internet after flashing this firmware, unit was slow between settings but I found that when I changed the login in name and password to the device it worked a treat, rapid response and full access to the net.
    Thank you for your work:)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hiyas i go back to original chinese in english dont have full function :( for example i knot make it to extend wifi in english version :( it have that function i have v1.6

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe you want to use it as a repeater.. English version does have that functionality.... :)

      Delete
  24. Excellent - this has helped me a lot.

    For the MR3020, the hard button functionality is probably lost on the WR703N, correct? (Can't switch to WISP or AP modes)

    Thanks again - I'm using this on a couple of these units, and your fix has helped me make these a lot more usable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right as WR703N does not have any such physical button...

      Delete
  25. I am in Japan and the only internet available is ADSL. It was easy to flash to the English version and everything worked great for a while.
    I have the following problems:
    - when using MagicJack app on my iPhone4, i can only make calls-not receive (the caller gets a message stating that I am unavailable at the moment)
    - iMessage/ FaceTime do not work: on my McBook is shows me logged-in but I can't send anything, on iPad/iPhone I can't even sign-in.

    My suspicion is that I have to change settings on the unit but I can't figure out which ones.

    Any suggestions here?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As all the problems are with Apple devices all i can suggest is try changing the Wireless Network name and Password(Try using WEP, WPA/PSK etc)...

      Let me know if that works

      Delete
    2. no luck, i even turned off the whole password section in the WiFi router. It appears to me it is some firewall setting in the router because once I log-in to a portable unit on 4G everything synchronizes. Even on the iPad and McBook in my apartment when I am not there.
      Somehow, the iPhone gets blocked on some kind of Firewall but I can't figure out why.

      Delete
  26. Can anyone help me i installed the english firmware??I am using lan connection in bangladesh im getting full network bt when i connect it says limited connection my pc what do i do??

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jeee, I just went back to stock Chinese interface, now I can't access the router anymore on both networks (192.168.1.x and 192.168.0.x). Any ideas. Thank you. I am on V1.6 btw.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi,after flashing i found out 3020 firmware can't use as repeater and i cant flash back to 703n firmware, what should i do to restore back.thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some people have reported problems while going back to old firmware so my suggestion is to avoid it...

      Also you can use this as repeater...

      Check this - http://imgur.com/3WEWu23

      For help in setup please download the manual for mr 3020 from the TP Link website....

      Hope it helps...

      Delete
    2. I guess that applies for me too? With the difference that its too late :/

      Delete
    3. Did u try accessing the router in wired n wireless mode both through both ip's ?

      Delete
    4. Can't really follow your question o_O
      I tried accessing trough LAN (RJ45 Port) using both IP's.

      Delete
    5. are you able to access your router in wifi/wireless mode using nay of the IP's?

      Delete
  29. I did it and its fine , but i cannot install dd-wrt now , any idea how i can do it ?

    ReplyDelete
  30. thanks a lot for you Easy way to get an english interface for the 703n - bought one off ebay, their "easy" solution was to install openwrt - given off a chinees wiki, which i followed and didnt work.

    However im trying to upgrade to the latest firmware but on the tp-link site for mr3030 it has 2 diffrerent hardware version V1 & V2 which one should i choose. Many thanks again - great site

    ReplyDelete
  31. Very nice work my friend but i am in need of some help...i flashed to the WR3020 but when i try to flash back to the Chinese firmware it gives me this error

    Error code: 18005
    Upgrade unsuccessfully because the version of the upgraded file was incorrect. Please check the file name.

    please if you can assist that would be greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Worked out like a charm. Was finally be able to configure the router in English.

    Except the LED, everything else works just fine for me.

    Appreciate your effort on this.

    ReplyDelete
  33. My wife bought a WR703N on a recent trip to China, thinking she could use it in her hotel to distribute a wireless signal and for security purposes. Little did she know that all of the device's screens were in Chinese.

    With her back in the States, I used your instructions to configure the router in English, and I now have it working in another hotel room linking 2 laptops, 2 Android phones, and 1 Sony DVD player using RSNA-PSK security.

    Thanks for taking the time to write-up these instructions!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi, I have seen that a lot of people have bought routers from TP Link, D Link with chinese interface, and spent a lot of time to deal with the interface, and I have an idea to make a html version copy of the interface with chinese to english translation, and people will not need to take risk of make the router a brick but simply use chinese interface, so are you interested in doing that? I am a native chinese speaker studying in us college and I am familiar with router configuration and I would like to do something to help, if you are interested plz contect me hjt486@163.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds interesting.... Any more inputs about how u wish to achieve this will be appreciated...

      Delete
  35. Does any one know if this will work on a 1.7 version?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no idea that i would or it won't coz i don't have one to give it a try...

      May be someone else who has tried can help...

      Delete
  36. any problems /issues reverting back to stock wr703n firmware?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some people have reported issues while reverting back to the stock firmware provided in my post.

      I have found that even though the sticker on your router might say it's v1.6 inside it may be different so that could create issues while trying to revert back to the stock firmware.

      Delete
  37. Thanks for the article. I had my 703N set with the MR3020 firmware and it worked fine but wanted to go back to chinese and tried your .bin above.. It applied the FW ok and it powers up (light stays blue) but.. I cannot connect anyhow to the box on 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x... Tried several times to reset via a pin but no luck. Any ideas? Thanks..

    ReplyDelete
  38. Finally figured it out with the comments above, had to access via WIFI (god bless the cell phones!). Thanks it all works fine now with dd-wrt!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad it worked for you... :)

      Delete
    2. How do you revert from tp-3020 firmware to DD-WRT.? Did you want to send me detail instructions about upgrading process.? Mine is Build 130321 Rel.37153n v1.6 now on 3020 firmware. Tnx in advance.

      Delete
  39. Thanks Alot it did work well , i thought i'm going to make my own translation for the chinese firmware which it would take my entire life ! good work !!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's always good to know someone benefited from my work... :)

      Delete
  40. Work great for me on V1.6 AP
    tok me about 5 mins to preform.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  41. hi
    I havetl-703n and tried to flash it, and after flash when i checked ip on cmd, i get Destination host unreachable msg what should i do,

    thankyou

    ReplyDelete
  42. Started from version 1.7 it is impossible to flash.

    Error code: 18005 The uploaded file version does not match the model.

    ReplyDelete
  43. same message in Chinese:

    错误代码:18005 上传的文件版本与机型不符。

    ReplyDelete
  44. The quality of your articles and listing is really attractive.
    TP-Link Router Login and Common Modem Issues

    ReplyDelete
  45. Great Post!!!

    Thanks For Sharing Blog.

    We have tried to provide every essentials detail regarding the router login on our website. So, are you having any login issues? Over these years we have developed the easiest Tp Link Login process. To know more about the Tp Link Login, we suggest you use our guide on our website.

    ReplyDelete
  46. CASINO HOTEL HOTEL - Las Vegas, NV - Mapyro
    Find Casino Hotel Hotels in Las Vegas 서산 출장샵 NV and other Las 용인 출장안마 Vegas 서귀포 출장샵 area attractions. Las Vegas Casino Hotel & Spa 진주 출장마사지 Las Vegas Casino Hotel & 광양 출장마사지 Spa SkyCity, SkyCity Casino Hotel, Las Vegas Casino & Hotel

    ReplyDelete
  47. Hi
    Is it possible to upload latest firmware from TL-MR3020 to TL-WR703N? and haw it can be uploaded (what revision of firmware can be accepted)

    ReplyDelete