- 802.11 b/g/n 150Mbps (130Mbps real)
- wireless power output 20dBm – 100mW
- 4 MB flash memory (can be modified for 16MB)
- 32 MB RAM (can be modified for 64MB)
- USB 2.0 port (High-Speed, use hub for Low-Speed devices)
- Powered via micro-USB socket
- Tiny form factor: 5.7cm x 5.7cm x 1.8cm
Version Chaos Calmer 15.05 for ar71xx chipset can be used to flash the device version 1.6 or older, newer versions of openwrt and newer versions of the hardware (version 1.7) do not work without complexity.
The correct binary can be downloaded on a webpage or local on this server.
On a MacBook you can run a webserver and wget the binary into the /tmp directory after telnet 192.168.1.1 or ssh into the device.
The latest version is tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin
On the MacBook (first ifconfig):
ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.5 netmask 255.255.255.0 up (modify eth0 if needed)
sudo apachectl start
sudo cp tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin /Library/WebServer/Documents/
On the WR703N:
telnet 192.168.1.1
wget http://192.168.1.5/tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin
sysupgrade -v /tmp/tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin
If the box is bricked or rebooting, you cannot go into OpenWrt and we have to start from UBoot, then TFTP is the solution to get forward.
On the Mac:
brew install minicom
brew install tftp-now
On the Mac where we just downloaded the file in ~/Downloads openwrt-15.05-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin (see here) :
disable WiFi, this might disturb the process on the Mac
sudo ifconfig en9 192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0
cd ~/Downloads
sudo tftp-now serve -root . -verbose
Now go to the box (fill in correct serial port, in this case here /dev/tty.usbserial-FTDJMXK4) :
screen -i /dev/tty.usbserial-FTDJMXK4 115200
Type in the serial connection window (on the box) and wait for every step to finish:
tftpboot 0x80800000 openwrt-15.05-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin
erase 0x9f020000 +0x3c0000
cp.b 0x80800000 0x9f020000 0x3c0000
reset
If the WR703N box is constantly rebooting, try TPL<Enter> after powercycling the box.
There is a successor for the WR703N, the Mango (GL-MT300N-V2) Wireless Mini Router.
The main difference is the flash and ram size.
See comparison table below.
| Feature | TL-WR703N | GL-MT300N-V2 (Mango) |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AR9331 @ 400 MHz | MT7628NN @ 580 MHz |
| RAM | 32 MB | 128 MB |
| Flash | 4 MB | 16 MB |
| Wi-Fi Radio | 2.4 GHz only | 2.4 GHz only |
| Wi-Fi Standards | 802.11b/g/n | 802.11b/g/n |
| 802.11a (5 GHz) | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Max Wi-Fi PHY Rate | 150 Mbps (1×1 802.11n) | 300 Mbps (2×2 802.11n) |
| Ethernet | 1× 10/100 Mbps | 2× 10/100 Mbps |
| USB | 1× USB 2.0 (~25–35 MB/s practical) | 1× USB 2.0 (~25–35 MB/s practical) |
| Power Consumption | <1 W | <2 W |
| UART | Pads, soldering required | Header installed |
| Weight | ~45 g | 39 g |
| OpenWrt Support | EOL (up to 19.07) | Current (24.10) |
| WireGuard | Not practical / unsupported in modern OpenWrt | ~45 Mbps |
| OpenVPN | ~2–3 Mbps | ~10–15 Mbps |
| Release Year | 2012 | 2018 |
PCB layout and details of two version of the mango. Specifications should be identical, only board layout is different due to optimization production process or change of supplier components.
