Manual Backup Firmware Update

Backup, Restore & Firmware Update

System → Backup / Restore

Three simple actions:

• Backup Current Configuration — one button, downloads your current settings as a file. Do this before any firmware update or major config change.
• Restore Old Configuration — upload a previously-saved backup file. This completely replaces your current settings — you'll get a confirmation prompt warning that it erases everything currently configured before applying the file.
• Restore Default Configuration — one-click factory reset back to the router's original out-of-box configuration.

All three finish with the same "please wait, reconnecting" pattern as a reboot: the page polls the router until it comes back online, then reloads automatically.

System → Update Firmware

Upgrading firmware on a router is inherently risky (a bad flash can leave the device unusable), so this page runs several checks before it lets you proceed.

1. Select Firmware File — the new firmware image.
2. Enter hash (MD5/SHA-1/SHA-256) (optional) — if you have the official checksum for the file, paste it here and the router will verify the upload matches before doing anything else.
3. Click Upload Firmware. This does not start the upgrade — it opens a Confirm Upgrade step first.

The Confirm Upgrade check

Before anything is written to flash, the router validates the uploaded file and shows you the results: whether it's a valid firmware image, whether it matches your specific device, whether it's within your supported device list, overall compatibility, whether it actually fits in your flash memory, and whether the checksum matches (with the computed MD5/SHA-1/SHA-256 shown).

• Attempt to Preserve Settings — tries to carry your current configuration into the new firmware. Grayed out if the uploaded image doesn't support this. Worth understanding the tradeoff: this works well for small, incremental version bumps, but a much newer firmware version can have configuration formats different enough that preserved settings cause problems — keep a manual backup regardless.
• Force upgrade — only relevant if validation failed. Comes with a serious warning: if the firmware was flagged as incompatible (wrong device, too large, or invalid format), forcing the upgrade anyway can brick your router. Only use this if you are certain the file is correct for your specific device and understand why the automatic check didn't like it.

Once confirmed, the page shows upload progress, then upgrade progress, then reboots automatically. Always back up your configuration first (previous section) — by default, a firmware upgrade erases your configuration entirely unless you've ticked Preserve Settings, and even then it's not guaranteed across larger version jumps.

See also

• System Settings — Reboot, Time, Themes, Advanced