How to Flash Your Router with Tomato

0
2775

How to Flash Your Router with Tomato: If you’re here to read this guide, I recommend you for needing to unlock your router’s potential with Tomato. The issue is that flashing your router isn’t an easy thing. Tomato is a lot simpler to configure than DD-WRT, but you still have to pay attention to which files you download to use during the process.

Get 72% off NordVPN (drops the price down to $3.29 per month)
(Discount is applied automatically)

How to Flash Your Router with Tomato

For the non-technical people who still want to flash their routers with Tomato, this guide’s for you. Read on to know about How to Flash Your Router with Tomato.

Read more: Best VPN for Tomato Router

What’s Tomato?

Tomato is an open-source firmware which is used to turn your router into a very efficient and extremely configurable router. After you have flashed your router with Tomato, you can:

  • Secure your network.
  • Monitor your bandwidth.
  • Segment your wireless network via VLAN support.
  • Integrate BitTorrent & Tor Client on your router.
  • Increase your wireless coverage.
  • And so much more.

To put it simply; you’ll get way more command over your internet connection and network. In other words, Tomato improves your internet capabilities.

How to Download Tomato Firmware

You need to be cautious when downloading the Tomato firmware you are going to use. Ensure that the firmware suits your device’s model. If you download the wrong firmware, you could brick (break) your router. To ensure that the firmware you downloaded is right, always download directly from Tomato Shibby’s site. Here’s the list of downloadable firmware. The firmware will be downloaded in a zip file, so use an unarchiver to extract the content of the file easily.

Read more: Router Security Issue Posing Great Risks to the UK Internet Users

How to Setup Your Hardware?

Once you have the file you want; you should set up your hardware. You are going to need:

  • Your compatible router.
  • A device (PC or Laptop).
  • A stable power supply.
  • An Ethernet Cable.

Connect your PC to the router via the Ethernet cable. Turn off your computer’s wireless network. You should only flash your router by using LAN.

Once you have set up everything; continue with the installation guide below.

How to Flash Your Asus Router With Tomato

Flashing the Asus router with Tomato firmware is an easy process. Be sure you have an Asus router that is compatible with Tomato before you kick-off this process.

  • Go to Asus’s site and download the ASUS Recovery Software for your model. This is what you will use to upload the Tomato firmware on the router.
  • Download the right firmware from for your router.
  • Open the ASUS Recovery Software. Click the browse and locate the firmware file you just downloaded in step 2. DO NOT click on upload just yet.
  • Manually turn the router into recovery mode.
  • Unplug the router.
  • Press and hold the reset button, placed on the back of the router (count to 30 seconds).
  • Plug the power cord back into your router while still holding down the reset button.
  • When the power LED blinks, release the reset button.
  • Click on Upload in the ASUS Recovery software. Wait for the upload to finish. Don’t interrupt the upload process.
  • Repeat what you have done in step 4, but this time, press and hold the WPS button.
  • After you plug the power cord back on the router; only hold the WPS button for an extra 10 seconds.
  • Wait for 5 minutes before doing anything further.
  • Your router should be flashed after this process. You can check by going to your router’s configuration page (enter the router IP address into a browser’s address bar). If the default interface gets changed to Tomato’s interface, you are done with the process! Read on to know about How to Flash Your Router with Tomato.

Read more: Best VPN for Asus Routers

How to Flash Your Linksys Router With Tomato

To flash your Linksys router, you should:

  • Download your Tomato firmware that runs on your Linksys router’s model.
  • Log into the router’s configuration page by typing in the router’s IP into your browser’s address bar.
  • Head over to Admin section and choose Firmware Upgrade.
  • Click Select File and select the Tomato firmware.
  • Click Upload. Don’t unplug your router or disturb the uploading process in any way.

How to Flash Your Netgear Router With Tomato

Flashing your Netgear router is a little more difficult than flashing a Linksys or Asus router. Here’s how to do it:

  • Access your router’s configuration page by entering the router’s IP address into your browser’s address bar.
  • Restore the router to its default settings. Head over to Advanced Settings and click Administration tab on the left side of your router. Click Backup Settings below the Admin tab. Go Restore Factory Default Settings and click Erase.
  • In the Administration tab; click Router Update. Browse for the firmware you downloaded earlier and open the file that has the word “initial” in it. Wait for the upload to finish.
  • Log in to the Router control panel again. Go to the Administration tab. Click Upgrade firmware.
  • Browse for the firmware you downloaded earlier. This time, upload the file that has AIO in it. Click Upgrade.
  • Wait for the process to finish.
  • On the bottom left side of the panel; click Reboot. Wait for the process to finish.

Read more: How to Install a VPN on your Netgear Router

Conclusion -How to Flash Your Router with Tomato

There you go, how to flash your Linksys, Asus, or Netgear router with Tomato. If you’ve another brand of compatible routers; check the Tomato wiki page for any updated installation tutorials. I do recommend sticking with these routers for Tomato; as the configuration method is a lot simpler for non-tech people. To super-charge your anew configured Tomato router; why not install a VPN on it? Give it a try and let me know how things go for you in the comments below.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.