This procedure is for a Linux computer connected to the router via a USB-C cable. I’ll leave it to Windows and Mac aficionados to post the procedures for those operating systems.
In a Terminal window on your computer, install the screen app. Issue:
sudo apt install screen
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Plug in via USB-C cable.
Issue:
ls /dev/ttyUSB* /dev/ttyACM*
It should return:
/dev/ttyACM0
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Log into the router:
sudo screen /dev/ttyACM0 115200
You can do this before you even apply power to the router… you’ll see the router’s boot process. Just let it fully boot until no new text is printed to the screen, then press Enter to get the command prompt.
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Set the router’s root password. Issue:
passwd
… follow the prompts to set the password.
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Increase the LuCI timeout. Issue:
uci set luci.sauth.sessiontime=43200
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Get the WiFi interface. Issue:
uci show wireless | grep '=wifi-iface'
Should show:
wireless.default_radio0=wifi-iface wireless.default_radio1=wifi-iface
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Set up the WiFi:
uci set wireless.default_radio0.ssid='{YOUR WIFI SSID HERE}' uci set wireless.default_radio1.ssid='{YOUR WIFI SSID HERE}' uci set wireless.default_radio0.encryption='psk2+ccmp'
You can also use sae-mixed or some other encryption scheme. You can change it later at Network >> Wireless >> click the ‘Edit’ button next to each radio >> at the bottom of the resultant popup, select Wireless Security >> find the ‘Encryption’ dropdown list.
uci set wireless.default_radio1.encryption='psk2+ccmp'
You can also use sae-mixed or some other encryption scheme. You can change it later at Network >> Wireless >> click the ‘Edit’ button next to each wireless network >> at the bottom of the resultant popup, select Wireless Security >> find the ‘Encryption’ dropdown list.
uci set wireless.default_radio0.key='{YOUR WIFI PASSPHRASE HERE}' uci set wireless.default_radio1.key='{YOUR WIFI PASSPHRASE HERE}' uci set wireless.default_radio0.network='lan' uci set wireless.default_radio1.network='lan' uci set wireless.radio0.country='{YOUR COUNTRY CODE HERE}' uci set wireless.radio1.country='{YOUR COUNTRY CODE HERE}'
Be sure to set the proper country code. For the United States, it is US.
uci set wireless.radio0.disabled='0' uci set wireless.radio1.disabled='0' uci set wireless.default_radio0.disabled='0' uci set wireless.default_radio1.disabled='0' uci commit wireless wifi /etc/init.d/network restart
Press Ctrl-a, k to exit the screen app
That’s enough to get the radios fired up and transmitting. Now connect to WiFi and continue configuring via the LuCI interface: