@Tecnoscacco 

Hi,

Hi .. or 4 cpe510 that in the accesspoint mode do not give any signal,

The CPE won't broadcast any signal in default settings, please ensure that you have logged into the Pharos page to finish the configuration. We can see the signal LED light up once it's configured properly. Besides, CPE510 (EU) only supports 5G Band 3 due to CE regulation, please check the supported band by your wireless device.

where can I set the region of Italy ??

When we log into the Pharos page at the first time, there is an option to select the region. However, it's only for the UN version. 

Due to CE/FCC restrictions, the region is locked on the devices of the EU/US version.

is the firmware correct ??

 

https://www.tp-link.com/it/support/download/cpe510/v3/#Firmware

 

Yes, the firmware is correct.

nussa cpe510 accesspoint is not visible from the cpe510 client

For the issue that the CPE510 client cannot detect the signal from the CPE510 access point, please refer to the Part I: Troubleshooting about CPE_Client cannot connect to the CPE_AP from the troubleshooting guide below.

https://www.tp-link.com/support/faq/2575/

Tecnoscacco wrote

where can I set the region of Italy ??

You can't. Region selection has been removed long time ago due to regulatory provisions in the EU. Region settings are now stored on the devices itself in the ART partition of the flash chip. See this thread for more information.

Tecnoscacco wrote

is the firmware correct ??

 

https://www.tp-link.com/it/support/download/cpe510/v3/#Firmware

I run Pharos-2.2.1-20190718 on my CPE510 v3, albeit it has not been officially released for CPE510 by TP-Link:

You can download the firmware here: https://static.tp-link.com/2019/201908/20190821/WBS510(UN)_V2.0_2.2.1_Build%20190718.zip

Albeit it is for WBS510, it installs and runs fine on CPE510 v3, too. In the past, Pharos firmware was identical for all CPE210 v1, CPE510 v1/v3, WBS210 v1/v2, WBS510 v1/v2, but not for CPE210 v2/v3 nor for CPE610. The latter two models use a modified firmware.

These are all compatible Pharos firmwares  for the above mentioned CPE/WBS versions (I use my own naming scheme, you can find the firmwares by version number and/or release date on the TP-Link support sites):

Pharos-1.3.3-20160705
Pharos-2.0.0-20161117
Pharos-2.1.0-20170609
Pharos-2.1.6-20170908
Pharos-2.1.12-20180202
Pharos-2.1.13-20180327
Pharos-2.2.0-20190125
Pharos-2.2.1-20190718

@Tecnoscacco, so you probably have hardware v3.20, right? Or is it v3?

@Tecnoscacco, as I wrote already, the firmware file is always the same for different models and different HW versions. But the firmware behaves differently on different devices, e.g. it automatically selects the region, it automatically recognizes differences between CPE and WBS in the menus and so on.

Therefore I prefer to test every firmware on real devices and I own all CPE/WBS models of V1 series and CPE510 V3, but not V3.20.

@R1D2 

Hi R1D2,

Please kindly note that the firmware is different for different models and different HW versions. Each model owns a unique firmware for V3 and later versions.

It's NOT suggested to try installing the device with the firmware of a different model. Even if some can be upgraded, there will be some uncertain problems. Besides, a wrong firmware upgrade may damage the device and void the warranty. We recommend verifying the HW version of the device for the firmware version. (Normally V1.x=V1, V3.X=V3...)

R1D2 wrote

@Tecnoscacco, as I wrote already, the firmware file is always the same for different models and different HW versions. But the firmware behaves differently on different devices, e.g. it automatically selects the region, it automatically recognizes differences between CPE and WBS in the menus and so on.

 

Therefore I prefer to test every firmware on real devices and I own all CPE/WBS models of V1 series and CPE510 V3, but not V3.20.

Fae wrote 

Please kindly note that the firmware is different for different models and different HW versions. Each model owns a unique firmware for V3 and later versions.

Sorry, Fae, but that's wrong. I am a firmware developer with over 30 years experience and I can analyze firmware binaries.

I will proof that Pharos firmware files are identical for different models:

Let's take last firmware files for CPE510 and WBS510 of a common published version as an example. It was Pharos v2.1.6, which had been released 2017-09-08 for CPE510 as well as for WBS510. You can see that they have the same name, same version, same release number. But we will not rely on filenames, so let's check the firmware files itself.

Download both firmwares, unpack them and compare the binaries:

$ cmp 'Pharos_v2.1.6_20170908-CPE/Pharos_2.0-up-ver2-1-6-P1[20170908-rel45233].bin' \
> 'Pharos_v2.1.6_20170908-WBS/Pharos_2.0-up-ver2-1-6-P1[20170908-rel45233].bin'

$

Identical. No single byte differs!

Proof with checksum if you have no cmp uitlity:

$ md5'Pharos_v2.1.6_20170908-CPE/Pharos_2.0-up-ver2-1-6-P1[20170908-rel45233].bin' \
> 'Pharos_v2.1.6_20170908-WBS/Pharos_2.0-up-ver2-1-6-P1[20170908-rel45233].bin'
MD5 (Pharos_v2.1.6_20170908-CPE/Pharos_2.0-up-ver2-1-6-P1[20170908-rel45233].bin) = 348b807769f0177ff650e977710cabd6
MD5 (Pharos_v2.1.6_20170908-WBS/Pharos_2.0-up-ver2-1-6-P1[20170908-rel45233].bin) = 348b807769f0177ff650e977710cabd6
$ 
 

Identical.

Now, how does the firmware identify the model it runs on? It checks the model identifier, which probably is stored in the ART (Atheros Radio Test) partition in the flash chip.

Let's see the support list built into firmware v2.1.6, it shows all models supported by this firmware.

Just search for the »SupportList« data structure inside the firmware:

SupportList:
CPE510(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5):1.0
CPE210(TP-LINK|UN|N300-2):1.0
CPE610(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5):1.0
WBS510(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5):1.0
WBS210(TP-LINK|UN|N300-2):1.0
CPE510(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5):1.1
CPE520(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5):1.1
CPE210(TP-LINK|UN|N300-2):1.1
CPE220(TP-LINK|UN|N300-2):1.1
WBS510(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5):1.20
WBS210(TP-LINK|UN|N300-2):1.20
CPE510(TP-LINK|US|N300-5):1.1
CPE520(TP-LINK|US|N300-5):1.1
CPE210(TP-LINK|US|N300-2):1.1
CPE220(TP-LINK|US|N300-2):1.1
WBS510(TP-LINK|US|N300-5):1.20
WBS210(TP-LINK|US|N300-2):1.20
CPE510(TP-LINK|EU|N300-5):1.1
CPE520(TP-LINK|EU|N300-5):1.1
CPE210(TP-LINK|EU|N300-2):1.1
CPE220(TP-LINK|EU|N300-2):1.1
WBS510(TP-LINK|EU|N300-5):1.20
WBS210(TP-LINK|EU|N300-2):1.20
CPE510(TP-LINK|CA|N300-5):1.1
CPE520(TP-LINK|CA|N300-5):1.1
WBS510(TP-LINK|CA|N300-5):1.20
CPE510(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5|00000000):2.0
CPE520(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5|00000000):2.0
CPE220(TP-LINK|UN|N300-2|00000000):2.0
CPE610(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5|00000000):1.0
CPE610(TP-LINK|ID|N300-5|49440000):1.0
WBS510(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5|00000000):2.0
WBS210(TP-LINK|UN|N300-2|00000000):2.0
CPE510(TP-LINK|US|N300-5|55530000):2.0
CPE520(TP-LINK|US|N300-5|55530000):2.0
CPE220(TP-LINK|US|N300-2|55530000):2.0
WBS510(TP-LINK|US|N300-5|55530000):2.0
WBS210(TP-LINK|US|N300-2|55530000):2.0
CPE510(TP-LINK|EU|N300-5|45550000):2.0
CPE520(TP-LINK|EU|N300-5|45550000):2.0
CPE220(TP-LINK|EU|N300-2|45550000):2.0
WBS510(TP-LINK|EU|N300-5|45550000):2.0
WBS210(TP-LINK|EU|N300-2|45550000):2.0
CPE510(TP-LINK|CA|N300-5|43410000):2.0
CPE520(TP-LINK|CA|N300-5|43410000):2.0
WBS510(TP-LINK|CA|N300-5|43410000):2.0
CPE510(TP-LINK|UN|N300-5|00000000):3.0
 

Pretty much models supported by this single binary! Last entry (highlighted) shows that this firmware runs also on CPE510 V3 hardware.

Now the issue is that in the past updated versions of the firmware have been published by TP-Link for only one or another model, e.g. for CPE510 only or for WBS510 only, but not for all other models. However, from the binary I can clearly see that the firmware supports other models, too. And it can be installed fine on those other models, whereas installing an incompatible firmware file will always be refused by the CPE/WBS.¹

¹ Note: there is one exception of this rule where TP-Link R&D forgot to shorten the SupportList in CPE610 firmware when CPE610 came out (which indeed uses a different firmware) so that this firmware with a wrong SupportList could be installed on WBS510, too. But LED #5 of WBS510 was not functional when CPE610 firmware had been installed. In latest CPE610 firmware the SupportList has been corrected, so now the installation of CPE610 firmware is refused on a WBS510.

So, I will continue to use compatible firmware on other models.

I did write many times to support / R&D to please update the firmware descriptions for all models on your support site, not only for few models (since it's the same firmware, this can be done easily), but never ever got any feedback from the Pharos team about this issue.

Pharos firmware releases on TP-Link support sites have been pretty chaotic in the past, sorry to say this.