Unlock Hathway Provided Router (DLink) to use it with other ISPs

Problem Statement:

Some ISPs like Hathway provide free WiFi routers to the users. But the problem surfaces when you try to use these routers for any other ISP.  These routers usually have a special firmware installed, so that they can only be used with that particular ISP which is distributing them.

Solution:

Pretty simple ! Just change (Preferably upgrade) the router’s firmware and you are all set to use it with other ISPs.

If you don’t know how to upgrade the firmware, just search in Google or refer your router-manufacturer’s website.

Special Scenarios:

In case of some routers, you may not find any option to upgrade the firmware in the router’s web-based configuration/setup page. That’s because either the option is removed in this special firmware version or the option is hidden.

If the option is removed, then we can NOT upgrade the firmware. You will have to purchase a new router to use with your other ISPs (Unless of course you find an alternate way to upgrade your router’s firmware).

But if the option is hidden (Which is the case with most of the such routers), then you can use a Firefox Add-on like Firebug to make the option visible. Below are the steps to do it.

• Install the Firebug add-on in your Firefox browser.
• Open your router’s web-based setup/configuration page in Firefox.

• Navigate to the section where the option to upgrade firmware would have been available (If above special firmware were not installed in your router). You may refer to your router-manufacturer’s site or search in Google to get this information. In the below screenshot the aforementioned option should be available in Maintenance section. You can get this information by just searching in Google with keyword: Firmware Upgrade. For the below case, the search keyword can be Dlink DIR 600M Firmware Upgrade

  

  It can be observed that no option to upgrade the firmware is present. Please follow the next steps to fix this.

• Once you navigate to the above mentioned section, press F12 to activate Firebug add-on which you installed earlier.
• Then type Firmware in the Firebug search box and press enter. Now the Firebug add-on should show you all the HTML sections where this word is present. Among these sections, look for the section with anchor tag i.e. Some text containing Firmware word .
• This anchor tag itself or any of its ancestor tags should have a style property like this: style=”display:none”. Due to the presence of this property our required option is hidden. So now click on this style property and delete it from the corresponding tag. Please refer to the below screenshot for more clarification.
• Now the option to upgrade firmware should be visible. In the below screenshot, you can find it in the left side navigation bar with text: Firmware Upgrade.
• Now you can upgrade the firmware of your router by following the usual instructions from the manufacturer.

UPDATE: To download the firmware you can visit this website: http://tsd.dlink.com.tw
Select your desired router model and then download the latest firmware. It should work.

The link of the firmware which I used for my  DIR 600M model is: http://pmdap.dlink.com.tw/PMD/GetAgileFile?itemNumber=FIR1500224&fileName=DIR-600M_V3.04ENB03_webupload.img&fileSize=1250615.0;76864.0;

NOTE: This article in only for informational purpose. I accept no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided herein.