Cudy AP3000 Wall v1: OpenWrt flashing guide
Wall-mount indoor (but not outdoor-rated) WiFi 6 access point on MediaTek’s MT7981 filogic platform. Sibling device to the Cudy AP3000 v1 (tabletop indoor) and Cudy AP3000 Outdoor v1 — do not mix up their firmware images, they use different board IDs and sysupgrade will (correctly) refuse the wrong one.
Hardware specifications
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| SoC | MediaTek MT7981 (filogic) |
| CPU | 2x ARM Cortex-A53 (aarch64) |
| RAM | 512MB |
| Flash | 256MB NAND |
| Ethernet | 1x 2.5Gbit LAN |
| Power | 12V DC |
| WiFi | 2.4GHz + 5GHz, 802.11ax |
| Board ID | cudy,ap3000wall-v1 |
| Vendor SKU | R68 |
| OpenWrt target | mediatek/filogic |
Default network (stock Cudy firmware)
- Web UI / router IP:
192.168.10.254
Steps: flashing OpenWrt
Cudy ships these with an OpenWrt-derived vendor firmware rather than a from-scratch custom OS, so
there’s no exploit needed — but a direct jump from stock straight to the official OpenWrt
sysupgrade image is usually rejected. Go through Cudy’s own “transition” image first. Some units
arrive pre-installed with the transition firmware already (observed: 23.05-SNAPSHOT-CUDY).
1. Get the Cudy-signed transition image (if not already installed)
Cudy publishes an OpenWrt-based transition/intermediate firmware (not on the standard OpenWrt downloads site — check Cudy’s support Google Drive / cudytech.com for the current link). This image is signed so the stock firmware’s web UI will accept it.
2. Flash the transition image via the stock web UI (if needed)
If not already on the transition firmware:
- Log into the stock web UI at
192.168.10.254. - Upload the Cudy transition firmware through the normal firmware-update page.
- Wait for reboot — the device now runs an OpenWrt-based intermediate firmware.
3. Flash the official OpenWrt sysupgrade
Once on the transition firmware, download the official OpenWrt sysupgrade image for board
cudy_ap3000wall-v1 from the OpenWrt downloads page and
flash it via sysupgrade (SSH/CLI) or LuCI — same as any normal OpenWrt version upgrade from here
on.
Important: radio band numbering gotcha
On this hardware, radio0 = 2.4GHz and radio1 = 5GHz — the opposite of some other AP models
(e.g. some devolo hardware has 5GHz on radio0, 2.4GHz on radio1). When copying UCI
configuration from another device or troubleshooting wireless settings, always verify the band
assignment via the wireless.radioN.band= value, never assume the radio numbering carries over
from a sibling device or the same hardware in a different location.
Check with:
uci show wireless | grep "\.band="Expected output:
wireless.radio0.band=2g
wireless.radio1.band=5g
If you see them reversed, there’s been a hardware/driver quirk — don’t blindly copy config, update the band assignments to match.
First-boot gotcha: longer-than-usual reboot
This hardware (especially when flashing official OpenWrt for the first time onto new NAND/UBI) can take notably longer to return after a sysupgrade reboot compared to other MediaTek filogic APs — up to ~18 minutes observed, vs. 2-3 minutes typical. LEDs stay steady (normal boot behavior) the entire time; this is a normal first-boot NAND initialization sequence, not a boot loop or hang. Do not power-cycle or assume failure until you’ve waited ~20 minutes and verified sshd is not responding (or has come back online). After the initial boot, subsequent reboots are normal speed.
Fallback: TFTP recovery
Requires stock firmware ≥ 2.4.7:
- Set your PC to static IP
192.168.1.88. - Run a TFTP server serving the firmware file named
recovery.bin. - Hold the device’s reset button while powering on, release once the upload starts.
Verify
cat /etc/openwrt_release
uci show wireless | grep "\.band="