Step-by-step guide to replace the stock Chinese firmware on an A5-V11 pocket router (~5 EUR) with an OpenWrt-based image that includes an XMPP chat-bot daemon for IoT applications.
What is A5-V11?
A low-cost (~5 EUR) Wi-Fi router capable of running OpenWrt Linux.
What is a5v11-xmpp-image?
A customized OpenWrt image that includes a C++ based XMPP client daemon for IoT applications. See this blog post for details on using it as a smart-home gateway.
Setup
As shown below, items 1–3 are required. Items 4–6 (USB-to-I2C converter and SSD1306 display) are optional — they help display the router's IP address on boot if you can't find it via your home router's DHCP client list.
Setup overview: A5-V11 router, Ethernet cable, PC (required), plus optional USB-to-I2C converter and SSD1306 display for IP readout.
Flashing steps
Step 1 — Download a5v11-xmpp-factory.uimg to your PC.
Step 2 — Connect an Ethernet cable between the A5-V11 and your PC.
Step 3 — Power on the A5-V11 with 5 V DC and wait ~1 minute until your PC gets an IP in the 192.168.100.x range.
Step 4 — Open 192.168.100.1 in your browser. You should see the Chinese OEM firmware page:
Chinese OEM firmware web interface — confirm your router shows this page.
Stop here if your page looks different. You may have the Qualcomm firmware variant — follow this other guide instead.
Step 5 — Click the language dropdown to switch to English:
Switch the web UI language to English.
Step 6 — Navigate to Admin → Firmware Upgrade → Choose File, select a5v11-xmpp-factory.uimg (downloaded in Step 1), then click "Upgrade".
Step 7 — Confirm by clicking "OK":
First confirmation dialog.
Step 8 — A second confirmation is needed — click "OK" again:
Second confirmation dialog.
Step 9 — The firmware upgrade begins:
Firmware flashing in progress.
Firmware flash completing.
Step 10 — Wait about 40 seconds, then remove power and disconnect the Ethernet cable from the PC.
Step 11 — Connect the A5-V11 to your home router via Ethernet. Make sure your PC is also on the same network.
Step 12 — Power on the A5-V11 and wait until the red LED stops blinking.
Post-flash configuration
Step 13 — SSH into the router using hostname my-a5v11 with credentials root / brb0x.
If you can't find the router's IP, connect an I2C display to the USB port — the router prints its IP on boot:
Optional: SSD1306 I2C display showing the router's IP address after boot.
Step 14 — Change the default password:
passwd
Step 15 — Set your XMPP (Jabber) login credentials (replace with your own):
echo "user: test-slave-account@xabber.de" >/etc/xmproxy/xmpp-login.txt echo "pw: chatbotpw" >>/etc/xmproxy/xmpp-login.txt reboot
Step 16 — After reboot, your device should appear online in your smartphone's Xabber chat client.
Next steps: Follow this blog post to use the A5-V11 XMPP chat-bot as an IoT gateway for home automation.
5 comments:
How can I revert back to openWRT firmware after flashing your a5v11-xmpp-image ?
I installed openwrt on it, but it doesn't have the functions I wanted. How do I install this firmware?
Can someone send me the firmware for it? Can I use a USB eeprom to install the firmware?
I found the original firmware and posted it on github.
for those who want the .bin file of the original firmware also with .hex, from openwrt also in .bin:
https://github.com/SuLorde/a5-v11/issues/1
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