ASUS AC56U Stock or Merlin?

[hyelton]

Which is best for stability etc?

Is the latest Merlin Good and stable compared to stock and or about the same? Just got mine today and loaded merlin and like the extra features Just didnt want to load it and a week later go back to full stock.

Lots of devices mostly wired/from an access point and QoS upload limiting.

 

[System Error Message]

I would say to always go for merlin firmware because they include fixes before asus does and they have better configuration options available and a few more features. Its not as feature packed as tomato but it includes some options that the stock firmware doesnt. Stability wise its either the same or better than stock but for some they have to reset their router first so that the configs work.

I dont see why you need QoS upload limitting, its better to apply the limit both ways as that helps on the download side such as making sure torrents dont fill up your network when someone needs to stream or play games.

 

[hyelton]

I would say to always go for merlin firmware because they include fixes before asus does and they have better configuration options available and a few more features. Its not as feature packed as tomato but it includes some options that the stock firmware doesnt. Stability wise its either the same or better than stock but for some they have to reset their router first so that the configs work.

I dont see why you need QoS upload limitting, its better to apply the limit both ways as that helps on the download side such as making sure torrents dont fill up your network when someone needs to stream or play games.

The reason is my upload is ONLY 2Mbps. And I upload a lot to YouTube and my photography which kills the connection/ping when uploading at full speed. Download QoS is not really needed as no one torrents, and I'm the only one who downloads anything large in size, Which I want at Full speed if doing so . Usually does not affect gaming or causal browsing.

 

[System Error Message]

when upload is fully used internet suffers for download because devices first need to make the request to download such as to visit a website or to request a stream.

 

[RMerlin]

Asus is implementing a bandwidth limiter. It's currently only available in their recent beta releases.

 

[hyelton]

Asus is implementing a bandwidth limiter. It's currently only available in their recent beta releases.

Not that im looking for limiting, just mostly for limiting my 2mbps upload down to 1.9mbps to keep the lag down when uploading.


I was experimenting with the adaptive and traditional QoS settings. For some reason when using traditional having my upload set to 1.9 and my download set to 30, BOTH down and upload was limited to about 1.6mbps until I either turned it off or switched to adaptive QoS

 

[NGRhodes]

hyelton, Well worth trying Adaptive QoS, it works great on my AC56U for prioritising uploads and downloads for my uses.
Worth double checking you have not got your upload/download settings the wrong way round too.
Also note that I found Adaptive QoS is very sensitive to having correct upload speeds, which will probably not be you ISP supplied speed. E.G. on my internet connection, 92% of my ISP measured speed upload is the most I can use, any more and Adaptive QoS fails to work correctly.

Cheers, Nick

 

[Easy Limits]

I had the second-to-latest Merlin firmware installed on my AC56U for a couple of weeks then I started to get random router freezes and had to reboot the router several times a week. Plus, the CPU in the router was running at 70*C. I switched back to Asus stock firmware and have not had a problem. I am currently using the Beta Asus firmware with no problems. When I have a chance I am going to try out Merlin's latest firmware.

 

[NGRhodes]

70C is not a problem. Mine is running at 80C normally without problem. These CPU have a max thermal design of around 130-140C.

 

[jontalk]

I've had my AC56R for many months now and am running the most current (non-beta) firmware and have NEVER had a dropped connection or stability problems of any type. And while everyone touts Merlin here for the extra features which am sure are great, I'm sticking with the stock firmware since it works quite nicely.. My two pence mate!

 

[Easy Limits]

I just loaded up Merlin's latest today. We shall see how it goes. I didn't have any problems with the Asus beta FW.