Best Firmware for RT-N66U?

[Poseidon]

Hello. New member here. I just returned my Cisco EA4500 router (due to the whole "cloud" firmware nonsense) and after doing some research I picked up an Asus RT-N66U router. Pretty happy with it's performance and features thus far.

Just a quick question regarding the firmware though. What is currently the BEST firmware to use for this router? Apparently you can go in many directions - official, beta, tomato, custom, etc. I'm not sure what the community here recommends.

Currently I'm using .151

Thanks in advance.

 

[RMerlin]

Honest answer: none is "the best", as they each have their own strengths and failing. I'd say all the RT-N66U alternatives still need more time to mature.

The Asus firmware will give you the best performance and simplicity in configuration, but it's still somewhat buggy. Between their latest official (112) and beta (151) I'd say 151 is easily their best release to date.

My builds are just Asus's builds with a few added features and bugfixes, but they are currently based on an older code base (144) than the latest Asus public beta (151).

Tomato might not have the same raw performance as the original firmware (tho they have made solid progress in that area), but it will give you a much better QoS engine (IMHO) and probably better overall stability.

DD-WRT will give you features out of the wazoo, but the RT-N66U version is still a bit rough, and is held back by its current 32K nvram limitation.

So at this point, it pretty much depends on your specific needs.

 

[Poseidon]

Thank you for the detailed breakdown RMerlin.

I will stick with .151 for now.

Also the router feels somewhat hot to the touch. Is this a concern and should I elevate it a little bit or is this normal?

 

[RMerlin]

Also the router feels somewhat hot to the touch. Is this a concern and should I elevate it a little bit or is this normal?

No worry, it's designed to run at that temperature. Most modern routers do.

 

[somms]

http://tomato.groov.pl/

Shibby's Tomato version runs very stable on my RT-N66U gateway router.

Has more than enough throughput for my FTTH 100Mbps symmetrical internet connection and supports OpenVPN running on the router which keeps my data secure when connecting via hotspots when I'm on the road!

 

[G37x]

The best one should be the one coming (hopefully) 152. Starting with 152 h/w accel will not be disabled if pf is enabled.

 

[hungarianhc]

Hey guys,

I know this is an old thread, but things may have changed since the last post, and I have the same question as the OP... I just got my brand new N66U today, and I'm currently running the latest Asus firmware. Should I just stick with it? I'm looking for maximum performance to my Synology NAS... If there is a custom firmware that has link aggregation, that is a major plus for me. I'm also looking for great routing performance and customization. I don't really need QoS tweaks though... what will it be, fellas? Thanks!

 

[nubyOz]

Hi best firmware is RMerlin 26b . best of stock plus extras.
Not aware of any firmware with link aggregation. Apart from that missing feature this is the best.
Cheers

 

[Bad Teddy]

If you have an Xbox 360 and intend to do any HD streaming, you're pretty much pigeonholed into using 354.xx.

Though, 354 has some serious issues on the 5GHz frequency; with 40MHz being just about non-functional, and 20MHz being a whole hell of alot less stable that it ought to be.

 

[hungarianhc]

Hi best firmware is RMerlin 26b . best of stock plus extras.
Not aware of any firmware with link aggregation. Apart from that missing feature this is the best.
Cheers

Thanks very much for the advice! It is now installed on my N66U, and I'll go from there and report back if I have issues. Thanks!

 

[hungarianhc]

Okay so here's my mini weekend "saga" with RT-N66U firmware... I was going to be fine sticking with default stock firmware, but it wasn't saving my port forwarding settings that I needed... I upgraded to the Merlin build, and again... it still wasn't saving my port forwarding settings. I did some searching online, and it appears that other people have had this issue with the stock firmware. I didn't want to get an older version of the firmware so I began my search...

After a lot of searching / trying to flash, I ended up bricking my router. Awesome (sarcastic). I kept reading up online, though, and I think I had it figured out how I bricked the thing. I took it back, got a new one, and gave it another shot... This time I was successful the first time around, and I got a very new (may 2013) build of DD-WRT on the device. I love DD-WRT... They layout is so clean... LOTS of options to tweak. I'll chime in if I notice any oddities, but at this point, I can definitely give DD-WRT a strong recommendation - and yes... it's saving my port forwarding entries!

This Asus router is pretty funny... very powerful... but the default software is pretty rough, and they don't make it easy to put custom firmware on the thing! Oh well I'm happy now....

 

[joegreat]

After a lot of searching / trying to flash, I ended up bricking my router. Awesome (sarcastic). I kept reading up online, though, and I think I had it figured out how I bricked the thing. I took it back, got a new one, and gave it another shot...

Hi,

Just out of my curiosity: Did you REALLY brick the RT-N66U?
I was convinced that this is not possible!

After I bricked my one I could easily bring it back to live with ASUS RT-N66U B1 Utility without problems!

With kind regards
Joe

 

[hungarianhc]

Hi,

Just out of my curiosity: Did you REALLY brick the RT-N66U?
I was convinced that this is not possible!

After I bricked my one I could easily bring it back to live with ASUS RT-N66U B1 Utility without problems!

With kind regards
Joe

So I don't remember all the details... picture spending saturday night from like 10PM til 2AM, banging your head against the wall, with like 50 browser tabs open haha... but essentially I got mine into a state where it couldn't be booted into recovery mode. Even in this state, my understanding is that it is not "fully bricked," but everything I read said that I would need to open the case, attach a USB to serial cable, etc. I didn't feel like doing that - took it back, got a new one, second one worked like a charm.

I don't feel bad taking it back "bricked." The way I see it, I needed port forwarding to work, and it didn't work on the stock firmware... what kind of high-end router comes without port forwarding?!? In my estimation, I got it "broken" and I'm returning it "broken." ;-)

Anyhow, the router is doing great so far. I'm on the road all this week so I don't have time to play with all the settings, but I'm looking forward to messing with it next week. The amount of options in DD-WRT is quite extensive, and I like that the UI is logically organized without big icons and silly graphics. At least being on the road, I can test that port forwarding so I can FTP into my Synology!

 

[NeutralGold]

So I don't remember all the details... picture spending saturday night from like 10PM til 2AM, banging your head against the wall, with like 50 browser tabs open haha... but essentially I got mine into a state where it couldn't be booted into recovery mode. Even in this state, my understanding is that it is not "fully bricked," but everything I read said that I would need to open the case, attach a USB to serial cable, etc. I didn't feel like doing that - took it back, got a new one, second one worked like a charm.

I don't feel bad taking it back "bricked." The way I see it, I needed port forwarding to work, and it didn't work on the stock firmware... what kind of high-end router comes without port forwarding?!? In my estimation, I got it "broken" and I'm returning it "broken." ;-)

Anyhow, the router is doing great so far. I'm on the road all this week so I don't have time to play with all the settings, but I'm looking forward to messing with it next week. The amount of options in DD-WRT is quite extensive, and I like that the UI is logically organized without big icons and silly graphics. At least being on the road, I can test that port forwarding so I can FTP into my Synology!

It was almost fun reading about your experience lol. Of course I'm sorry about your problems but I did like how you justified taking back a bricked router lol.. Anyhoo, I've been wanting to put DD-WRT on my router to see how it's shaping up on this model. But I look forward to seeing how it fairs for you.

 

[darkknight74]

What firmware works best for you now?

 

[sm00thpapa]

Best FW for wi-fi range is .276. But most will say not to use it due to security vulnerabilities. It's up to you.

 

[L&LD]

Range is only one aspect of performance. Recommending such an old firmware is like recommending XP for a new purchase.

Both will make any hardware junk (effectively) when (not if) security becomes an issue.

 

[RogerSC]

Just updated to the firmware version listed below, and it looks just fine, including wireless strength. I'll be staying with it for the time being to get the benefits of the updates *smile*.

First release I've been motivated to update to since 3.0.0.4.374.35_4-sdk5.

 

[L&LD]

Just updated to the firmware version listed below, and it looks just fine, including wireless strength. I'll be staying with it for the time being to get the benefits of the updates *smile*.

First release I've been motivated to update to since 3.0.0.4.374.35_4-sdk5.

Your post is a little confusing, you don't list a version?

 

[bluepoint]

Your post is a little confusing, you don't list a version?

Look at his signature.