I'm thinking of trying Rmerlin or Fork custom firmware.

[RedBatman89]

So after seeing the new firmware made by Asus last week which I just found out about, I was deciding to wither or not go with Rmerlin or the fork one. My main reason is well that minor Upnp issue I have once in awhile. I'm beginning to think it has to do with the stable firmware That asus puts out once in awhile and I have a theory on why but I will get to that later.

So yeah which firmware would you guys recommend me to use the regular Rmerlin or this one. http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available.18914/

PS. also as for my theory I did test on why my PS3 gave me the UPnp issue. I would turn my PS3 on then off. THen I would turn my Wii U on then off. Then my PS3 back on in a few minutes and well sometimes I would get the Upnp not available because of that. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Gunner84]

I'm in the same boat as you, I currently have Merlins 374.43 But have tried all the latest 378.** releases, Im thinking of trying Johns 374.43 fork version as I have been happy with 374.43 but everyone suggests trying the fork as it has the security fixes.

 

[L&LD]

The RMerlin based hggomes fork is the best for highest range and throughput right now. In addition to being current with RMerlin 378.50 final.

With no offence to RMerlin and John's work and contributions here, I think that following closely to the latest official Asus builds as far as drivers go is the best way forward.

Being stuck in the past, technology wise, is not a solution. Sooner or later we will be shocked when we're forced to move from our old comfort zone. I'd rather move willingly.

 

[Nullity]

Just try them all and make your own conclusions. I personally experienced no useful throughput changes with any of the firmwares. I tested sdk5, sdk6, merlin, john's fork, stock, and numerous self-compiled versions of merlin/john with iperf. The only difference I experienced was that the lean, (removed lots of unneeded features) self-compiled build booted 2-3x faster (trx was ~10Mb vs ~25Mb, iirc). Most of my wireless improvements were from changes at the client.

Be cautious of claims that have zero proof (including mine).

 

[coldwizard]

If you are running a version older than 374.43, upgrade to the fork for the security fixes.
If that works well for you, take a look at the change logs for new features in newer versions. If you don't need the new features, then stop there.

There is state of the art (Merlin's latest) but expect you may encounter bugs and have to wait for a solution. These devices are cheap so the manufactures do not spend a lot of resources on in-house testing.

Then there is state of the user (older stable versions with known bugs and work-a-rounds).

Me? I run John's 374.43 fork. A router should route and protect itself and my network. I don't use any other features on it.

 

[RMerlin]

With no offence to RMerlin and John's work and contributions here, I think that following closely to the latest official Asus builds as far as drivers go is the best way forward.

I always use the latest drivers from Asus, unless a specific issue is found (like with the recent RT-AC66U driver), where I will downgrade to the previous version.

I've even occasionally made a release based on a beta build of the Quantenna driver when it helped improve things.

 

[Gunner84]

I always use the latest drivers from Asus, unless a specific issue is found (like with the recent RT-AC66U driver), where I will downgrade to the previous version.

I've even occasionally made a release based on a beta build of the Quantenna driver when it helped improve things.

I'm now on John's 374.43 fork version, would this have the latest drivers or Is it just the security fixes?

 

[L&LD]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the RMerlin firmware was using outdated drivers.

Just meant to link John's fork to your work, except with the older driver.

 

[L&LD]

I'm now on John's 374.43 fork version, would this have the latest drivers or Is it just the security fixes?

Just the security fixes.