AC68u which FW?

[Briant73]

Today I ordered an AC68U router and was wondering which FW to load after I get it, of course there is stock Asus, Rmerlin and Fork choices and am wondering which one I should use with the AC68U. I currently run Fork on my n66u which keeps the wireless range decent but was wondering if with the 68u I should try stock or Rmerlin's FW.

Currently my router is doing WIFI for 2.4 and 5ghz clients and also serving my wired ethernet network devices. I don't run ftp or any nas connected to the router.

 

[D._Manley]

John's fork is superb on mine.

 

[joegreat]

I currently run Fork on my n66u which keeps the wireless range decent but was wondering if with the 68u I should try stock or Rmerlin's FW.

No need for John's fork on the AC68U router: Only the N66U profits from the older drivers in respect of range. The AC68U router was released after the WLAN restriction became mandatory and they are implemented in the first release of the router.

Do yourself a favor and use Merlin's fork with the latest updates in respect of security and features!

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Only the N66U profits from the older drivers in respect of range.

True but with John's fork you can still modify region and power the newer builds not so much.

 

[MarkRH]

I was using RMerlin's version until Asus released 3.0.0.4.380_1031 a few days ago for the RT-AC68U. Once RMerlin's alpha Firmware goes to beta/release I will probably go back to it.

My Bandwidth monitors are working much better with this version.

 

[kvic]

It's a difficult question... few people know the truth nor anyone dare to tell the truth..you'd better try it out yourself

The two gents above are both right.

John's fork has a few new additions in the past year which shall be badly missed by some users not on his fork.

Merlin's greatest addition to ASUSWRT that last unique until today is the custom scripts IMHO.

The stock firmware is not a bad choice if people don't need tinkering with custom scripts...certainly not as bad as some people would claim on this forum.

 

[Briant73]

Thanks everyone, my game plan is to try the latest stock FW and get a good baseline but if I run into issues or want another feature I may try the other two. From what I read the Fork FW doesn't enhance the wireless driver like it did for my n66u but gives me more control of the antenna power settings?

 

[Anorax]

I am still using the Merlin 378.56_2 firmware and it is very solid. 34 day uptime and no issues during this time period. The ability to fine tune my hidden wireless settings using Merlin is essential for my needs.

 

[MarkyPancake]

I'm a N66U user with John's Merlin fork, but have got an AC68U on its way in the post and have been wondering the same thing about firmware on this one.

Have Asus sorted out the 5 GHz channels in Europe now, so we can use all the ones we're legally allowed to and that are available on other routers? My N66U only has four 5 GHz channels to choose from, whereas my Virgin Media Super Hub 2 in router mode has lots more that can be selected.