Beta Asuswrt-Merlin 3006.102.4 Beta is now available

[pershoot]

Is factory reset mandatory after going from Asus 3006 to Merlin 3006???

It is advised / preferred. However, I went straight from latest Asus (mar. 2025) to a built from source merlin's 3006 b1 (ax86u pro), no reset / wipe and seems ok on my end but I have not dove into the weeds, so to speak, to discern of any issues on that end. Rock stable over here for my use case(s), thus far, which aren't complex.

 

[bennor]

i just asked in the older final release for the 16000 just llike the 11000 ..

The reality is that RMerlin has been indicating for a while now that he would stop supporting ROG in certain firmware tracks, and has repeatedly explained why. It is what it is. If you want the 3006 firmware ROG interface (and the few features it may have over the non ROG interface) then use the stock Asus ROG firmware for your router, assuming there is a ROG 3006 version. May not be optimal for your use case, but there is it.

Per Asuswrt-Merlin 3004.388.9 is now available, several routers including the GT-AXE16000 are being included in the 3006.102.x firmware track.

List of models that are not included in thise release, as they will be included in the next 3006.102 release:

• GT-AX6000
• zenWifi Pro XT12
• GT-AX11000 Pro
• GT-AXE16000
• RT-AX86U Pro
• RT-AX88U Pro

So you have a choice, use the latest stock Asus ROG firmware, or use the last Asus-Merlin 3004.388 ROG release for your router, or bite the bullet so to speak and use the non ROG Asus-Merlin 3006.102 firmware for your router.

Changelog (3006) | Asuswrt-Merlin

www.asuswrt-merlin.net

3006.102.x (xx-xxx-xxxx)
- NOTE: As a reminder, the ROG variant of the webui is not
supported in the 3006 firmware series, as maintaining
two separate interfaces is too much extra work.

 

[pershoot]

i just asked in the older final release for the 16000 just llike the 11000 ..

In this case, you'll need to roll up your sleeves, fire up your DEV environment and go to town!
RMerlin's work is published here:

GitHub - RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng: Third party firmware for Asus routers (newer codebase)

Third party firmware for Asus routers (newer codebase) - RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng

github.com

 

[bbunge]

Not sure where to post this. I have an AX86U Pro and 2x AX86S running in AI mesh. AX86U Pro has 3006.102.4, AX86S's have 3004.388.9

AI mesh is available for 2.4Ghz. many 5Ghz clients can only connect to main AX86U Pro router. Tried turning on/off 5Ghz on the mesh points, force clients to roam using smart connect, but to no avail. The 5Ghz light is on on the Mesh's. Devices in question are Apple iPads 9th generation

Did you remove and re-add the AiMesh nodes as recommended?

 

[MDM]

Have you checked everything even 5ghz speed test and 6ghz speed test cause I'm not getting what I was getting before...
I have 2 gig service and 5ghz was giving me around little over 1 gig and 6ghz little over 2 gigs now speed test for both under 1 gig smh

With same manual wireless settings? Channel, bandwidth etc.?
If not, nothing to do with FW...

 

[outlaw78]

Is one going to be able to downgrade back to 3004 once 3006 has been installed?

 

[GWTechTalk]

The BSD feature still continued to be problematic even though I put all my apple devices in a BSD exempt list it would still try to steer them. I decided to give turning of BSD a go but when you do it in the GUI it states you must turn off MIMO as well. Knowing that's not true I decided to jump into SSH and disable BSD. Doing this increased my throughput on some of my devices by about 20%, which was an interesting find. More importantly, at least to me no huge log spam about "rejects" and "no response" from the BSD module. The GUI LIES!

# Disable band steering logic without touching MIMO
nvram set wl_bsd_enabled=0
nvram unset wl_bsd_ifnames
nvram unset wl_bsd_ifnames_list

# (Optional: disable SmartConnect completely if it's linked)
nvram set smart_connect_x=0

# Commit and reload wireless
nvram commit
service restart_wireless

 

[bennor]

Is one going to be able to downgrade back to 3004 once 3006 has been installed?

Yes. Note, if you haven't already, what is indicated about downgrading in the 3006 change log:

3006.102.3 (11-Jan-2025)
- NOTE: If flashing on top of Asus stock firmware 3006.102_37000
or greater, then you first need to enable downgrade
capabilities before flashing Asuswrt-Merlin on top
of it. Connect Over SSH, and run the following command:

nvram set DOWNGRADE_CHECK_PASS=1

After that, you can upload Asuswrt-Merlin through
the webui like any regular firmware upgrade.

This is only required when flashing Asuswrt-Merlin
for the first time.

- NOTE: The new GPL codebase changed the way wireless networks
are configured. If you ever revert to an older
firmware, you MUST do a factory default reset following
the firmware downgrade, on both the router and any
existing AiMesh nodes.

 

[GWTechTalk]

Is one going to be able to downgrade back to 3004 once 3006 has been installed?

I believe the answer is yes. There is a downgrade flag that has to be set but if you have Merlin installed you likely already set that. I would not dirty flash back to 3004. Do a full reset of 3006, then install 3004 and do another full reset for good measure. I don't know for sure if ASUS routers are like the old Linksys where you would do a 30/30/30 wipe to be sure you were fresh installing the firmware with no residuals. Those types of resets can be problematic if you are not familiar with direct flashing.

 

[visortgw]

I believe the answer is yes. There is a downgrade flag that has to be set but if you have Merlin installed you likely already set that. I would not dirty flash back to 3004. Do a full reset of 3006, then install 3004 and do another full reset for good measure. I don't know for sure if ASUS routers are like the old Linksys where you would do a 30/30/30 wipe to be sure you were fresh installing the firmware with no residuals. Those types of resets can be problematic if you are not familiar with direct flashing.

No 30/30/30 reset, but rather a WPS reset procedure:

1. Turn the router off.
2. Press and hold the WPS button — turn the router on.
3. Power light turns on (keep holding the WPS button).
4. Release the WPS button after the power light turns off.
5. Reboot your router by manually cycling the power button.

 

[freddyjuarez]

With same manual wireless settings? Channel, bandwidth etc.?
If not, nothing to do with FW...

Yes didn't change anything only installed Merlin Firmware RT-BE92U_3006_102.4_beta1, now my 5ghz and 6ghz are not giving me same speed test results as before.. and yes I know it's beta firmware is this something you guys are experiencing?????

 

[MDM]

Yes didn't change anything only installed Merlin Firmware RT-BE92U_3006_102.4_beta1, now my 5ghz and 6ghz are not giving me same speed test results as before.. and yes I know it's beta firmware is this something you guys are experiencing?????

You are not getting me...
I am not implying you changed anything, but if the mentioned WiFi is set manually or not (before and now)?
Since as I said - Auto does not count as comparaison (Channel can/will change so it affects speed and everything)!

 

[jerry6]

Is one going to be able to downgrade back to 3004 once 3006 has been installed?

yes did it several times with alpha , no problem did not have to do a rest things just worked . After going back to 3004 went back to 3006 beta no problem . it is nothing like the old days when flashing new FW could trash a router , very rare for that to happen with an Asus

 

[jerry6]

Have you checked everything even 5ghz speed test and 6ghz speed test cause I'm not getting what I was getting before...
I have 2 gig service and 5ghz was giving me around little over 1 gig and 6ghz little over 2 gigs now speed test for both under 1 gig smh

best to do a reset and a manual settings Merlin should have the same wireless speeds as stock

 

[jarip]

Not sure if this is a proper place to post this, but at least it is related to beta. This is my first trying to get guest VLAN to work with Netgate 6100 and RT-AX88U Pro, which was "dirty" updated from 3004.388.8_4 to 3006.102.4_beta1.

In pfSense I configured VLAN interface 192.168.52.1/24 with tag 52 to LAN interface 192.168.4.1/24, which RT-AX88U Pro is connected to. Also configured a DHCP server for this VLAN interface.

In RT-AX88U Pro in AP mode I created a Customized Network, but it seems to fail with dnsmasq not starting (192.168.52.1: Cannot assign requested address) and client not connecting. The same happened with Guest Network, which I also tried.

How could this be fixed?

 

[freddyjuarez]

You are not getting me...
I am not implying you changed anything, but if the mentioned WiFi is set manually or not (before and now)?
Since as I said - Auto does not count as comparaison (Channel can/will change so it affects speed and everything)!

Alllll I did was installed the Merlin Firmware nooooo I didn't change any wireless settings I'm not using auto channel

 

[Ripshod]

Alllll I did was installed the Merlin Firmware nooooo I didn't change any wireless settings I'm not using auto channel

Just to clarify, you came from Asus 3.0.0.6 firmware to the Merlin 3006 and are having problems that you can't pin down?
Factory reset.

 

[RMerlin]

In pfSense I configured VLAN interface 192.168.52.1/24 with tag 52

The Asus router is trying to use 192.168.52.1 for itself, so your Netgate device will need to use a different address.

 

[freddyjuarez]

Just to clarify, you came from Asus 3.0.0.6 firmware to the Merlin 3096 and are having problems that you can't pin down?
Factory reset.

HUH WHAT???? where you getting 3096 bro, I went from ASUS RT-BE92U Firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_37526 to Merlin RT-BE92U_3006_102.4_beta1 Firmware

 

[Ripshod]

HUH WHAT???? where you getting 3096 bro, I went from ASUS RT-BE92U Firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_37526 to Merlin RT-BE92U_3006_102.4_beta1 Firmware

Okay! So I made a typo (fat fingers on a phone)! Calm down and reset your router.
And I ain't your bro.