Beta Asuswrt-Merlin 386.1 Beta is now available

[Makaveli]

Hello. I would like to report a performance regression.

386.1 Beta 2 and beta 3 has Wi-Fi 6 performance regression on the ax86u.

On stock asus firmware as well as 386 beta 1, I’m getting 920+ mbps down (speed test on two different Wi-Fi 6 clients, about 8 feet from the router).

However, starting on beta2, and continued on to beta 3, Wi-Fi performance has degraded about 75-90 mbps. I just downgraded back to beta1 and performance instantly increased by 80 mbps. The Wi-Fi 6 client didn’t move at all. Nothing changed except the firmware running on the router.

Wifi is a closed source component which merlin has no access to the code.

 

[bradbort]

Wifi is working fine with my own RT-AX88U and four wireless clients.



I am not worried. The kind of sophistication involved in this type of attack mean you generally target multi-billion dollar targets, not an open source project that has about 150K potential targets, most of which being home-based and therefore worth pennies at best.

If you are worried, feel free to scan the source code yourself, it's all on my Github.

So odd. I'm having the same connectivity issue with my AX88U. Wifi is fine, but I can no longer access internet from any client with beta 3. I'm at a loss as to why only some of us are seeing this problem. Reverting back to stock 386 solved the problem. Beta 2 did not have the issue.

 

[nanochip]

Wifi is a closed source component which merlin has no access to the code.

Ok thanks. Just putting my experience out there as I’m testing as well. Keep up the good work!!

 

[Blacklistedcard]

So odd. I'm having the same connectivity issue with my AX88U. Wifi is fine, but I can no longer access internet from any client with beta 3. I'm at a loss as to why only some of us are seeing this problem. Reverting back to stock 386 solved the problem. Beta 2 did not have the issue.

I have been pounding my AX88U with beta 3. No problems with my 23 clients connecting to the internet.

 

[msmith79]

Hi Merlin and hi all,
I installed the 386.1 beta 3 on my RT-AC86U, but I still have the problem above.

Is it a bug or is it just a problem with my router? How can I solve it?

Thank you very much.

Bye.

I also have this problem with Traffic Analyzer/Traffic Monitor/Statistics with RT-AC86U.

I reverted back to ASUS firmware 3.0.0.4.386_40451 which doesn't have the problem but would prefer to use Merlin!

 

[bradbort]

I have been pounding my AX88U with beta 3. No problems with my 23 clients connecting to the internet.

That is what makes it odd. At least 1-2 other people are reporting internet connectivity issues, but apparently many others are not having it. I wonder if something weird is going on with the address translation....

 

[RMerlin]

Maybe not exactly right

Re-generation is already fixed in beta 3.

No one can check the binary files from asus, because there is no signature.

And no one but Asus can create these binary files because it requires access to source code that only they possess. Decompiling ARM asm code, analyzing it, modifying it and recompiling it is something that would take days, if not weeks of work. I always end up downloading Asus`s code drops within a few hours of them uploading it. Unless an organization backed by million of dollars in resources is involved in such an attack, this isn`t happening.

 

[octopus]

Aimesh "Bind" seems not working. Symbol not get bold and not bind to any master or node. (I know closed........) just F.Y.I

 

[RMerlin]

That is what makes it odd. At least 1-2 other people are reporting internet connectivity issues, but apparently many others are not having it. I wonder if something weird is going on with the address translation....

My first guess is some of these people failed to follow the instructions of doing a factory default reset after running an alpha firmware, so their WAN MTU is most likely invalid. They should check their MTU to ensure it`s set to 1500 (IP) or 1492 (PPPoE). They should also check any existing VPN client configuration issues.

DNS issues are also a likely cause. Too often I see people configuring no WAN DNS servers expecting DoT to be able to replace them. No WAN DNS = no NTP clock sync = no working TLS = no working DoT. WAN interface need to have at least one working DNS server configured.

Asus hasn`t made any significant code change to WAN handling in 41350, except for adding PPPoA support for DSL models, which should only affect DSL products.

 

[RMerlin]

I also have this problem with Traffic Analyzer/Traffic Monitor/Statistics with RT-AC86U.

I reverted back to ASUS firmware 3.0.0.4.386_40451 which doesn't have the problem but would prefer to use Merlin!

Stop Traffic Analyzer, delete the database, then restart it.

rm /jffs/.sys/TrafficAnalyzer/TrafficAnalyzer.db

 

[jerry6]

just updated to beta 3 on my 5300 , now can no longer log in does not accept password . does this mean i have to reset everything ?

 

[[Jedi]]

Stop Traffic Analyzer, delete the database, then restart it.

rm /jffs/.sys/TrafficAnalyzer/TrafficAnalyzer.db

Thank you Merlin,
but just like msmith79 did, I also reverted back to ASUS firmware 3.0.0.4.386_40451 because I have another problem (already reported here): my CPU temperature was about 80°C all the time, while on stock firmware it is about 68/69°C.

I would prefer to use Merlin too, but the difference in CPU temperature is huge. What could be causing that?

Thank you.

Bye.

 

[bradbort]

My first guess is some of these people failed to follow the instructions of doing a factory default reset after running an alpha firmware, so their WAN MTU is most likely invalid. They should check their MTU to ensure it`s set to 1500 (IP) or 1492 (PPPoE). They should also check any existing VPN client configuration issues.

DNS issues are also a likely cause. Too often I see people configuring no WAN DNS servers expecting DoT to be able to replace them. No WAN DNS = no NTP clock sync = no working TLS = no working DoT. WAN interface need to have at least one working DNS server configured.

Asus hasn`t made any significant code change to WAN handling in 41350, except for adding PPPoA support for DSL models, which should only affect DSL products.

Thanks. I definitely did a complete factory default reset after I moved to the asus stock firmware, when they posted a 386 prod version for the AX88U. I'll check the MTU. My DNS is currently set to google's 8.8.8.8. I also tried to revert that setting back to auto from the ISP, but that did not solve the problem.

The only other change I noticed was with a new setting for secure Plugandplay in the WAN section. I'm not sure why that would be an issue.

 

[Suzib6sw]

So odd. I'm having the same connectivity issue with my AX88U. Wifi is fine, but I can no longer access internet from any client with beta 3. I'm at a loss as to why only some of us are seeing this problem. Reverting back to stock 386 solved the problem. Beta 2 did not have the issue.

Did you check the MTU on the WAN page after the upgrade? Set it for 1500, mine was blank after the upgrade. I also always restart the cable modem after a firmware upgrade.

 

[RMerlin]

I would prefer to use Merlin too, but the difference in CPU temperature is huge. What could be causing that?

A more important question would be: why would it matter? The CPU can run up to 100C before it starts throttling. That is well within safety margins.

Asus has occasionally done changes to power management to handle low-level issues over the years. They might have made such a change in recent GPLs perhaps.

Thanks. I definitely did a complete factory default reset after I moved to the asus stock firmware, when they posted a 386 prod version for the AX88U. I'll check the MTU.

There`s a possibility that the MTU issue might also exist with stock firmware, I haven't looked into it. You can manually adjust it on the WAN page.

The only other change I noticed was with a new setting for secure Plugandplay in the WAN section. I'm not sure why that would be an issue.

Asus recently realigned their miniupnpd code to be in sync with mine (since mine was newer). It's possible that they also added that option on the webui, my firmware always had that setting. What it basically does is prevent UPnP port forwarding requests to be sent from a different IP than the destination IP (which is why miniupnpd is not vulnerable to recent UPnP issues, as it already defaulted to secure mode).

 

[bradbort]

OK, just checked. WAN DNS is set to 8.8.8.8 with fallback of 8.8.4.4. I definitely did a full reset recently, and set it up from scratch before moving back you the beta 3 version. In terms of MTU value, I'm set up for IP, and the value is not shown in the WAN menu with that option. When I switch to PPOE, it shows correctly as 1492. I have no VPN set up. Is there another place I should be looking for MTU when I'm set to IP?

The repeated symptoms (I've now done this three times) is that when I move to beta 3, wifi and LAN are fine, but internet connectivity stops operating, even though the router says it is connected to the Internet.

 

[[Jedi]]

A more important question would be: why would it matter? The CPU can run up to 100C before it starts throttling. That is well within safety margins.

Asus has occasionally done changes to power management to handle low-level issues over the years. They might have made such a change in recent GPLs perhaps.

Hi Merlin,
it could matter if we think about the CPU health, a stable higher temperature could shorten the lifetime of the CPU.

However I understand that it could be a choice of Asus to handle issues as you told me. Later I'll surely try again the 386.1 beta 3, deleting the /jffs/.sys/TrafficAnalyzer/TrafficAnalyzer.db to see if that solves the problem of the statistics.

Thank you very much.

Bye.

 

[bradbort]

OK, just checked. WAN DNS is set to 8.8.8.8 with fallback of 8.8.4.4. I definitely did a full reset recently, and set it up from scratch before moving back you the beta 3 version. In terms of MTU value, I'm set up for IP, and the value is not shown in the WAN menu with that option. When I switch to PPOE, it shows correctly as 1492. I have no VPN set up. Is there another place I should be looking for MTU when I'm set to IP?

The repeated symptoms (I've now done this three times) is that when I move to beta 3, wifi and LAN are fine, but internet connectivity stops operating, even though the router says it is connected to the Internet.

OK. Found the issue.

In the stock firmware from assus, there is not MTU setting in IP mode for WAN. Nonetheless, everything worked fine.

When I changed to beta 3, there is an MTU field in IP mode toward the bottom of the WAN tab. That was indeed blank. I changed it to 1500 and everything works again.

Any ideas why what was likely an implicit default in the stock was not showing up in the explicit MTU field in the beta?

 

[bradbort]

Did you check the MTU on the WAN page after the upgrade? Set it for 1500, mine was blank after the upgrade. I also always restart the cable modem after a firmware upgrade.

Yup. That was the problem. My MTU value (which did not show up in stock when set in IP mode) was indeed blank in the beta version. So odd, but thanks for the hint.

 

[Noel K.]

Flashed beta 3 on my main ax88u and all 7 ac68u aimesh nodes, everything working perfekt. Thanks