Asuswrt-Merlin and RT-AC2900, supported?

[Knet75]

Hi,
I'm upgrading my router and have been looking at the RT-AC86U.
Unfortunally the RT-AC86U is hard to come by now, so I found an RT-AC2900 instead.
As I understand the RT-AC2900 is identical with just another name for marketing purposes, but my question is if the Asuswrt-Merlin version still will work since its not specified in the official supported devices list?

rgds
Kenneth

 

[RMerlin]

Asus builds a separate firmware for that particular model, so it might not be fully compatible with the RT-AC86U firmware.

 

[Knet75]

Thanks for the reply!
Ok, will I risk anything by trying to install your firmware, or would it be safe to try?

Kenneth

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for the reply!
Ok, will I risk anything by trying to install your firmware, or would it be safe to try?

Kenneth

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure, since the HND platform is radically different from previous ones.

 

[ColinTaylor]

The Asus firmware downloads for the RT-AC2900 and RT-AC86U are binary identical (I checked the CRC of each). Whether that means it will work, I have no idea.

The source code contains lots a code that checks for model "AC2900" and substitutes "RT-AC86U". (Interesting that the model is "AC2900" and not "RT-AC2900")

 

[Keenan]

Hi,
I'm upgrading my router and have been looking at the RT-AC86U.
Unfortunally the RT-AC86U is hard to come by now, so I found an RT-AC2900 instead.
As I understand the RT-AC2900 is identical with just another name for marketing purposes, but my question is if the Asuswrt-Merlin version still will work since its not specified in the official supported devices list?

rgds
Kenneth

When you say the AC86U is hard to find, Amazon shows it will be in stock on the 22nd of this month. That's Amazon USA though, you don't indicate where you're at so that may not work for you.

 

[Knet75]

What I meant with hard to find for the RT-AC86u (in Sweden) was that it had 6-8 days delivery time when ordering online.
So I found a local store that had the RT-AC2900 that I bought today instead.
Have not yet set it up, but will start with the Asus firmware, and maby try the Merlin one abit later. Don't want to risk bricking the router the first day (cost me €300)

Thanks for all the replies!

K

 

[Knet75]

The Asus firmware downloads for the RT-AC2900 and RT-AC86U are binary identical (I checked the CRC of each). Whether that means it will work, I have no idea.

The source code contains lots a code that checks for model "AC2900" and substitutes "RT-AC86U". (Interesting that the model is "AC2900" and not "RT-AC2900")

This is the document I found before I bought the RT-AC2900: https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3365365

 

[ColinTaylor]

This is the document I found before I bought the RT-AC2900: https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3365365

I'm sure it's true that they are physically identical. That only difference that I can think of would be in the CFE firmware. There it would have a model number of (presumably) "AC2900" rather than "RT-86U" - so provided that the firmware was written to recognise "AC2900" it should be OK.

I suppose there might be a danger that for marketing purposes certain software features are turned on or off depending on the "burnt-in" model number.

 

[Knet75]

Have sent an email to Asus, to ask them what the difference is with these two models. Seems that even at their own sites, clicking on certain pages for the RT-AC2900 redirects me to a page for RT-AC86U.
I was going to send an enquiery via the vip-support, but for some strange reason the RT-AC2900 is not in the dropdown-list with wireless router models...
If I get any intresting answer I will post back, and again thanks for fast and good answers!

**Update **
Got the following replies from Asus Nordic support:

"Hi Kenneth! Hardware-wise they are indeed the exact same, so firmware from the RT-AC86U should work fine. However, I can't find anyone that can confirm that firmware are 100% interchangable between models. Our product manager and Networking Support both tell me it should work. I hope this helps. Best regards Alex, ASUS"

I then followed up with the question if I would run a risk of damaging or bricking my router by trying the AC86U firmware and got the following answer:

"No one in the Nordics have tried it. So for the moment the risk is there, and I can't really recommend for you. It should work, but I don't want to tell yo to do it. Unfortunately I don't have any more information at the moment. I can ask the Software Engineers in Taiwan, but it might take a while to get a response. Best regards Alex, ASUS"

So for now, it seems I will try to stick to the official firmware untill I get an answer from ASUS again, or if I see that RMerlin has added the RT-AC2900 to the supported devices list for his firmware.

Have a great weekend all!

K