Asuswrt-Merlin - custom build of the Asus RT-N66U firmware

[RMerlin]

There seems to be a bug with the official 162 code that was not present in earlier versions, and that bug has carried through to the Merlin build. It is detailed in this thread:

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...model=RT-N66U+(VER.B1)&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

And I can confirm that I am also seeing this problem (wireless will turn off according to the date/time schedule, but it does not turn back on). Is this a bug that you can locate and fix in your build?

It was working in your previous build 157

If it worked in 157 then I can take a look and see what they might have changed between both versions.

Can you give me a schedule example that will reproduce the issue?

 

[RMerlin]

Quick question about setting up my NAS. When the NAS is setup without a password i can actually mount it as a network drive and have everything exacty as if it was plugged into my usb. Now when i set up a password and access restriction so certain users on my network have readonly access etc the NAS shows up differently in my windows 7 network and it can no longer be mounted as a network drive. Is there any possibility to have a password and still be able to mount as a network drive?

I have no problem connecting a network drive to a password-protected share here.

What happens if you try to connect it from a command line? For example:

net use p: "\\192.168.1.1\Download2 (at sda1)"

Keep in mind that Windows cannot open multiple sessions with different users to a SMB server. If you already have a share mounted using a different username, you will have to unmount it first, then reboot your PC to flush out any remaining session.

 

[mossman]

If it worked in 157 then I can take a look and see what they might have changed between both versions.

Can you give me a schedule example that will reproduce the issue?

5Ghz disabled (but with same schedule set as below)


2.4Ghz schedule:

Mon-Sun - enabled 04:40, disabled 22:30


As stated earlier, it disables OK at around 22:30, but does not enable the following morning at 04:40.

 

[parrotfish]

5Ghz disabled (but with same schedule set as below)


2.4Ghz schedule:

Mon-Sun - enabled 04:40, disabled 22:30


As stated earlier, it disables OK at around 22:30, but does not enable the following morning at 04:40.

First of all, this being my first post, I want to say THANK YOU Merlin for creating this custom firmware, and also for your many helpful posts on this board. I learned much from reading your posts.

I am currently running FW 3.0.0.3.162.13 and it works very well.

The only issue I found is the problem with wireless radio scheduling that Mossman reported above. I think my symptoms are identical to those experienced by Mossman.

I scheduled the 2.4GHz radio to be always on, and the 5GHz radio to turn on in the morning (9 am) and off in the evening (11:59 pm). What I found is that the 5GHz radio turns off at the scheduled time, but then it fails to turn back on when it should. When I go to the Wireless/Professional page for the 5GHz radio I find that the “Enable Radio” button remains on “No” (even past the scheduled turn-on time); if I switch the button to “Yes”, then the radio turns on.

The problem seems to be independent of the choice of turn-off and turn-on times (I tried with various turn-on times, both before and after midnight: the outcome was always the same)

I have not tried the 162 stock build but, as Mossman pointed out, users on the Asus forum reported that this problem exists also in 162.

I was previously using 151 and the scheduling was working fine (I realize this detail is not very useful since Asus did not publish the source code for 151).

 

[mossman]

When I go to the Wireless/Professional page for the 5GHz radio I find that the “Enable Radio” button remains on “No” (even past the scheduled turn-on time); if I switch the button to “Yes”, then the radio turns on.

I also see that behaviour for my 2.4Ghz radio.

 

[DaveMishSr]

Merlin I just wanted to thank you. Your custom AsusWRT is awesome. I have tried Shibby's and Toastman's versions of Tomato and the wireless range and performance is inferior to your work. Also, I have learned a great deal just from reading your posts. Thanks again.

 

[RMerlin]

Merlin I just wanted to thank you. Your custom AsusWRT is awesome. I have tried Shibby's and Toastman's versions of Tomato and the wireless range and performance is inferior to your work. Also, I have learned a great deal just from reading your posts. Thanks again.

You're welcome. A lot of the credit still goes tol Asus, as the wireless part is pretty much untouched from their build. That's why I try to be very discriminating as to what I change or implement in my builds, as I want to preserve what's best about the original firmware. Optware lets people install a lof of the missing features they might want. And Tomato is always available for people that really want more features already integrated.

 

[RMerlin]

I'll try to take a look at the scheduling issues sometime this week. I got the source code for 157 from Asus, and apparently scheduling also worked in that version. That gives me a starting point to look at this issue.

 

[Chuck_IV]

Merlin I just wanted to thank you. Your custom AsusWRT is awesome. I have tried Shibby's and Toastman's versions of Tomato and the wireless range and performance is inferior to your work. Also, I have learned a great deal just from reading your posts. Thanks again.

That inferior wireless range was the first thing I noticed about Shibby's version when I tried it. Even when pumping up the TX values it still didn't compare. That's why I ultimately came to this ROM. I dunno if I was doing something wrong or if that's just the way Shibby's version is but wireless range is what I am after, since my back bedroom is a nightmare to get a solid signal in(still only get 4 bars on 2.4 and 2-3 bars on 5ghz with this firmware/stock).

 

[diyguy]

What is the reason that you folks are using the scheduling feature for ? I am not sure I understand the purpose of turning off one band for a specified period of time or even all of it. Just curious that is all.

 

[parrotfish]

What is the reason that you folks are using the scheduling feature for ? I am not sure I understand the purpose of turning off one band for a specified period of time or even all of it. Just curious that is all.

In my case, it is to save power by turning off the 5 GHz radio when I don't need it (i.e. at night, when all my 5 GHz clients are off or idle).

That said, I must add that I have not measured how much the router's power consumption is reduced when the 5 GHz radio is off... So I am not sure if it's really worth turning it off.

 

[Mikeriv]

I have no problem connecting a network drive to a password-protected share here.

What happens if you try to connect it from a command line? For example:




Keep in mind that Windows cannot open multiple sessions with different users to a SMB server. If you already have a share mounted using a different username, you will have to unmount it first, then reboot your PC to flush out any remaining session.

Well ya you are right, I can mount any folder on my nas individually as a network drive, but without password protection I can actually mount the whole NAS as a network drive making it appear like it would if I directly connected via usb.

 

[RMerlin]

What is the reason that you folks are using the scheduling feature for ? I am not sure I understand the purpose of turning off one band for a specified period of time or even all of it. Just curious that is all.

It also allows parents to control the wifi access of their children, ensuring that they don't spend their time accessing Facebook on their smartphone outside of certain hours.

Also, some people are actually worried about the long-term effects of radio radiations, so they prefer to turn that off when nobody actually needs it, like during the night.

 

[diyguy]

It also allows parents to control the wifi access of their children, ensuring that they don't spend their time accessing Facebook on their smartphone outside of certain hours.

Also, some people are actually worried about the long-term effects of radio radiations, so they prefer to turn that off when nobody actually needs it, like during the night.

Ahh, gotcha! looks like I might have to implement this once it is working properly, paranoia has got me thinking about the radio waves now, lol.

 

[Raffael_M]

help! can't access the webinterface..

i turned on the https option... and now i can't access my router's webinterface.

 

[RMerlin]

i turned on the https option... and now i can't access my router's webinterface.

The default port for https is 8443.

https://192.168.1.1:8443

 

[Raffael_M]

thx. was to quick, so i didn't see the https port field.

 

[Raffael_M]

WoL over internet with RT-N66U

btw...
could u tell me how to WoL a NAS over internet without accessing the rt-n66u webinterface? is this possible?

 

[RMerlin]

btw...
could u tell me how to WoL a NAS over internet without accessing the rt-n66u webinterface? is this possible?

Opening your network to remote WOL is a bad idea security-wise IMHO. Best to rely on VPN to access the webui, or wait for AiCloud which will offer a WOL option.

 

[richto]

Keep in mind that Windows cannot open multiple sessions with different users to a SMB server.

Yes it can. Just use different server names - e.g. DNS aliases.