What's new

Asuswrt-Merlin - Project update

  • SNBForums Code of Conduct

    SNBForums is a community for everyone, no matter what their level of experience.

    Please be tolerant and patient of others, especially newcomers. We are all here to share and learn!

    The rules are simple: Be patient, be nice, be helpful or be gone!

Where did you get it from? The only 382 release I see on the website is the August 29, 2017 release.

Directly from my contact at Asus. This is just a GPL archive for 382_15850, it's not a new firmware release.
 
This is something that will have to be done by Asus, as otherwise it would be kludgy, and most likely conflict with Asus's own IPTV support (which manipulates VLANs).

Personally, I think people in need of VLANs will be better served by a managed switch anyway. Netgear has a very inexpensive 8-ports model.



The RT-AC86U will give you that for nearly half the price of the GT-AC5300.



I got a new RT-AC88U GPL today, haven't had time to look into it yet (was a very busy day at work). I see traces that Asus actually did try to compile it before tarring it (lots of intermediate files not usually found in their GPL drops, like Makefile.in files and such), so it's a good sign.

I should also bring up the tri-band requirement to help the extender. I guess I could add a third router, but that's about another 20 watts & with my local electric provider having announced a doubling of our electric rates to help us be more power efficient, that matters. Sadly, they are about to go under a lawsuit for massive damages so we're expecting our rates to double from there... 80 cents a kilowatt hour at the start :/
 
This is something that will have to be done by Asus, as otherwise it would be kludgy, and most likely conflict with Asus's own IPTV support (which manipulates VLANs).

Personally, I think people in need of VLANs will be better served by a managed switch anyway. Netgear has a very inexpensive 8-ports model.

Hi RMerlin,
in my situation (to make it short, ISP bridged modem, connected to main lan/wifi router with 192.168.1.x private class and 192.168.2.x guest class; secondary router (AP mode) connected to the main one, in order to extend range of both private and guest classes); with your firmware and a managed switch would I be able to reply this?
If so, I've to start studying something new :)
Thank for the suggestion!
 
Last edited:
BTW, take a look at Firmware Mod Kit (not sure where it can be found since Google Code's demise). Really handy for extracting files from firmware images without having to flash them....

I used to use variants of this a lot, I suspect the un/squashfs-lzma and signature tools now need to be updated, but last version is archived by Google

https://code.google.com/archive/p/firmware-mod-kit/downloads

Original was by Jeremy Collake on bitsum

https://bitsum.com/firmware_mod_kit.htm
 
Hi "RMerlin",
first of all thank you for the wonderful work you do with the Asuswrt-Merlin project - A custom firmware for Asus routers!

To this day, the Asuswrt-Merlin project, it's definitely the best Asus router firmware (obviously much better than the stock Asus router firmware) , and, perhaps, it is also the best firmware for routers in general.
I have used the Asuswrt-Merlin with my old and trusted router Asus RT-AC88U (which unfortunately i have already sold, before reading this whole discussion), and i can say, without any doubt, than the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware v380.68_4 is very very stable, fast and secure as well as obviously full of improvements and new features.

The new Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300, to this day, is the best Asus router on the market (Quad core CPU 1.8 GHz + 1024 MB of RAM + 256 MB Flash + 2x USB 3.1 etc., etc.,) as confirmed by many positive reviews and tests on the internet.

Then the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 + the Asuswrt-Merlin would be an amazing, fantastic and perfect pair, like a dream!

I have an Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300, and i've read the whole discussion, and reading i have surely realized that you have not planned the Asuswrt-Merlin release date for the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300.

Dear "RMerlin", i just wanted to ask you if you've already decided that you will not develop in any case the Asuswrt-Merlin for Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300?

Finally, i ask you the courtesy to leave hope of development of the Asuswrt-Merlin for Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 maybe after you've developed it the Asuswrt-Merlin for other Asus routers and always have time to do it.

Thank you very much for everything you have done and what you will do in the future.

Thanks!

P.S.: I invite everyone to continue to support this beautiful project even by making some extra donations.
 
Hi "RMerlin",
first of all thank you for the wonderful work you do with the Asuswrt-Merlin project - A custom firmware for Asus routers!

To this day, the Asuswrt-Merlin project, it's definitely the best Asus router firmware (obviously much better than the stock Asus router firmware) , and, perhaps, it is also the best firmware for routers in general.
I have used the Asuswrt-Merlin with my old and trusted router Asus RT-AC88U (which unfortunately i have already sold, before reading this whole discussion), and i can say, without any doubt, than the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware v380.68_4 is very very stable, fast and secure as well as obviously full of improvements and new features.

The new Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300, to this day, is the best Asus router on the market (Quad core CPU 1.8 GHz + 1024 MB of RAM + 256 MB Flash + 2x USB 3.1 etc., etc.,) as confirmed by many positive reviews and tests on the internet.

Then the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 + the Asuswrt-Merlin would be an amazing, fantastic and perfect pair, like a dream!

I have an Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300, and i've read the whole discussion, and reading i have surely realized that you have not planned the Asuswrt-Merlin release date for the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300.

Dear "RMerlin", i just wanted to ask you if you've already decided that you will not develop in any case the Asuswrt-Merlin for Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300?

Finally, i ask you the courtesy to leave hope of development of the Asuswrt-Merlin for Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 maybe after you've developed it the Asuswrt-Merlin for other Asus routers and always have time to do it.

Thank you very much for everything you have done and what you will do in the future.

Thanks!

P.S.: I invite everyone to continue to support this beautiful project even by making some extra donations.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-project-update.41065/page-6#post-351744
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDB
80 cents a kilowatt hour
$0.80/kwh is a joke right? That would eat up a car payement or 2. Do they have a tiered system? $0.80 still would be more than double the highest tier where I live.

Envirolaws tend to lack rational, and unfortunately in my state I'm surrounded by the worst of it. One example... I just remodeled a few years ago when the govt required I install "Title24" light fixtures (only flourescent bulbs will fit) in my frontyard, kitchen, and baths. I asked my inspector if I could install standard can lights with LED bulbs; nope. Now I can't use LEDs in my stupid fixtures, and folks with 50 year old light fixtures now use less energy than me with their LED bulbs.

I don't vote for that kind of crap. I do my part by making my cell phones, computers, and cars last much longer than most folks (just upgraded from an S4 phone this year... also just had to junk my 2001 truck... and yeah I follow the kids around the house and turn off the lights too). Grand scheme of things, our enviro efforts are way out of place... look at the "Made in ..." logos on stuff... that is where the greatest enviro leverage will usually exist.

Hi RMerlin,
in my situation (to make it short, ISP bridged modem, connected to main lan/wifi router with 192.168.1.x private class and 192.168.2.x guest class; secondary router (AP mode) connected to the main one, in order to extend range of both private and guest classes); with your firmware and a managed switch would I be able to reply this?
If so, I've to start studying something new :)
Thank for the suggestion!

Yes you can, but RMerlin doesn't support it and it's not in a GUI. You will need some googlefu to implement it. Try adding these to your searches: robocfg, ebtables, ifconfig. Unfortunately documentation on using those features is splattered about from folks asking questions on a wide range of implementations. The most common implement is trunking the guest network with the main network to a managed switch. The info you find will also go deeper into things like setting up DHCP for more than 1 subnet, etc. Good luck!

Kev
 
$0.80/kwh is a joke right? That would eat up a car payement or 2. Do they have a tiered system? $0.80 still would be more than double the highest tier where I live.

Envirolaws tend to lack rational, and unfortunately in my state I'm surrounded by the worst of it. One example... I just remodeled a few years ago when the govt required I install "Title24" light fixtures (only flourescent bulbs will fit) in my frontyard, kitchen, and baths. I asked my inspector if I could install standard can lights with LED bulbs; nope. Now I can't use LEDs in my stupid fixtures, and folks with 50 year old light fixtures now use less energy than me with their LED bulbs.

I don't vote for that kind of crap. I do my part by making my cell phones, computers, and cars last much longer than most folks (just upgraded from an S4 phone this year... also just had to junk my 2001 truck... and yeah I follow the kids around the house and turn off the lights too). Grand scheme of things, our enviro efforts are way out of place... look at the "Made in ..." logos on stuff... that is where the greatest enviro leverage will usually exist.



Yes you can, but RMerlin doesn't support it and it's not in a GUI. You will need some googlefu to implement it. Try adding these to your searches: robocfg, ebtables, ifconfig. Unfortunately documentation on using those features is splattered about from folks asking questions on a wide range of implementations. The most common implement is trunking the guest network with the main network to a managed switch. The info you find will also go deeper into things like setting up DHCP for more than 1 subnet, etc. Good luck!

Kev

I'm on about 20c for now on the tiered, but we all get forced onto time of use when they do away will tiered. 25c for around 9pm-1pm, 40c from 1pm-9pm. That 40c is the double I'm looking at, & if they get hammered with being at fault for these fires, I can expect 80 real quick.
 
Do you think the RT-AC3200 will be updated? It has a Broadcom ARM CPU so I'm guessing I should be sweet :D

I assume they will, since I saw a new CFE update appear for the RT-AC3200 that increases its nvram size to 128 KB. Asus didn't provide any timetable as to when each model would be moved to 382.
 
I assume they will, since I saw a new CFE update appear for the RT-AC3200 that increases its nvram size to 128 KB. Asus didn't provide any timetable as to when each model would be moved to 382.

Righto, good news.

Also, do firmware updates also upgrade the CFE version, I bought my RT-AC3200 in Australia and have CFE version 1.0.1.6.

I found a CFE dump here for EU 2.0.0.3, or are there specific ones for Australia?

Cheers.
 
Righto, good news.

Also, do firmware updates also upgrade the CFE version, I bought my RT-AC3200 in Australia and have CFE version 1.0.1.6.

I found a CFE dump here for EU 2.0.0.3, or are there specific ones for Australia?

Cheers.

Asus only includes CFE upgrades for important issues. For instance, to upgrade the RT-AC68U for 64 MB firmware, or the RT-AC3200 nvram size. CFE updates are always risky, so they don't update them for any other scenarios.
 
It's not about the money. I could probably get a free router from Asus if I asked them. It's about the increased workload in supporting a router model that has its own unique features on top of everything else in the context of a one-man project. Customized webui, VPNFusion, etc... I simply cannot devote any additional time to this project, and I'm already looking at having to drop the older MIPS models to be able to keep up with the increased workload involved in adding the HND platform and also the continual addition of new closed source bits.

Those binary objects are now requiring me to get one GPL archive for each model that I support whenever Asus issues an update. If Asus does not update a given model at the same time as others, chances are high that this model won't be compatible with the new code, preventing me from releasing updates at the same time as other models. This is why having too many different models increases the complexity of managing this project and planning releases. This is already happening as Asus does not update the RT-AC86U at the same time as the GT-AC5300. I consider the RT-AC86U to be a much more popular model, hence my decision to support that one.

Ouch! This pretty much makes me reluctant to buy a GT-AC5300 . Hm... seems your firmware is a deal breaker. I've got an offer to get the GT-AC5300 for the same price as a RT-AC5300, but I dont know if its worth it without your support. I hope ASUS appreciate your golden work. I will probably cancel my order (GT-AC5300).
 
Ouch! This pretty much makes me reluctant to buy a GT-AC5300 . Hm... seems your firmware is a deal breaker. I've got an offer to get the GT-AC5300 for the same price as a RT-AC5300, but I dont know if its worth it without your support. I hope ASUS appreciate your golden work. I will probably cancel my order (GT-AC5300).
Seems the GT-AC5300 would have to have a massive user base to possibly get Merlin to re consider, though I do have an interest in getting one my self I'd have to put up with stock firmware.
*sigh* First world problems:p
 
Last edited:
Seems the GT-AC5300 would have to have a massive user base to possibly get Merlin to re consider, though I do have an interest in getting one my self I'd have to put up with stock firmware.
*sigh* First world problems:p
Well it is not priced to be a "massive mass seller" though. And yeah! 1st world problems... Serious ones! [emoji6] it hurts! [emoji57]

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
 
Would the AC66U-B1 work with 382, given that it seems to be basically an AC68U?
I had to use the 68U binaries to install Merlin.
 
Hi Eric, almost all of the routers supported by your great firmware are ac routers, except RT-N66U. Do you plan on stopping updates for the N66U in the near future? If so, I should start looking for a Merlin compatible ac router. Thanks very much!
 
Hi Eric, almost all of the routers supported by your great firmware are ac routers, except RT-N66U. Do you plan on stopping updates for the N66U in the near future? If so, I should start looking for a Merlin compatible ac router. Thanks very much!

The very first post in this thread answers your question!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Sign Up For SNBForums Daily Digest

Get an update of what's new every day delivered to your mailbox. Sign up here!
Top