Benefits of MerlinWRT on Aimesh nodes?

[Reef2009]

Hi.


I have a setup of:
Mainrouter: AX88U (latest MerlinWRT)
Aimesh Node 1: AC88U
Aimesh Node 2: AC68U

My AiMesh nodes run mostly the latest Asus firmware available.

I love MerlinWRT but with what firmware should I flash my Aimesh nodes?
What are the benefits for running AsusWRT vs MerlinWRT on the AiMesh nodes?

 

[L&LD]

Always flash the same firmware version (when possible) to all your routers. Things just work better when you do.

 

[Tech9]

I would run the same firmware version on all router/nodes just to ensure AiMesh firmware component is the same.

 

[kamelie1706]

I have the same question and cannot find answers.

I do understand having same firmware brings potentially stability but does Merlin brings any other functionalities/benefits for a node?

 

[wiz]

I used to use merlin on my mesh nodes too, up until a specific version. My rt-ac68u stopped working, and when I reset the device to default I could not get it to connect. Then I reverted to stock asus on the RT-ac68u. The other node is a RT-ax55 so that ran stock all along.

I use de mesh nodes primarily for wifi coverage so no real need to have them run merlin.

 

[kamelie1706]

Can they be used for anything else than coverage in node mode with Merlin like webcam server?

 

[JGrana]

You could ssh into the nodes, plug in a USB stick and install Entware/Addons if you wanted. Amtm runs fine on the nodes.
Since the nodes aren't the "router" there are many addons that don't make sense (i.e. Unbound, x3mRouting, etc.).
Some that might be useful would be scribe to send it's logs to the main router, ntpMerlin to have chrony run locally, scMerlin in case of trouble etc.

 

[Krism]

I'm also running stock firmware on my nodes. I tried running merlin, but for some reason the stock fw is much more stable

 

[kamelie1706]

You could ssh into the nodes, plug in a USB stick and install Entware/Addons if you wanted. Amtm runs fine on the nodes.
Since the nodes aren't the "router" there are many addons that don't make sense (i.e. Unbound, x3mRouting, etc.).
Some that might be useful would be scribe to send it's logs to the main router, ntpMerlin to have chrony run locally, scMerlin in case of trouble etc.

Sounds like fun enough!

 

[rlj2]

Can they be used for anything else than coverage in node mode with Merlin like webcam server?

You can do mostly anything on a merlin node via command line mode same as the main. My nodes perform different tasks , like run rclone on cron to backup the attached usb drives to google drive. Its really the only reason or need to run merlin on a node.