Does ASUSWRT-Merlin's XT12 firmware support ET12?

[spruce-jackal]

I see XT12 model support listed on Merlin's About page, but no mention of the similar ET12 / 6E variant. Any chance XT12 firmware supports ET12? Some of the other firmware support multiple similar variants, but I'm unsure if these two are similar enough.

 

[RMerlin]

No, different model which requires its own firmware.

 

[JDB]

I've been waiting for the ET12 for ages as it's my perfect long term future proof router. Can only hope it gets Merlin's blessing and then I can actually buy a pair.

 

[spruce-jackal]

I've been waiting for the ET12 for ages as it's my perfect long term future proof router. Can only hope it gets Merlin's blessing and then I can actually buy a pair.

Seriously. The ET12 is definitely the sweet spot for me too - really hoping it gets Merlin.

 

[HolgerDK]

No, different model which requires its own firmware.

Is there an alpha or beta that we can test ?

 

[spruce-jackal]

Is there an alpha or beta that we can test ?

Also interested.

The ET12 1-pack really seems to be the sweet spot right now for a lot of users. Best high end options at different price tiers being GT-AX6000 ($350), then ET12 1-pack ($480) and then GT-AXE16000 ($700).

 

[RMerlin]

Is there an alpha or beta that we can test ?

No, I don't currently support the ET12.

 

[Smokey613]

Some of us even base our home router purchases based on Merlin support. No Merlin, no buy.

 

[ep312]

I haven't seen any mention of the ET12 being on the Merlin or official fork roadmap, but would absolutely love a build for this router

 

[RMerlin]

ET12 support is unlikely to happen at this time.

I added XT12 support because I wanted to have two different devices based on the new HND 5.04 SDK at the time, and also to test the waters with a Zen Wifi device.

The XT12 barely has any users. Roughly 80 downloads on the week the firmware was released, versus over 200 for the GT-AX6000 released at the same time. The RT-AX86U gets 3000-4000 downloads on a new release week. That's simply nowhere popular enough to justify the added workload, so for now, I am not going to support the ET12.

One of the problems with the XT12 and ET12 is the lack of USB port, which greatly reduces the usefulness of running Asuswrt-Merlin: it means no Entware, and most addons won't work either. So even if these routers sold more, there would be a less compelling incentive in running Asuswrt-Merlin. People specifically wanting to run it would rather go for a model with USB ports, to allow them to use addons such as Diversion.

 

[ep312]

ET12 support is unlikely to happen at this time.

I added XT12 support because I wanted to have two different devices based on the new HND 5.04 SDK at the time, and also to test the waters with a Zen Wifi device.

The XT12 barely has any users. Roughly 80 downloads on the week the firmware was released, versus over 200 for the GT-AX6000 released at the same time. The RT-AX86U gets 3000-4000 downloads on a new release week. That's simply nowhere popular enough to justify the added workload, so for now, I am not going to support the ET12.

One of the problems with the XT12 and ET12 is the lack of USB port, which greatly reduces the usefulness of running Asuswrt-Merlin: it means no Entware, and most addons won't work either. So even if these routers sold more, there would be a less compelling incentive in running Asuswrt-Merlin. People specifically wanting to run it would rather go for a model with USB ports, to allow them to use addons such as Diversion.

Thanks for the reply and for all the work you've put into developing such a fantastic firmware.

I really appreciate the insight into your decision process around which routers to support, the calculation of the workload to deployment scale has to be an interesting one to make. I'm curious how the ET12 userbase size compares to to the XT12, as aside from lacking merlin support it is essentially a more feature-full version of the same router.

I can only speak anecdotally but the features I'm missing the most from the ET12 after "upgrading" from the RT-AX88U are the added DNS features, TOR support, and general customization which aren't necessarily related to the USB port (or lack thereof).

Thanks again for this project, and I hope things change enough to justify supporting the ET12 in the future.