Firmware 3.0.0.4.246 almost there

[lfbb]

Try this: go to LAN -> Switch Control, and set it to force disable GRO.

There are two options there: 'Enable Jumbo Frame' and 'Disable HW Accelerator'. Which one disables that GRO thing?

- lfbb

 

[RMerlin]

There are two options there: 'Enable Jumbo Frame' and 'Disable HW Accelerator'. Which one disables that GRO thing?

- lfbb

Neither. The option I'm talking about was only added with 246.

 

[bluepoint]

rolling back from .246 to .220.

Somehow the 2.4Ghz become unstable in this version.

Yes, for some reason 2.4Ghz wireless is too sensitive to noises on this latest firmware(.246). Speed test were jumpy whether the channels are on auto or manual @20MHz. Going back to .220 regains the stability of 2.4GHz wireless.

 

[Chriscic]

I recommend using the DHCP Lease page (under System Logs) rather than the Network Map list for this. The DHCP Lease page actually gives you what DHCP leases have been allocated, while the Network Map will show anything the router has seen passing through it (including long-disconnected devices).

When running my custom firmware you can also get extensive wireless client info on the Wireless Log page (again in the System Logs section).

Thanks for the tip. I do notice now that the main client status list is working better (although still inconsistently on the icons). It seems to take a while for stuff to show up, whereas on my old router I believe it happened more or less instantly.

I do look forward to trying your custom firmware as soon as I find the uninterrupted time. I assume I will have to redo my settings again.

I did try out AICould and HOORAY FINALLY! I can do WOL properly. Other than that, I tried some streaming to my Android tablet from my WHS shares and it worked pretty well, although no transcoding here obviously so a lot of stuff it wouldn't play very well. Could get the streaming to work on the iPhone at all yet. Not sure what ASUS is trying to accomplish here, because there are existing apps out there (like AirVideo and Filehound for example) that let you do the file streaming and file access better already. But AICould is it's own separate topic.

 

[house]

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=50168&postcount=16

there is : http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=RT-N66U+(VER.B1)&p=11&s=2

do your magic Eric

 

[dbott]

there is : http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=RT-N66U+(VER.B1)&p=11&s=2

do your magic Eric

Not sure he would want to on this version as it seems by the posts they messed up something in 2.4ghz band. I for one do not need that headache.

 

[RMerlin]

Not sure what ASUS is trying to accomplish here, because there are existing apps out there (like AirVideo and Filehound for example) that let you do the file streaming and file access better already. But AICould is it's own separate topic.

AiCloud works from outside your LAN. It means you can go a friend's place, and start streaming the music from your home computer to your friend's place. Other alternatives either only work from home, or require complex VPN + DDNS setups.

 

[SoCalReviews]

I can't imagine what they would have changed for the 2.4Ghz band from the Asus firmware version 4.220. I have three RT-N66Us that I just recently updated to Asus official firmware 4.246 and they all seem to be working well. I haven't noticed 2.4Ghz band problems with any of them so far. Two of them are running simultaneously next to each other on fixed channels in a very crowded neighborhood (at least twelve other 2.4Ghz broadcasts can be recognized by my smart phone) and there are up to three multiple broadcasts from neighbors on some of the exact same channels. I have had up to twenty eight different devices connected to one of my RT-N66Us with most of those devices connected via the 2.4Ghz band and I haven't detected any issues yet...no high number of disconnects, slow connections, etc...compared to firmware version 4.220 but it has only been a few days. I will post about any problems if I notice any.

 

[bluepoint]

I can't imagine what they would have changed for the 2.4Ghz band from the Asus firmware version 4.220. I have three RT-N66Us that I just recently updated to Asus official firmware 4.226 and they all seem to be working well. I haven't noticed 2.4Ghz band problems with any of them so far. Two of them are running simultaneously next to each other on fixed channels in a very crowded neighborhood (at least twelve other 2.4Ghz broadcasts can be recognized by my smart phone) and there are up to three multiple broadcasts from neighbors on some of the exact same channels. I have had up to twenty eight different devices connected to one of my RT-N66Us with most of those devices connected via the 2.4Ghz band and I haven't detected any issues yet...no high number of disconnects, slow connections, etc...compared to firmware version 4.220 but it has only been a few days. I will post about any problems if I notice any.

Disconnection is not a problem with the latest firmware, it's the inconsistent speeds through a very short speed tests. And it's not only the download speed that is jumpy, even the upstream hesitates. I probably have many stations around me, 48-50 at peak times and 3 of them are very close to me. I don't know what has changed but firmware .220 in 2.4GHz band is very consistent and quick compared to .246's unsteady speeds.

 

[RMerlin]

There's a new setting called Enhanced interference management on the Wireless Professional page. Enabling this will make the router better handle situations where you have a lot of interference. Try toggling this option and see if it helps.

 

[AnthonyArmato]

I've noticed less throughput on my downloads with this version.

 

[bluepoint]

There's a new setting called Enhanced interference management on the Wireless Professional page. Enabling this will make the router better handle situations where you have a lot of interference. Try toggling this option and see if it helps.

I didn't notice the new enhancement the first time, so, when I saw your post, I tried to reflash to .246 and see if enabling "Enhance interference management" will change the wireless behaviour in 2.4MHz band. The feature is actually enabled with .246 already but this time the speed in the 2.4 band is not unsteady as previously experienced. It worked good with steady speeds for about 4 hours until the rest of the family arrived and started connecting their laptop, iphones, ipad. Bad news, one by one all hardwares cannot maintain connections with the 2.4 band wireless.
There is definitely a bug with the wireless in the latest firmware and hopefully they find the fix. In the meantime, I'll fallback to the steady 4.220 firmware.

 

[RMerlin]

I didn't notice the new enhancement the first time, so, when I saw your post, I tried to reflash to .246 and see if enabling "Enhance interference management" will change the wireless behaviour in 2.4MHz band. The feature is actually enabled with .246 already but this time the speed in the 2.4 band is not unsteady as previously experienced. It worked good with steady speeds for about 4 hours until the rest of the family arrived and started connecting their laptop, iphones, ipad. Bad news, one by one all hardwares cannot maintain connections with the 2.4 band wireless.
There is definitely a bug with the wireless in the latest firmware and hopefully they find the fix. In the meantime, I'll fallback to the steady 4.220 firmware.

But did you try to disable it?

 

[bluepoint]

But did you try to disable it?

Yes I did and the wireless speed becomes unsteady when enhanced management is disabled.

 

[dsring]

3.0.0.4.246 Take 2....

Initially with 3.0.0.4.246, I was having 2.4 GHz wireless disconnect problems, and went back to 3.0.0.4.220.18b to solve the disconnect issues. Last night, I re-flashed 3.0.0.4.246. After re-flashing the firmware, I cleared the NVRAM and power cycled the router. I then disabled 'Enhanced interference management' and 'GRO'. Everything has worked well for the last 16 hours or so. I will update if things change.

 

[kuby8388]

Initially with 3.0.0.4.246, I was having 2.4 GHz wireless disconnect problems, and went back to 3.0.0.4.220.18b to solve the disconnect issues. Last night, I re-flashed 3.0.0.4.246. After re-flashing the firmware, I cleared the NVRAM and power cycled the router. I then disabled 'Enhanced interference management' and 'GRO'. Everything has worked well for the last 16 hours or so. I will update if things change.

I have found that each time I've reupgraded this firmware (3.0.0.4.246) by going to another version and then back to this version... the router performances is sometimes stable and other times not; it's like I'm never flashing the same thing even though the firmware #s are the same (plus I made sure that I always do a reset [mtd-erase -d nvram] before & after each firmware upgrade).

This issue is also present in some of the other firmwares that ASUS had released in the past, although I've only noticed this only with their firmware and not with the ones Merlin has customized which is very strange.

 

[Chriscic]

AiCloud works from outside your LAN. It means you can go a friend's place, and start streaming the music from your home computer to your friend's place. Other alternatives either only work from home, or require complex VPN + DDNS setups.

Actually that's not correct ; ). Programs like AirVideo (iOS) and Qloud (Android) work great for streaming video (both) and music (Qloud), and there are many other apps that do the same thing. In fact, for video in most cases you really need transcoding to get the bit-rate reasonable, whereas AiCloud just sends the raw stream.

Having said that, I have enjoyed playing around with AiCloud a bit, and it's nice functionality to have; if I were ASUS though seems like maybe other places to spend their engineering time. Just my opinion : )

 

[RMerlin]

Actually that's not correct ; ). Programs like AirVideo (iOS) and Qloud (Android) work great for streaming video (both) and music (Qloud), and there are many other apps that do the same thing. In fact, for video in most cases you really need transcoding to get the bit-rate reasonable, whereas AiCloud just sends the raw stream.

I was referring to AirPlay and DLNA, the two most common streaming technologies. I'm sure there are other proprietary alternatives to AiCloud, but they won't be as easy to configure or as integrated, since AiCloud is right at your router's level. You don't even need to leave a computer turned on if your medias are all on a USB disk (and if not, WOL is integreated into AiCloud).

Most router manufacturers are integrating cloud technologies these days. So far, Asus has the most useful one. Look at the disaster that Cisco has tried to implement in their Linksys routers, for example... So it makes sense for Asus to devote development time on it. And I have to say that for the most part, they are doing it right (aside the lack of multiple user accounts, which is something they are aware of).

 

[bluepoint]

I have found that each time I've reupgraded this firmware (3.0.0.4.246) by going to another version and then back to this version... the router performances is sometimes stable and other times not; it's like I'm never flashing the same thing even though the firmware #s are the same (plus I made sure that I always do a reset [mtd-erase -d nvram] before & after each firmware upgrade).

This issue is also present in some of the other firmwares that ASUS had released in the past, although I've only noticed this only with their firmware and not with the ones Merlin has customized which is very strange.

I kind of notice the same thing, the reset button sometimes does not clear all config files when resetting to factory defaults. Is holding the wps+power on and reset button has the same effect as telnet's "mtd-erase -d nvram"? If not, can anyone explain what the mtd command does? TIA

 

[Maghook]

Hi!

Could someone please verify if there is a bug concerning ntpclient and/or dns-resolution of the RT-N66u itself?

I tried Asus stock .246 and also Merlin .246.19.
Both in ap-mode, both with mtd-erase of nvram /w power-off and manually reconfig all settings after power-on.
The router does not get any time update after config at all, no matter what I put into ntp-server or reboot or waiting minutes. It's stuck at date: 01/01/2011.

I had no issue with this up to .220.
Tried also manually via telnet but ntp-server hostname could not be resolved, although public ntp-server is available. Tried also setting manual dns-server, but did not help either. I am using almost default settings.

Thanks!

------------
Update: set the IP-address of the public ntp sever via web-UI and date/time got updated! So, seems there is an issue with dns-resolution.