International Country Specific Firmware

[DavidHK]

Hi all, I have a 68U router I bought in HK and installed the Merlin firmware with no problem and all has been perfect for a couple years.

However, I am in Vietnam and would like to bring my router here, but a question/comment came up.

I was told for TP-Link routers (very common here - and I'm aware not Asus product), they recommend to use Firmware from the TP-Link Vietnam website as it is 'specific' to the networks here... even though in one case (my current one my landlord is using) is a year older than the same model from Hong Kong...

So my question is, is this in fact an issue... and if I do bring my Asus here, can I just keep using the Merlin-firmware that is on it (always kept updated) without any issues? What kind of issues may I encounter?

Thanks for any feedback/guidance.

David

 

[HKJase]

Not required.

Router has nothing to do with local networks. If it was a DSL modem, then I would say yes. But for routers, no problem at all.
I live in HK and have two homes in Vietnam, both running a variety of routers and access points from HK and the Middle East - all my old hardware. It's running a mixture of Asus, Buffalo and Linksys running MerlinWRT or DD-WRT.

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

 

[DavidHK]

Not required.

Router has nothing to do with local networks. If it was a DSL modem, then I would say yes. But for routers, no problem at all.
I live in HK and have two homes in Vietnam, both running a variety of routers and access points from HK and the Middle East - all my old hardware. It's running a mixture of Asus, Buffalo and Linksys running MerlinWRT or DD-WRT.

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

Thank you for the reply. I was thrown a loop by the Vietnam TP-Link customer service- which I assumed (correctly) was a BS reply... here it is:
Hi David

In each country, the device model will have its own firmware to suit the network service of that country, in your case, to ensure the stability of the device when you use it at Việt Nam, we recommend that you do not update it Update firmware of the US.

 

[ColinTaylor]

The issue (at least with Asus) is not where you download the firmware from but what region the hardware was manufactured for. For example, if you bought an Asus router in the US and then used it in EU you will discover that the router doesn't support the same range of WiFi channels that the EU uses. This could lead to interoperability issues with certain client devices. On the other hand, a router bought in one EU country should work equally well in another EU country.

I don't know what, if any, regional differences there are between HK and Vietnam.

 

[RMerlin]

Router has nothing to do with local networks.

That's not accurate. Available Wifi channels and allowed power levels will vary between countries. This is encoded in the router's software bootloader.

The same firmware is used for every regions, the differences are handled dynamically by the firmware based on the region stored in the bootloader.