What's new

Is 386.3_2 still the best merlin firmware for RT-AC68U?

  • 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!

nlitend1

New Around Here
Been running 3x RT-AC68U in AiMesh on 386.3_2 for the past year or so without issue.... I figured there must be some updates/improvements since that time.... so I stopped by today to update....

A bit of research showed ARP/ICMP issues with newer firmware versions and some somewhat isolated issues. Can anyone speak to the most stable/best firmware for this hardware? If something is better....can someone also confirm the best update process from this old firmware?

I suppose the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" saying applies... but would appreciate any advice/feedback..

Thanks,
nlitend1
 
@bennor may give you the best advice. He uses the same model router and knows all the quirks around different firmware versions available.
 
I don't run AiMesh on/with the RT-AC68U with YazFi and YazDHP, but for my basic usage the latest final Asus Merlin firmware release 386.10 worked fine provided I did a hard factory reset and manual reconfigure (no saved/exported router CFG import post firmware update) to deal with the low NVRAM issue. That low NVRAM issue cropped up with the last few releases of the Asus-Merlin firmware for the Rt-AC68U and is well discussed, including RMerlin explaining why it's happening, in several other threads/posts. The 386.11 alpha1 firmware also worked fine for my use in a test (non production) setting. The NVRAM values are a bit lower for me with the 386.11 alpha1 firmware due to RMerlin working to remove some things to lower the NVRAM usage a bit in the alpha firmware. As always YMMV.

On a side note. Many seem to feel that for AiMesh nodes, using Asus-Merlin firmware isn't really needed, that the stock Asus firmware is fine.
 
Been running 3x RT-AC68U in AiMesh on 386.3_2 for the past year or so without issue.... I figured there must be some updates/improvements since that time.... so I stopped by today to update....

A bit of research showed ARP/ICMP issues with newer firmware versions and some somewhat isolated issues. Can anyone speak to the most stable/best firmware for this hardware? If something is better....can someone also confirm the best update process from this old firmware?

I suppose the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" saying applies... but would appreciate any advice/feedback..

Thanks,
nlitend1

I've been running 386.7_2 on my RT-AC1900 (Same as RT-AC68U rev C) for quite some time now and it has been solid. I'm not upgrading beyond that until the NVRAM stuff is ironed out.
 
I have 386.7_2 running on a neighbor’s Asus RT-AC1900 and it has been very stable. I have no reason to update at this point.
 

Sign Up For SNBForums Daily Digest

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