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Pro or Regular AX86U Merlin for ZAKU II EDITION?

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SchneiderIS

Occasional Visitor
I have the RT-AX86U ZAKU II EDITION and am looking to load Merlin. Seeing that there is a build for RT-AX86U and a RT-AX86U Pro I went to look and see what the difference was. On the Asus website the comparison would appear to indicate that the Pro is a slightly newer ZAKU II EDITION. The only difference I could see was the processor of the Pro being 2GHz vs 1.8GHz for the ZAKU II EDITION.

Would my loading the Pro firmware cause problems with the ZAKU, or is this the smarter version?
 
I have the RT-AX86U ZAKU II EDITION and am looking to load Merlin. Seeing that there is a build for RT-AX86U and a RT-AX86U Pro I went to look and see what the difference was. On the Asus website the comparison would appear to indicate that the Pro is a slightly newer ZAKU II EDITION. The only difference I could see was the processor of the Pro being 2GHz vs 1.8GHz for the ZAKU II EDITION.

Would my loading the Pro firmware cause problems with the ZAKU, or is this the smarter version?
After some further digging it appears that the Pro offers some additional functionality that is not native to the ZAKU.
 
Your ZAKU Edition is just a standard AX86U with different colours and marketing. Try Asuswrt-Merlin 388.1 on it, but it didn’t go well for me and for other users. Many reverted to 386 base Asuswrt-Merlin or stock Asuswrt. Read the release thread and decide what to do with your router. The best firmware I found for it so far is Asuswrt 386_49599.
 
Your ZAKU Edition is just a standard AX86U with different colours and marketing. Try Asuswrt-Merlin 388.1 on it, but it didn’t go well for me and for other users. Many reverted to 386 base Asuswrt-Merlin or stock Asuswrt. Read the release thread and decide what to do with your router. The best firmware I found for it so far is Asuswrt 386_49599.
Thanks for the note @Tech9 . I don't appear to be having any issues with 388.1, but it has only been a few hours since I uploaded it. Initially my Logitech Cycle doorbell went nuts but it did that in the past with other versions too, and the Offline/Online issue is actually very misleading (it usually means that the time to reach the internet based service was slow).
 
@Tech9 you were right about 388.1 And reverting back to 386 (forgot this thread and your specific version). I even went all the way back to the initial 386 release. 386.5_2 was better than 388.1 but some gremlins started showing up there as well. I will look at 386_49599 now.
 
If you want stable Wi-Fi and AiMesh - stick to stock Asuswrt. There is something broken in every firmware, but at least you'll have good connection. I have posted my findings in Asuswrt release threads. I'm not wasting any more time in testing. Good luck with firmware hunting.
 
If you have basic requirements and don't play too much with the settings - stock 388_22068 works well, but you have to reset the router to factory defaults. I had to do it twice to get somewhat acceptable responsive GUI. It's still lagging here and there, but Wi-Fi is good. See if it works for you.
 
Thanks Tech9. Couple questions if you don't mind.
  1. When you say "basic" does a large contingent of IoT (home automation) still fit into that group?
  2. Does having defined static IP's qualify as basic?
  3. Is "stock" for all routers including the master or are you referring to the mesh nodes only?
My move to Merlin originally was related to the IoT devices and trying to drive stability for them. The additional configuration of the network I likely don't really use much so back to basic might be fine. I can always restore a backup of the network if it does not work.
 
There is no Wi-Fi "stability" improvements in Asuswrt-Merlin. Just the opposite in my experience. Stock Asuswrt on all routers works best in AiMesh configuration, especially wireless. I can't answer your IoT questions - they are device specific. I don't use IoT devices - my house has built-in centrally managed home automation. The one thing you can do is make 2.4GHz band more compatible to IoT. Start with the recommendations here:

 

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