Risks for installing Tomato?

[Ixel]

Hi,
As I'm new to ASUS routers, and the fact I'm currently having a problem with static routing (I can't fully manage to get my block /29 of public IP's to work on my network devices) on the ASUS firmware, I had considered trying Tomato instead.

What I want to know is:
- Are there risks, such as bricking the router completely, or is there a recovery mechanism always available in the event of a firmware failure? (I've heard there's something on the CFE?, a 30-30-30 recovery method?)
- Will it void the warranty?
- Can I go back to ASUS Merlin if I need to?
- Is anyone here using Tomato on an RT-N66U or similar router, if so what are your experiences with Tomato?
- Other alternative suggestions similar to Tomato are welcome, such as DD-WRT for example, please mention why you would recommend something if you do though

Apologies if these questions have had answers before. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Moving back and forth between different flavor f/w is trivial thing. Just go at it slow, Be
patient, no rush when you flash f/w. I ended up bricking few routers but no matter what
I could revive them with various methods. Your router is almost impossible to brick unless
one does very stupid thing.

 

[Ixel]

Hi,
Moving back and forth between different flavor f/w is trivial thing. Just go at it slow, Be
patient, no rush when you flash f/w. I ended up bricking few routers but no matter what
I could revive them with various methods. Your router is almost impossible to brick unless
one does very stupid thing.

Thanks . I take it that the router I'm using is hard to brick because the recovery mechanism is in the CFE, which isn't what I'm modifying when changing firmware?

 

[Pierino]

Ixel check out this thread http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=6810&highlight=Tomato

 

[Ixel]

Ixel check out this thread http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=6810&highlight=Tomato

Thanks, my main worry was if Tomato failed to install completely for some reason, whether I could recover the router still. I presume I can though. I'll go ahead and try Tomato out. Thanks all.

 

[mikeg]

I had problems to set up my N66U with Asus and Merlins f/w , could not set up inital settings so I tried to install Tomato and everything worked without any problems to set it up. You just read the thread which is in another posting and wait a couple of extra minutes after the f/w flash is done before you proceed.

Hi,
As I'm new to ASUS routers, and the fact I'm currently having a problem with static routing (I can't fully manage to get my block /29 of public IP's to work on my network devices) on the ASUS firmware, I had considered trying Tomato instead.

What I want to know is:
- Are there risks, such as bricking the router completely, or is there a recovery mechanism always available in the event of a firmware failure? (I've heard there's something on the CFE?, a 30-30-30 recovery method?)
- Will it void the warranty?
- Can I go back to ASUS Merlin if I need to?
- Is anyone here using Tomato on an RT-N66U or similar router, if so what are your experiences with Tomato?
- Other alternative suggestions similar to Tomato are welcome, such as DD-WRT for example, please mention why you would recommend something if you do though

Apologies if these questions have had answers before. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[Trent Bates]

I've had my RT-N66u for about 9-10 months by now.

I got it with firmware v.112 and have had v.164, v.178, v.220, v.260 and v.270.
I started to have problems when I moved to v.220 and I now think it was due to the nvram size change.

I tried beta v.354 and discovered a problem with 5 GHz a couple of weeks before it was finally acknowledged as a problem by ASUS.

I have tried various builds by Merlin as well. I liked those builds, but I still had problems that seemed to be inherent in the ASUS firmwares.

I was about to go buy another RT-N66u to test with or something entirely different out of frustration, but decided one morning to try Tomato (Shibby's build) and have been very happy since!

I feel as though I've replaced my quirky RT-N66u with something much more stable and expensive. It's a weird feeling, it works better and has more options but it's still the same device when I look at it.

I would recommend Tomato to anyone.

 

[garypower]

You could also go with Merlins variation of the ASUS firmware. (if your only issue is using a /29)

I am using a /29 exactly how I want with no issues using Merlins startup scripts.

 

[valerima]

Nice. What build do you use from Shibby? 108?...
Looks we will have soon to try Victek's one
Asus RT-N66U -------------> tomato-RT-N66U-K26USB-1.28.9013MIPSR2R1.1k-RAF-VLAN-VPN-NOCAT-NGINX.trx
http://www.victek.is-a-geek.com/TomatoRAF_R1_1.html