RT-N66U and Hairpin

[Jagged]

Hi All,

I have had an ASUS RT-N66U for a good while now and have always been very happy with its performance and features. It sits in a small home network, looking after a couple of wired pcs, a couple of wifi laptops and asorted mobiles. I also run a few games and local game servers and up until now a bit of port forwarding has all that's been needed and I am good to go.

However recently I have been trying to run a game server with a few more moving parts (so to speak) and I find that simple port forwarding is not enough. I can configure the game to run for WAN or LAN but not both.

I believe I need a router that supports NAT hairpin and that this may be broken on my RT-N66U, currently running firmware 3.0.0.4.380_8228-g3af35f9.

So my question is: Can I resolve this problem with my current router or do I need a new model?

If it makes any difference, the game server is running on Windows.

cheers

Jagged
Network neophyte

 

[Grisu]

you could try John's fork with updates and Merlin features, maybe it can solve your issue.

 

[Jagged]

I will give it a go and report back. Thanks

 

[Jagged]

Is there a trick to uploading the firmware?
My router complained saying invalid firmware

"To comply with regulatory amendments, we have modified our certification rule to ensure better firmware quality. This version is not compatible with all previously released ASUS firmware and uncertified third party firmware. Please check our official websites for the certified firmware."​

I am trying to install a file called: RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_374.43_2-39L3j9527.trx

 

[L&LD]

Is there a trick to uploading the firmware?
My router complained saying invalid firmware

"To comply with regulatory amendments, we have modified our certification rule to ensure better firmware quality. This version is not compatible with all previously released ASUS firmware and uncertified third party firmware. Please check our official websites for the certified firmware."​

I am trying to install a file called: RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_374.43_2-39L3j9527.trx

You need to use the firmware restoration tool method. Followed by a full reset to factory defaults.

Please see the first post in that thread for proper installation.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-asuswrt-merlin-374-43-lts-releases-v39e3.18914/

 

[Jagged]

Yes, thanks. Just found that.
Read the first post Jagged!

 

[ColinTaylor]

I am trying to install a file called: RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_374.43_2-39L3j9527.trx

I suggest you install the "E" (recommended) release and not the "L" (legacy) release unless you have a specific reason not to.

 

[Jagged]

That turned out to be something of a disaster
Not sure if I did something wrong.

I put the router in recover mode (took me longer than I would like to admit to find the tiny reset button!)
Manually set my IP to 192.168.1.100
Tried to upload the E firmware first. Wouldn't go beyond 76%
Tried to upload the Legacy. Would upload. Would go through the recovery process, but then wouldn't restart. Seemed stuck in Recovery mode.
Tried uploading previous firmware, same issue.

So seem to me stuck in recovery mode

 

[ColinTaylor]

So seem to me stuck in recovery mode

The N66U has incredibly slow flash RAM. When you use recovery mode to upload the firmware it takes so long for it to complete the process the utility you use times out and think the process has failed. It hasn't, you just need to wait longer. And by "longer" I mean about 40 minutes, seriously.

 

[Jagged]

So the slow recovery bar is a fake? Good to know. I shall try again and just leave it
cheers

 

[Jagged]

Yeah, its not coming back. The recovery programme does take 30+ minutes after uploading to do a "recovery".
But after that it resets your network adapter and never comes back. Left it for ages, no sign of any activity.
Tried the web server version, which doesn't appear to do anything.

Looks like I am getting a new router

 

[Grisu]

try it more often could help.

 

[Jagged]

Certainly can't hurt at this stage.

 

[DarkKnight75]

Yeah, its not coming back. The recovery programme does take 30+ minutes after uploading to do a "recovery".
But after that it resets your network adapter and never comes back. Left it for ages, no sign of any activity.
Tried the web server version, which doesn't appear to do anything.

Looks like I am getting a new router

I upgraded 2 months ago to an ac86u from the very same N66u...good luck.

 

[Jagged]

I thought I would post a final update:
Gave up trying to get the asus back and wentout and bought a Netgear R7800 Nighthawk x4s based mainly on it being #1 on your charts but also netgear's site lists it as doing NAT hairpin.
I have been very pleased, so far it does everything I want and its signal reaches further into the garden