Two new Asus RT-N66U routers - Merlin Fork or Tomato (toast)?

[Steve M.]

I purchased a couple of Asus RT-N66U routers (v3.0.0.4.376 hw b1 printed on the label) recently from Amazon.

Can someone recommend merlin vs tomato and does range improve on one firmware vs another? I'm in a rural area with no competing 2.4GHz wireless devices and need to get the most optimal coverage. Adding guest networks and bandwidth throttling is desired also but not essential if range is improved more with one vs the other.

Another thing I was wondering, can I create a wireless bridge where both routers can also act as access points? The main router will be uplinked (Ethernet) to ISP/WAN and act as NAT/DHCP Router & Access Point) and be bridged to the second router that acts only as a wireless bridge & Access Point for Internet access through main Router).

I think based on my reviews I'm going to go with the latest Merlin firmware after backing up stock (in case I need to restore it to factory).

Thanks!

 

[Steve M.]

I went with the Merlin Fork on these forums — fantastic!

WDS = Repeater

Extended the range over 500' outdoors; amazing!

Tried Tomato (Toast) on my old WRT54G v4 router configured as WDS (repeater) but the Asus boosted the Internet speeds 16x compared with the old WRT54G Router.

Thanks for all the support!

No need for Ubiquiti; these two routers covered over an Acre in WDS configuration! 18Mbps down & 3Mbps up on 2.4GHz Channel 1 through heavy foliage and trees — unbelievable...