What is still left from the old ASUS firmware?

[ttbf_n]

I apparently have the "grey market" (probably from mainland China) RT-AC86U 386.14_2 firmware. After installation there are still some suspect items in Chinese:

383

Also, I think there was some suspicious splash screen too. Is this something remaining from the original firmware? If so, is there nothing worrying? I was initially using it for other purpose but now I would like to use it as a main router if it is safe and there is not something that could be calling home.
Thanks.

 

[degrub]

Unless you purchased in/from PRC or equipment intended for PRC, your hardware should be for your local market/country as the regulations, TX power allowed , frequencies allowed, etc. can be different. Any electronic communication device intended for the PRC market can be made to provide access to the government if they desire. It may be easier for the PRC to require the ISP to monitor the WAN ip address traffic instead, however.

Otherwise, there is no way to tell what is in the firmware/hardware unless you can interpose another trusted device to log all the packets going in/out the WAN port.

Or maybe this was for the Taiwan market ?

 

[bennor]

Did you flash Asus-Merlin firmware (downloaded from https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/download) to the router yourself or was that the firmware that came with the router you purchased?

There is Chinese or Asian business (Koolshare/Koolcenter) that use apparently modified Asus-Merlin firmware without permission on routers it sells. Its possible you have that firmware installed on the router.

PS: Probably a wise idea to do a hard factory reset on the router then flash the firmware either downloaded from Asus directly or from Asus-Merlin directly to the router and see if the dialog screens you see have changed.

 

[Tech9]

After installation there are still some suspect items in Chinese

This UU Game Booster is part of Asuswrt firmware. Hidden for regions different than China.

What is UU Game Booster? ——網易UU加速器

As the gaming industry expands, more and more China games have caught the attention of overseas players. However, overseas players often encounter issues like network latency and lag during gameplay.

www.uubooster.com

 

[ttbf_n]

Did you flash Asus-Merlin firmware (downloaded from https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/download) to the router yourself or was that the firmware that came with the router you purchased?

I did it myself.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I apparently have the "grey market" (probably from mainland China) RT-AC86U 386.14_2 firmware. After installation there are still some suspect items in Chinese:View attachment 65956 383

Also, I think there was some suspicious splash screen too. Is this something remaining from the original firmware? If so, is there nothing worrying? I was initially using it for other purpose but now I would like to use it as a main router if it is safe and there is not something that could be calling home.
Thanks.

This is normal for routers sold for the Chinese market. The firmware image is identical regardless of the where the router was purchased, it's just that different options are enabled/disabled depending on the region.

 

[Seda]

You can access it by appending /UUAccelerator.asp after your routers address in any region.

ASUS GT-BE98 non-pro, stock firmware, sold in Australia.
I wonder if it would work if you tried to use it

 

[John Fitzgerald]

ASUS GT-BE98 non-pro, stock firmware, sold in Australia.
I wonder if it would work if you tried to use it

Hard to read the Ingrish. Did you pick English (USA) if there are choices? This is amusing, have you tried a flash from another Region source? The USA link for BE98 just dies and no firmware is accessible for the non-pro model. https://rog.asus.com/us/supportonly/gt-be98/helpdesk_bios/

 

[bennor]

The USA link for BE98 just dies and no firmware is accessible for the non-pro model. https://rog.asus.com/us/supportonly/gt-be98/helpdesk_bios/

See here: https://www.asus.com/us/supportonly/gt-be98/helpdesk_bios/
ASUS GT-BE98 Firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_37839
Version 3.0.0.6.102_37839
69.14 MB
2025/05/07
SHA-256 ：74DC40FEB453FF577688B1C9F6C5CB1F7F6DE6C58F595936C73879577619D6F1
Support 10G DS-Lite (Xpass and transix)

 

[John Fitzgerald]

See here: https://www.asus.com/us/supportonly/gt-be98/helpdesk_bios/
ASUS GT-BE98 Firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_37839
Version 3.0.0.6.102_37839
69.14 MB
2025/05/07
SHA-256 ：74DC40FEB453FF577688B1C9F6C5CB1F7F6DE6C58F595936C73879577619D6F1
Support 10G DS-Lite (Xpass and transix)

That's funny. I could get the "Driver & Tools" but not the "Bios & Firmware": it just kept blanking out to a white page.
Now I can get it in my link and yours.

Any guess as to why?

 

[Seda]

That's funny. I could get the "Driver & Tools" but not the "Bios & Firmware": it just kept blanking out to a white page.
Now I can get it in my link and yours.

Any guess as to why?

Because ASUS web site is awesome :|

@John Fitzgerald I did not. There's no option, it just defaults to English for the main router interface.

 

[Tech9]

As mentioned above the firmware is global and the same for all regions. There is no different region firmware.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

As mentioned above the firmware is global and the same for all regions. There is no different region firmware.

So what's the problem with getting the correct language? Do the USA models have this problem and what about Canada? Australia is English speaking.
Is this an attempt by the Chinese to expand their territorial waters?

 

[Tech9]

So what's the problem with getting the correct language?

The service discussed here is China exclusive and exists in Asuswrt in Chinese only. They don't need it in English and it doesn't exist as an option in GUI when the router is set for another region. The page above for Australia region router was called directly by address.

 

[bbunge]

So what's the problem with getting the correct language? Do the USA models have this problem and what about Canada? Australia is English speaking.
Is this an attempt by the Chinese to expand their territorial waters?

Canada, Eh? They speak better English than most in the US (sauf pour les Français) n'est-ce pas le cas @Tech9

 

[John Fitzgerald]

ASUS GT-BE98 non-pro, stock firmware, sold in Australia.

from post #7

The service discussed here is China exclusive and exists in Asuswrt in Chinese only. They don't need it in English.

What?

 

[Tech9]

What?

You can call the same page by address on your Asuswrt-Merlin running router.

You can access it by appending /UUAccelerator.asp after your routers address in any region.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

You can call the same page by address on your Asuswrt-Merlin running router.

Yes but the picture presented in post #7 shows English as the chosen language. So why is the rest in Chinese?
The tabs on the left are correct.

 

[Tech9]

So why is the rest in Chinese?

Because this firmware page doesn't even exist in different than China region GUI and since it's China exclusive it's expected the eventual users speak Chinese as first language. If the complaint is about the language in general - see official Asus FAQ documents. They sound like Google translate from Chinese to English.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Because this firmware page doesn't even exist in different than China region GUI and since it's China exclusive it's expected the eventual users speak Chinese as first language. If the complaint is about the language in general - see official Asus FAQ documents. They sound like Google translate from Chinese to English.

I see the problem as the selected language is not honored. It's mixed on the page. The router was sold in Australia.
If the selected language is not a China region, then the GUI is faulty.