Why do you use ASUSWRT-Merlin?

[hclarkjr]

my reasons for using it are easy access to merlin here in the forums, LED controll and it is has improvements over the base firmware.

 

[nubyOz]

Thanks, Merlin. That is helpful.

Anyone have comments on stability?

I have run Merlin since I bought the router.
Starting with .220.18b now .260.21

No comparison to stock as such but an observertion on Merlin builds.
No locks up, no required reboots. Rock solid.

Except for occasional DHCP/DNS issue
Seems that when WAN interface gets renewed it sometimes looses DNS.
The DNS server seems to have frequent timeout issues.
Set DNS server manually to a less busy DNS server, no issues since.
No exhaustive test to confirm this, but seems to work for me.

Config/Maintenance
I should note I do reboot the router once a week manually as a preventative step.
As with my previous WNDR 3700 V1 I run Wireless transmitters at about 75% power to avoid heat stress. (Especially the WNDR 3700 seems to suffer from that, anecdotal).
Mostly stock settings as router apart form the DNS config above.
Behind a Cable modem (cable modem in in bridge mode)

In terms of usage:
Mix of about 5 Wireless and Wired clients,
No VPN as yet, soon.
No Dual Wan, only experimented once.
Light to heavy usage in regards to volume and number of connections.

Clients are a pretty good mix
Windows 7, (wired and wireless)
Android 4.2.1 and 4.0.4 wireless
Apple iPhone and iPad 2 wireless
Smart TV, Samsung
Synology NAS DSM 4.1
Wred IP Cam (to watch the bunny )
Wired HP All in One Printer 8600

 

[Bagman]

Something I forgot to mention is that the way Merlin extends and improves the current official firmware means you get to keep the proprietary functionality (like AI Cloud or Download Manager). If you went to something like DD-WRT (assuming you could jump through the hoops), you'd lose some of that stuff, or even have more basic problems, like running the USB ports, VPN problems, 5 ghz not working, etc.

Merlin has taken the standard firmware (which actually isn't bad compared to a lot of other routers) and made it better and polished it up, rather than try to re-invent the wheel and do everything from scratch, without having to deal with lots of other hardware and firmware versions at the same time. This means everyone gets a solid, working firmware from Merlin, rather than being testers where loads of stuff doesn't work or isn't stable because it's still work in progress.

 

[dopefish]

I have run Merlin since I bought the router. First thing i did was flashing to Merlins Firmware.

Reasons for me to use WRTMerlin:
Rock solid, very fast, OpenVPN and still easy to configure guest networks. (And i love new functions like LED light control,...)

stability means for me a fast wireless and wired internet access. Much (internet( traffic with many clients without crashing my Asus RT-N66U!

Usage:
Mix of about 10 Wireless and Wired clients,
Heavy usage, FTTH with about 1TB Traffic/month

Clients mixed
Windows 7, (wired and wireless)
Android 4.2.1 (3x)
HP Proliant
Wireless Printer
Wireless Camera
etc.

Never experienced any problems with merlins firmware. I am very happy, thanks merlin!

No Reboots except of firmware upgrades needed until now.

//edit:
guest network is very important for me. 2 active wireless guest networks are configured.

 

[DaveMishSr]

I'm interested in why you use this firmware instead of ASUS stock firmware. Can you simply list your top three reasons (maximum)? Thanks.

I have used TomatoUSB, DD-WRT, AsusWRT and AsusWRT-Merlin in my RT-N66U. After my experiences with the different firmwares I have decided to use and stick with Merlin's firmware versions for the following reasons in order of importance:

1) Stability. I have never had a firmware version of Merlin's cause any kind of service disruption.

2) Performance. I have found TomatoUSB and DD-WRT to have significant performance issues in comparison to AsusWRT and AsusWRT-Merlin. Both connection speed and distance are vastly superior as my entire property has WiFi connectivity using the stock antennae that shipped with my router.

3) Features. The Tools section is great to be able to quickly assess key components of my router's current operating state. The ability to shut off the very bright blue LED's at night or altogether is especially convenient. The ability to fashion customization scripts in support of the JFFS partitioning is another key feature I enjoy.

So there you have it. Merlin offers the best combination of stability, performance and features for my networking needs.

 

[souwalker]

I bought the N66U router just last week but am suing whatever FW that is on the router.

To use the Merlin firmware, do I just download and use the router to pick up the Merlin FW and that is it?

Rgds

 

[Ramon]

Nothing new here.. Just as many others said, stability, extra features, JFFS boot scripts, community support and i KNOW performance wise is better as well.