Is 386.3_2 still the best merlin firmware for RT-AC68U?

Been running 3x RT-AC68U in AiMesh on 386.3_2 for the past year or so without issue.... I figured there must be some updates/improvements since that time.... so I stopped by today to update....

A bit of research showed ARP/ICMP issues with newer firmware versions and some somewhat isolated issues. Can anyone speak to the most stable/best firmware for this hardware? If something is better....can someone also confirm the best update process from this old firmware?

I suppose the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" saying applies... but would appreciate any advice/feedback..

Thanks,
nlitend1

@bennor may give you the best advice. He uses the same model router and knows all the quirks around different firmware versions available.

I don't run AiMesh on/with the RT-AC68U with YazFi and YazDHP, but for my basic usage the latest final Asus Merlin firmware release 386.10 worked fine provided I did a hard factory reset and manual reconfigure (no saved/exported router CFG import post firmware update) to deal with the low NVRAM issue. That low NVRAM issue cropped up with the last few releases of the Asus-Merlin firmware for the Rt-AC68U and is well discussed, including RMerlin explaining why it's happening, in several other threads/posts. The 386.11 alpha1 firmware also worked fine for my use in a test (non production) setting. The NVRAM values are a bit lower for me with the 386.11 alpha1 firmware due to RMerlin working to remove some things to lower the NVRAM usage a bit in the alpha firmware. As always YMMV.

On a side note. Many seem to feel that for AiMesh nodes, using Asus-Merlin firmware isn't really needed, that the stock Asus firmware is fine.

As mentioned in my post, some NVRAM values I saw with 386.10 and 386.11 alpha1 were posted to the 386.11 alpha1 thread:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/386-11alpha-build-s-testing-available-build-s.84629/#post-835965

nlitend1 said:

Been running 3x RT-AC68U in AiMesh on 386.3_2 for the past year or so without issue.... I figured there must be some updates/improvements since that time.... so I stopped by today to update....

A bit of research showed ARP/ICMP issues with newer firmware versions and some somewhat isolated issues. Can anyone speak to the most stable/best firmware for this hardware? If something is better....can someone also confirm the best update process from this old firmware?

I suppose the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" saying applies... but would appreciate any advice/feedback..

Thanks,
nlitend1

Click to expand...

I've been running 386.7_2 on my RT-AC1900 (Same as RT-AC68U rev C) for quite some time now and it has been solid. I'm not upgrading beyond that until the NVRAM stuff is ironed out.

I have 386.7_2 running on a neighbor’s Asus RT-AC1900 and it has been very stable. I have no reason to update at this point.