AC86U yazdhcp on stock

[diabolyk]

Hi all,

IS it possible ti extend DHCP reservation more than 64 using yazdhcp on stock firmware or not ?
I would like to stay on stock but extend DHCP.

Thanks.

 

[bennor]

Yes it may be possible but there may be some things to be aware of. See the following post:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/best-new-router-that-supports-merlin.82035/page-6#post-810962
And this post that responded to that post:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/best-new-router-that-supports-merlin.82035/page-6#post-812230

Don't think you can install YazDHCP to "stock" Asus firmware, rather one typically uses the Asus-Merlin firmware. Also one may need to enable JFFS in order to create the /jffs/configs/dnsmasq.conf.add file detailed in the two links above.

 

[diabolyk]

i'm asking that cause i don't know if merlin is improving the router...
perhaps stock firmware is the best if we don't need add ons from merlin no ?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Custom scripts like YazDHCP and configuration files like dnsmasq.conf.add are only supported by Merlin's firmware. They are not supported by stock firmware.

 

[bennor]

i'm asking that cause i don't know if merlin is improving the router...
perhaps stock firmware is the best if we don't need add ons from merlin no ?

If you want certain options or features, like what your asking for, then your only option (if you want the Asus router to do the DHCP) is to use Asus-Merlin firmware. The whole point of the Asus-Merlin firmware is to fix certain Asus firmware issues, and extend the stock Asus firmware with additional options and features. In this case you would have to use Asus-Merlin firmware, enable JFFS, then create the file dnsmasq.conf.add file as indicated in the first link in my post above.

 

[diabolyk]

Yes i Saw, and i know cause i'm on merlin right now, but i would like to return on stock to have more stability...
But if all is the same on merlin, just add features, there's no problem to go on merlin.
IS it right ?

 

[bennor]

Yes i Saw, and i know cause i'm on merlin right now, but i would like to return on stock to have more stability...
But if all is the same on merlin, just add features, there's no problem to go on merlin.
IS it right ?

https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/features

With a few rare exceptions, Asuswrt-Merlin retains the features from the original stock Asus firmware.

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng/wiki/About-Asuswrt/#about-asuswrt-merlin

About Asuswrt-merlin​

Asuswrt-merlin takes advantage of the fact that complete source code is available from Asus by building on top of it. Asuswrt-merlin is my personal project, originally done for the RT-N66U, and eventually extended to support other flagship routers from Asus.

The general goal of this project is to provide an alternative to the original firmware, and remain in-sync with Asus's own development, so new features and bugfixes development by them can trickle down into Asuswrt-Merlin. This means there are some very strict design guidelines behind this project:

1. Stay as close as possible to the original firmware. By limiting the amount of sweeping changes made to the code, it means that whenever Asus releases a new version of Asuswrt, it generally takes only a few hours of work to merge their latest changes into Asuswrt-merlin (a bit more if it's a major new release from Asus).
2. The goal is to improve, not to replace the original firmware's functionality Projects like DD-WRT and Tomato have existed for years, and benefit from those years of development to offer a lot of new features. There is no point in reinventing the wheel - people looking for a completely different firmware with tons of advanced features should look at those excellent and well-established projects.
3. Priorities: Stability > performance > features. Fewer changes to the code means fewer chances that new bugs might be introduced. A router firmware is the core of your home network. It must be rock-stable above all. And performance optimizations can have unexpected side-effect when dealing with things that aren't fully understood.
4. Targeting the novice and average user. Asuswrt is designed to target both the novice and the average users. This project will aim at the same target userbase. There is enough doors left open with Entware and user-scripts so advanced users can fulfill their own requirements themselves. Not overcrowding the web UI with esoteric features will ensure that novice users won't be scared away.

Thanks to Entware/Optware and user-scripts, many features not integrated in the firmware can be manually added. If you are advanced enough to need a feature, you will quite often be skilled enough to manually add it, or follow someone else's instructions on how to implement what you are looking for.

 

[diabolyk]

https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/features

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng/wiki/About-Asuswrt/#about-asuswrt-merlin

Ok, so merlin is more optimized than stock if i understand well in terms of stability, wifi range, speed... ?
It's better to have merlin than stock ?

 

[bennor]

It's better to have merlin than stock ?

Only you can answer that based on your needs from the device and it's stock Asus firmware. For others; we've found that for our uses and needs certain features of the Asus-Merlin firmware, including add-on scripts and Entware, necessitate using the Asus Merlin rather than stock Asus firmware. Some just like to tinker with new things. And some will prefer to stay on stock Asus firmware because they don't see a need or benefit for their setup to using Asus-Merlin.

The amount of extra addresses that YazDHCP will add appears (if I remember right) to depend on the router. Currently on a RT-AC68U loaded with Asus-Merlin firmware running YazDHCP there is a max limit of 197 manually assigned IP addresses, up from the max 128 64 without YazDHCP. If you want to use YazDHCP, or dnsmasq.conf.add, or any other of the numerous add-on scripts then you'll need to use Asus-Merlin firmware.

Edit: Post corrected.

 

[diabolyk]

Only you can answer that based on your needs from the device and it's stock Asus firmware. For others; we've found that for our uses and needs certain features of the Asus-Merlin firmware, including add-on scripts and Entware, necessitate using the Asus Merlin rather than stock Asus firmware. Some just like to tinker with new things. And some will prefer to stay on stock Asus firmware because they don't see a need or benefit for their setup to using Asus-Merlin.

The amount of extra addresses that YazDHCP will add appears (if I remember right) to depend on the router. Currently on a RT-AC68U loaded with Asus-Merlin firmware running YazDHCP there is a max limit of 197 manually assigned IP addresses, up from the max 128 without YazDHCP. If you want to use YazDHCP, or dnsmasq.conf.add, or any other of the numerous add-on scripts then you'll need to use Asus-Merlin firmware.

Without yazdhcp, on stock firmware, limit IS 64 manually assigned

 

[bennor]

Without yazdhcp, on stock firmware, limit IS 64 manually assigned

Correct, I didn't have access to a stock Asus firmware router at the time of that post and was going off a quick search here where someone claimed 128. Double checked on a stock Asus router and it is indeed 64. Above post has been corrected. Fact remains, YazDHCP adds the capability to expand the number of manually assigned addresses as does using dnsmasq.conf.add, both of which generally require one to use Asus-Merlin.

Asus Stock Firmware: 3.0.0.4.386_49703 (RT-AC68U)

Asus-Merlin 386.9 no YazDHCP (RT-AC68U)

Asus-Merlin 386.9 with YazDHCP v1.0.4 (RT-AC68U)