Am I all set to start fresh with the latest stable release? And a request for L&LD...

[Hazel]

After creating the checklists two weeks ago to save the pages with settings, I've made all the screenshots (I think at least) of all the relevant guides written by @L&LD and the very useful tip by @netware5. The only thing is, those guides are great, except when you'll be offline at least for a short periode of time. I think I got all I need to get started:

And in addition the checklist for creating screenshots saving pages with Firefox I created based on @Jack Yaz 's scMerlin SiteMap generator: http://www.snbforums.com/threads/sc...rol-menu-for-asuswrt-merlin.67481/post-705808

I simply can't do it out the back of my head any more and will probably need all day for it. So I'm glad I've got the house (and thus the entire network) to myself.

Question for @L&LD: Where you serious when you mentioned something similar guides (for instance in PDF) with tickable checkboxes and clickable links? If not, would you mind me using your guides as a base but convert them in a format that can be used in an on- and offline format? In that case I'd like to start working on it before the next major release. If you can keep me op to date with changes, I'll just update them. I have too little knowledge of the matter to write them myself, so I'll be copying and pasting your guides (regardless whether the fact not everyone agrees with you, they work for me and apparently most, and you can't make everyone happy anyway....)

Let me know if I'm missing something and how you feel about the proposal above.

Ps. For some people this may look like a tremendous amount of work. Unfortunately, to me it is the only way I'm able to create a methodical way to upgrade, because of mental issues, without the need of others to do it for me. And as I would like to remain as independent as long as possible, I'd prefer to take my time to prepare and minimize the chance on errors, which would mean I had to start over again. So I see no other options than taking 'the long way'...

 

[CaptnDanLKW]

It's always good to have a plan that includes instructions and to-dos before you go offline. We've all been there - taken down the network, or rebuilding a PC when you say to yourself "Oh yea, I just need that one more thing to download".

Probably good idea to have the code version your gonna use and a copy of your current version just in case you need to go back.

Not sure what your specific config is, but I also like to take a copy of the JFFS partition and extract it to Temp, and make sure I have winscp local.

How you take shortcuts to speed up the process is dependent on the hardware (e.g. AC86U vs. AC68U). After the minimal restore, I look for the NVRAM values on JFFS that have content (like dhcp, hostnames, client list, etc.) and copy them. I dont use addon scripts like I should, but like you, I have my method.

Good luck.

 

[L&LD]

@Hazel, you are welcome to use any of the guides I have created as you wish. And I want to be the first to thank you for converting them to checklist items too! Sharing the workload makes it better for all. So, thank you very much for undertaking this project and going in this new direction.

Here is an incomplete list (memory!) of what you may want to include. But what you have right now in your post above is a great start. Be sure to follow all the links in the links below (yes, they're a rabbit hole), and note that many things have been repeated while being slightly updated over the years (but it is surprising how little updating was needed for a lot of it).

And I'd like to reiterate here that these guides were not (ever) designed by me, I have merely taken the best practices from members past and present and distilled their helpful posts into something more condensed than the forums at large. I may also include some links directly from others too, that have helped me navigate 'networking' successfully for the past 8 or 9 years or so.

Please do not be overwhelmed by the number of links below! Only use what you need!

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021

Fully Reset Router and Network

About L&LD

Order of installing popular scripts | SmallNetBuilder Forums

Proper Static Lease Assignments

Why 8 Alphanumeric SSID Characters

Not connected to ISP when setting up router

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global

Control Channel Setup 2021

Reset Mini Guide + Control Channel Setup Details

Control Channel Setup (more)

Update/Reset Mini Guide

How to Connect an AiMesh Node

AiMesh Ideal Placement

Automatic QoS default settings.

Why M&M

Media Bridge Mode

Asus Rescue Mode

Is Wi-Fi 6 Worth It

Wi-Fi 6 Pt 2

Router Reboot vs. Shutdown

Repeater mode = wireless AiMesh

ALGs Secure Settings

Save Settings From Router

Tune your network for range and speed.



And some internal/external references:

Unbound - Auth-Zone

Tool to manage your own Certificate Authority | SmallNetBuilder Forums

Definitive Explanation of all things DNSMASQ

view DNSSEC Authentication Chain

rootcanary.org Web DNSSEC Test

DNSSEC Implementation Requirements

Unbound.conf

Check My DNS

The Ars Technica semi-scientific guide to Wi-Fi Access Point placement | Ars Technica

Demo UI RT-AX88U

pfSense baseline guide with VPN, Guest and VLAN support

CIRA Canadian Shield - Free malware and phishing protection | CIRA

Duckware Understand Wi-Fi 4/5/6 (802.11 n/ac/ad/ax)

Downdetector

Five Facts About 6 GHz Wi-Fi

Helge Keck - WiFi Lite (This was the best tool, period. Hope it comes back soon).

Antenna - Dr Trevor Marshall

Using PuTTYgen on Windows to generate SSH key pairs

Free Space Path Loss Diagrams – SemFio Networks

Matt Gast Beamforming in 802.11ac

 

[Hazel]

Thanks for the suggestions and the extensive list. I'll just start with the ones I mentioned myself (from previous posts assembled by you), can you confirm these will suffice? We'll see where we'll go from there.

 

[BreakingDad]

@Hazel, you are welcome to use any of the guides I have created as you wish. And I want to be the first to thank you for converting them to checklist items too! Sharing the workload makes it better for all. So, thank you very much for undertaking this project and going in this new direction.

Here is an incomplete list (memory!) of what you may want to include. But what you have right now in your post above is a great start. Be sure to follow all the links in the links below (yes, they're a rabbit hole), and note that many things have been repeated while being slightly updated over the years (but it is surprising how little updating was needed for a lot of it).

And I'd like to reiterate here that these guides were not (ever) designed by me, I have merely taken the best practices from members past and present and distilled their helpful posts into something more condensed than the forums at large. I may also include some links directly from others too, that have helped me navigate 'networking' successfully for the past 8 or 9 years or so.

Please do not be overwhelmed by the number of links below! Only use what you need!

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021

Fully Reset Router and Network

About L&LD

Order of installing popular scripts | SmallNetBuilder Forums

Proper Static Lease Assignments

Why 8 Alphanumeric SSID Characters

Not connected to ISP when setting up router

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global

Control Channel Setup 2021

Reset Mini Guide + Control Channel Setup Details

Control Channel Setup (more)

Update/Reset Mini Guide

How to Connect an AiMesh Node

AiMesh Ideal Placement

Automatic QoS default settings.

Why M&M

Media Bridge Mode

Asus Rescue Mode

Is Wi-Fi 6 Worth It

Wi-Fi 6 Pt 2

Router Reboot vs. Shutdown

Repeater mode = wireless AiMesh

ALGs Secure Settings

Save Settings From Router

Tune your network for range and speed.



And some internal/external references:

Unbound - Auth-Zone

Tool to manage your own Certificate Authority | SmallNetBuilder Forums

Definitive Explanation of all things DNSMASQ

view DNSSEC Authentication Chain

rootcanary.org Web DNSSEC Test

DNSSEC Implementation Requirements

Unbound.conf

Check My DNS

The Ars Technica semi-scientific guide to Wi-Fi Access Point placement | Ars Technica

Demo UI RT-AX88U

pfSense baseline guide with VPN, Guest and VLAN support

CIRA Canadian Shield - Free malware and phishing protection | CIRA

Duckware Understand Wi-Fi 4/5/6 (802.11 n/ac/ad/ax)

Downdetector

Five Facts About 6 GHz Wi-Fi

Helge Keck - WiFi Lite (This was the best tool, period. Hope it comes back soon).

Antenna - Dr Trevor Marshall

Using PuTTYgen on Windows to generate SSH key pairs

Free Space Path Loss Diagrams – SemFio Networks

Matt Gast Beamforming in 802.11ac

You forgot, How to boil an egg.

 

[Hazel]

You forgot, How to boil an egg.

That one seems kinda complicated, I'll save that one for last. Thanks for adding it to the list though.

 

[elorimer]

You forgot, How to boil an egg.

That is not remotely how you boil an egg. That is exactly how NOT to boil an egg!

 

[Tech9]

The only thing is, those guides are great, except when you'll be offline

Well, all you need is to remember your SSID/pass. Even that's not needed, if you choose to have new SSID/pass. Reset the router, restore SSID/pass or connect to the new one and you're online again. Then follow the guides you like. Some of them are very similar to the how to boil an egg guide above.

 

[shabbs]

Step 1 in my 87-step Macaron recipe... separate the egg whites and age them 32 days...

 

[BreakingDad]

True story, although I can boil an egg well now, start from cold, bring up to boil, then turn off gas and wait 3-5 min depending on size of egg. So I once put two eggs in and forgot to put the water in. 5 min later, bang bang. I subsequently have not been allowed to cook much, but no worries, my wife is a professional chef and I always prefered to eat rather than cook. She can't install Merlin though, so we have achieved perfect food and network stability in this relationship. Almost Zen like.

 

[Tech9]

Step 1 in my 87-step Macaron recipe

That's step 5 for me. I move the fridge to a central location, plug it into a new never used before power outlet, reset it 3 times, let it settle for 8-12h.

 

[Clark Griswald]

You forgot, How to boil an egg.