[ANNOUNCEMENT] Asuswrt-Merlin 386_x devices are no longer supported

[Ice9]

The AX86U will never be supported with the 3.0.0.6 codebase.

Is this a definite?

The only reason I ask if because I've been looking at pricing for secondhand Routers and the RT-AX86U was one of the models I was looking at along with the RT-AX88U. I thought if I found them for a decent price, I could go with one of these.

I guess I will just look for the RT-AX86U Pro and GT-AX6000 in the secondhand market if there is no chance of the non-pro getting the newer firmware. I thought maybe it might be announced soon with all the AC models going EoL,and some of the lower end AX models going EoL, I thought Asus might now start focusing on the AX and BE series (with possibly providing 3.0.0.6 on some of the higher end AX series models that didn't already have it).

 

[Tech9]

Older RT-AX86/88U perhaps have couple of years of support left before EoL. They are two hardware generations behind now. Buy used only of the budget is tight and the price is not higher than $100-120.

 

[Darkje]

@RMerlin does this mean Asus will release all that is needed for openwrt and tomato and such on.

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin does this mean Asus will release all that is needed for openwrt and tomato and such on.

No. It's not theirs to release, Broadcom are the ones owning the copyrights on the wireless drivers. OpenWRT cannot support anything that isn't fully open source. As for Tomato, they have always been doing the same as me: reusing closed source pieces within their own code, so nothing is changing for them. They have supported the RT-AC68U for many years already.

 

[Darkje]

No. It's not theirs to release, Broadcom are the ones owning the copyrights on the wireless drivers. OpenWRT cannot support anything that isn't fully open source. As for Tomato, they have always been doing the same as me: reusing closed source pieces within their own code, so nothing is changing for them. They have supported the RT-AC68U for many years already.

I know... I mean for the wither range like that is un supported now.

 

[RMerlin]

I know... I mean for the wither range like that is un supported now.

Can you rephrase that? I don't understand your question.

 

[dandle]

So as long as the router is locked down, i.e. WAN facing options are turned off, web access off, SSH off, UPNP off, not used as VPN server, AI Cloud off, privacy focused scripts installed such as diversion and skynet, is it still OK to continue using for internet access?

 

[Tech9]

is it still OK to continue using for internet access?

Yes and there are millions of home routers out there still in use after EoL. If you have ISP provided gateway you also have the option to run your own router in double NAT behind the ISP gateway firewall. ISP provided devices in general are locked down pretty tight.

 

[dandle]

Yes and there are millions of home routers out there still in use after EoL. If you have ISP provided gateway you also have the option to run your own router in double NAT behind the ISP gateway firewall. ISP provided devices in general are locked down pretty tight.

Good to hear. With regards to putting the router behind the ISP provided router, how does that work exactly? So connect the router to the ISP one and leave everything as is? Any special considerations or setup needed?

Any drawbacks to this?

 

[Tech9]

how does that work exactly?

You may have to open a separate thread for this. Available hardware and use case specific setup.

 

[Darkje]

Can you rephrase that? I don't understand your question.

I mean with no updates i need to trough away 3 perfect routers. With no way for opensource firmware. So perhaps tomato will bring firmwares for the ac86u and ac88u and gt 2800...

 

[Tech9]

i need to trough away 3 perfect routers

No, you don't need to throw away your 3x routers. FreshTomato for RT-AC88U is available, supported from 2022.6 release. If the budget is tight - use RT-AC88U as Router, the other two make good Access Points. This combination is good for up to Gigabit ISP and may work just fine for few more years. You perhaps upgraded your computers, phones, tablets, etc. already. At some point you have to upgrade your networking devices as well.

 

[RMerlin]

Yes and there are millions of home routers out there still in use after EoL. If you have ISP provided gateway you also have the option to run your own router in double NAT behind the ISP gateway firewall. ISP provided devices in general are locked down pretty tight.

That ISP router is probably even more out of date than your RT-AC68U, so...

 

[RMerlin]

I mean with no updates i need to trough away 3 perfect routers. With no way for opensource firmware. So perhaps tomato will bring firmwares for the ac86u and ac88u and gt 2800...

RT-AC86U and GT-AC2900 is not happening, because of the completely different softrware architecture. RT-AC88U should already be supported AFAIK.

 

[dvohwinkel]

You have RT-AX86U Pro, not RT-AX86U. Different hardware devices with different firmware support.

How do you know if you have an RT-AX86U or RT-AX86U Pro? Mine is running Current Version : 3004.388.8_4

 

[Tech9]

How do you know if you have an RT-AX86U or RT-AX86U Pro?

Look at the model number on top left corner of GUI main page.

 

[bennor]

How do you know if you have an RT-AX86U or RT-AX86U Pro? Mine is running Current Version : 3004.388.8_4

The model is in the upper left corner of the firmware GUI. Or look at the label on the back or bottom of the router which indicates the model. Examples attached.
Edit to add: Also the RT-AX86U has 2 x 3.0 USB ports, the RT-AX86U Pro has 1 x 3.0 USB port and 1 x 2.0 USB port.