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Asus locking down routers to comply with new FCC rules

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I am old enuf 2 know better but young enuf 2 keep going

and I don't see going on about this is a childish manner
I don't think the FCC or the government has MY interest in mind in wanting to cripple someone's wi-fi signal (and I won't digress into a discussion about it)

And this thread was to get the most power out of your RT-AC68U
and if you change firmware beyond 374.43_2 then you will cripple the amount of output power (which is only like 316mW to begin with no matter what number you stick in there) to like only 80mW :cool:

There is no way, thru software and/or firmware, to make a chip output more power than what it was designed to do

How old are you? :)

You do know we have to share the wireless spectrum, right?

Your line of thinking was fine when every Nth person had a wireless router, but this situation is drastically different today. Not to mention that interfering on gov't controlled wavelengths is not exactly the way to start each morning.

Complying with the rules as they change will benefit everyone in the long term.

Ranting and raving about 'destroying' your neighbors who try to get on 'your' channel sounds kind of childish.

We don't each have a channel. Learn to share. ;)
 
I'm not certain what all the fuss is about, at least here in the U.S. If the FCC is going to come down hard on all router manufacturers so that the ability to adjust a radio's broadcast power cannot be adjusted by the end-consumer, it's going to apply to all manufactuers, no?

In the meantime, can someone give definitive answers for these questions:

1) What is the number of the last official ASUSWRT official firmware that doesn't "lock down" the ability to adjust transmit power by the end-user?

2) What is the number of the last official ASUSWRT official firmware that provided actual maximum transmit power (i.e., best range) for the AC66, AC68, and AC87?

3) Same questions for Merlin's firmware:

a) Identify the Merlin firmware that last provided the ability to adjust transmit power; and,

b) Identify the Merlin firmware that provided actual optimal broadcast range (i.e., before ASUS dropped the drivers back as a result of the Netgear complaint).

I've read all sort of threads here, and most people seem to suggest, at least with Merlin, that anything after 374.38 is borked. What are the real answers by someone who actually knows?

Merlin? Can you weigh in on this? And btw, I'm not suggesting you should do anything to allow users to subvert compliance with FCC rules and regs. I just would like to know what's already out there (i.e, FW's that I or others may still have sitting on our hard drives).
 
So if you are located in the EU with EU correctly flashed in CFE, the Tx power adjustment setting should apply to EU regulations and not to FCC rules. But it is impossible to know if this is the case, when the Tx power adjustment setting is in % and not in mW.

There are NO EU radio regulations. Each country has its own rules and frequency allocations as well as power output limits. That is the problme with Asus' approach. My router is not locked down to UK regs (which I would not mind), but a crippled and mythical EU regime which just happens to be legal in each country as it is the lowest common denominator.
 
Thanks. So, if I understand, 374.43_2 Merlin (and John's forked version) are the last Merlin builds that actually allow adjustment of the transmit power above 80mw. Ok.

What then is the last "official" ASUSWRT version of the F/W that allows such adjustment, if anyone knows?

And specifically, I was asking about the AC66/68/87 series of routers, but actually, I'm really only interested in the AC66's (either R or U, they are the same).

I've previously read the threads to which you provided links, and while they address the issue of end-user ability to adjust transmit power, the reason I also asked about "actual" transmit power is that I've read that even in versions of the F/W prior to 374.43 and below, that some of the F/W's released by ASUS in light of the Netgear complaints (about skirting the FCC testing requirements for transmit power) had already rendered even the visible adjustments in the GUI somewhat meaningless.

What I mean by that is that ASUS actually downgraded the transmit power, in particular for the AC66's at least twice, first in versions of the F/W well before 374.38 in response to the complaints to the FCC and the civil lawsuit filed by Netgear, and then again, in order to comply with the new FCC limitations on end-user consumer ability to change country codes and increase transmit power.

So while I understand that the 374.43 builds (and below) allow the user to input up to 200mw for both 2.4 and 5.0 radios, the GUI also states that this setting will automatically adjust itself "to meet regional regulations". So, even if you change the settings to beyond 80mw, at least in some of the versions of the F/W, in the U.S., it will have no practical effect...at least that's what I've gleaned from reading some of the other threads on this topic (and don't ask me to cite one now, because I haven't catalogued links and don't have time to go through the search function).

I suppose in part what I was thus asking, was not only which versions of F/W would allow the user to adjust the transmit power (or at least make it appear that transmit power is being adjusted), but which versions of the F/W will actually restore the ability of an AC66U to transmit at the power it was formerly transmitting at BEFORE the Netgear complaints were lodged and ASUS reacted to them?

The reason I ask is this: When I first bought my AC66U in or around February of 2014, I have no idea what firmware was initially installed at the factory, but I do know that when I pulled it out of the box, connected it, and began to test for wireless coverage, range and throughput, even in remote areas of my house, it was the single fastest router I'd ever experienced. Great range, great throughput, and lightning fast. And for the most part, the F/W was, right out of the box, rock-solid for simple file transfers, streaming and internet up and downloading. Nothing fancy, no FTP servers, no minidlna, no SMB, just browsing, watching downloaded media, and using simple network shares.

Then, I learned about Merlin's first builds here from this forum, and tried some of them out. They provided about the same stability for me, and the same utility, and the same speeds. But at some point, I loaded in a new firmware, can't recall whether it was "official" or Merlin's (based on an official build) and my range, throughput and speeds all dropped. I then tried a bunch of other F/W versions, both official and Merlin's, and while I *think* my speed, range and throughput is back to where it once was, I still have this nagging sensation that they are not, and that ASUS (and Merlin because he's using the official builds as his starting point), has slowed things down, if only to avoid the whole Netgear mess (and to avoid liability and a ban on sales), and now, in anticipation of attempting to comply with the new FCC rules.

So, in short, my question is: What was the last really good, fast, and most powerful F/W available (either Merlin or official from ASUS) that anyone has available to them that existed before ASUS scaled back the performance that used to exist in the AC66's?

I guess I should have been clearer about this, but there it is. Again, I'm not trying to get anyone to run afoul of FCC rules and regs, or any other law that I know of. I'm just trying to find out if anyone still has the earlier versions of the F/W, and if so, whether it's still available anywhere that one might be able to obtain it (and yes, I realize that ASUS has pulled all of the earlier versions of the F/W from their official site, so I realize it isn't being offered officially anywhere).

But thanks for the clarification as to 374.42_2. Much appreciated.
 
Oh yeah, one more question to Deepcuts' post above:

What are you saying? Is "316" a version of F/W? If so, what version are you specifically referring to?

And what do you mean "100 being the standard for the RT series"?

100 what?
 
He means 100mW.
 
Thanks.

100mw as the default? If you say so. But I thought 80mw was the standard default for the RT-AC66's, even under the prior F/W's, and that 100mw was the max setting.
 
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Thanks. So, if I understand, 374.43_2 Merlin (and John's forked version) are the last Merlin builds that actually allow adjustment of the transmit power above 80mw. Ok.

What then is the last "official" ASUSWRT version of the F/W that allows such adjustment, if anyone knows?

And specifically, I was asking about the AC66/68/87 series of routers, but actually, I'm really only interested in the AC66's (either R or U, they are the same).

I've previously read the threads to which you provided links, and while they address the issue of end-user ability to adjust transmit power, the reason I also asked about "actual" transmit power is that I've read that even in versions of the F/W prior to 374.43 and below, that some of the F/W's released by ASUS in light of the Netgear complaints (about skirting the FCC testing requirements for transmit power) had already rendered even the visible adjustments in the GUI somewhat meaningless.

What I mean by that is that ASUS actually downgraded the transmit power, in particular for the AC66's at least twice, first in versions of the F/W well before 374.38 in response to the complaints to the FCC and the civil lawsuit filed by Netgear, and then again, in order to comply with the new FCC limitations on end-user consumer ability to change country codes and increase transmit power.

So while I understand that the 374.43 builds (and below) allow the user to input up to 200mw for both 2.4 and 5.0 radios, the GUI also states that this setting will automatically adjust itself "to meet regional regulations". So, even if you change the settings to beyond 80mw, at least in some of the versions of the F/W, in the U.S., it will have no practical effect...at least that's what I've gleaned from reading some of the other threads on this topic (and don't ask me to cite one now, because I haven't catalogued links and don't have time to go through the search function).

I suppose in part what I was thus asking, was not only which versions of F/W would allow the user to adjust the transmit power (or at least make it appear that transmit power is being adjusted), but which versions of the F/W will actually restore the ability of an AC66U to transmit at the power it was formerly transmitting at BEFORE the Netgear complaints were lodged and ASUS reacted to them?

The reason I ask is this: When I first bought my AC66U in or around February of 2014, I have no idea what firmware was initially installed at the factory, but I do know that when I pulled it out of the box, connected it, and began to test for wireless coverage, range and throughput, even in remote areas of my house, it was the single fastest router I'd ever experienced. Great range, great throughput, and lightning fast. And for the most part, the F/W was, right out of the box, rock-solid for simple file transfers, streaming and internet up and downloading. Nothing fancy, no FTP servers, no minidlna, no SMB, just browsing, watching downloaded media, and using simple network shares.

Then, I learned about Merlin's first builds here from this forum, and tried some of them out. They provided about the same stability for me, and the same utility, and the same speeds. But at some point, I loaded in a new firmware, can't recall whether it was "official" or Merlin's (based on an official build) and my range, throughput and speeds all dropped. I then tried a bunch of other F/W versions, both official and Merlin's, and while I *think* my speed, range and throughput is back to where it once was, I still have this nagging sensation that they are not, and that ASUS (and Merlin because he's using the official builds as his starting point), has slowed things down, if only to avoid the whole Netgear mess (and to avoid liability and a ban on sales), and now, in anticipation of attempting to comply with the new FCC rules.

So, in short, my question is: What was the last really good, fast, and most powerful F/W available (either Merlin or official from ASUS) that anyone has available to them that existed before ASUS scaled back the performance that used to exist in the AC66's?

I guess I should have been clearer about this, but there it is. Again, I'm not trying to get anyone to run afoul of FCC rules and regs, or any other law that I know of. I'm just trying to find out if anyone still has the earlier versions of the F/W, and if so, whether it's still available anywhere that one might be able to obtain it (and yes, I realize that ASUS has pulled all of the earlier versions of the F/W from their official site, so I realize it isn't being offered officially anywhere).

But thanks for the clarification as to 374.42_2. Much appreciated.

To add to this excellent series of questions can I add one wrinkle, which the thread hasn't highlighted. (see signature) If I'm on the firmware below, will any of this mean that my router is locked to the US now?

When I:

strings /dev/mtd0 | grep ccode

I get:

pci/1/1/ccode=0
pci/2/1/ccode=0

does that answer which bootloader, or which region I'm locked to?

...so my biggest unanswered question in this thread is, if I don't upgrade none of this matters to me? I know I had to increase my output power to 100 after upgrading to this firmware as it wasn't covering my furthest corners as well, which worked fine giving me good coverage again. Doing this it seems to indicate that I still have control over my output power.

I'm not certain anyone has answered your question as to which firmware version is when the bootloader was changed to create a US region lock, and perhaps the functionality of the firmware has been degraded, and I'd love to see that.
 
My 87R is definitely not as powerful after updating from the original firmware. I can't even find the original firmware anywhere.
 
Thanks I'll check them out. But my original firmware said 3.0.0.4.376_1311.
Also I'm reading that even going back in firmware doesn't return your signal power?
 
Instead of tinkering about with the power levels in the hardware and firmware, just put a decent set of antennas on the routers with decent gain. That will be a great deal better than increasing the TX level inside firmware IMHO.

The 2.4ghz band is packed with all sorts of gadgets all trying to talk to each other or the internet, i am not surprised that the various comms agencies are clamping down.

The FCC and OFCOM in the UK would do better looking at the awful interference that PLT cause instead of worrying about people tinkering with there routers!

Rant over...:)
 
Changing the antennas isn't really the answer, as demonstrated by others in many other threads on the forum (I'll come back and provide you with some links here). Bigger and higher gain antennas may result in slight increases of a couple dbm gain over the stock antenna, but it's also just as likely to cause signal distortion and can also reduce vertical signal (so it's will show modest improvement in a single story home, but lousy if you live in a two story or more home.)
 
Thanks I'll check them out. But my original firmware said 3.0.0.4.376_1311.
Also I'm reading that even going back in firmware doesn't return your signal power?

I have seen no mention of that. Do you have a link?

Neglecting to reset the router to the default settings could cause that problem.
 
I don't remember where I seen that. I think it was something I read back when I bought the 66R. But now that I installed the newest beta 3.0.0.4.378_3562 everything has been great.
Firmware installed via ASUS recovery tool and Clear NVRAM (WPS button method). Not sure that what helped or the beta was the trick. My range is great again.

I have seen no mention of that. Do you have a link?

Neglecting to reset the router to the default settings could cause that problem.
 
Its a good thing i use a mikrotik routerboard. They dont have to comply with FCC rules and the CCR i use is many times cheaper in price/performance compared to consumer routes and many times faster than what asus offers. 41million packets per second for NAT.

you can install 3rd party firmware/linux on routerboards if you have a compatible firmware image. They dont lock it down and they dont restrict 3rd party firmwares like what tp-link does. They comply with laws through different methods and packages based on user requirement. you could always switch to non-consumer routers or even use your x86 box.
 
It depends on the Mikrotik routerboard you are talking about, i can guarantee that ASUS ARM routers (AC56U, AC68U/P and AC87U) outperform most of Mikrotik routerboards in terms of CPU/Memory performance, i advise you to benchmark them and see by yourself.

About pricing, Mikrotik is not cheap, and Mikrotik OS, PSU, Case, Wireless NIC and Memory Cards are payed separatelly, so you must tell me whats your router model being cheaper and faster than ARM ASUS routers.

Dont forget ASUS routers price is a product ready to go.
 
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You are dead wrong, i bet you didn't say that based on your experience.

User jegesq have told everything, you can choose the best antena in the world and you will see alot better signal/coverage with stock antenas with power levels increased.

The higher gain antenna is the worst the vertical angle is, so you can loose completly the signal on some places where you were good with stock antenas.

Try to digg on this or other forums about people complaining of spending lots of € on antenas and then having worse signal or no gains at all. You can have a VERY small increase of signal on horizontal angle only, vertical angle will dramatically decrease.

I still remember those 2 TNC "high gain" antenas from Linksys (http://support.linksys.com/en-eu/support/accessories/HGA7T) that costed at the time half of the price of a Linksys WRT54G, what for!???! Spending money nothing more, pure marketing.


Instead of tinkering about with the power levels in the hardware and firmware, just put a decent set of antennas on the routers with decent gain. That will be a great deal better than increasing the TX level inside firmware IMHO.

The 2.4ghz band is packed with all sorts of gadgets all trying to talk to each other or the internet, i am not surprised that the various comms agencies are clamping down.

The FCC and OFCOM in the UK would do better looking at the awful interference that PLT cause instead of worrying about people tinkering with there routers!

Rant over...:)
 
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