Asus RT-BE88U support in AsusWrt Merlin

[fededim]

Hi,

any plan to support the new (partial) Wifi 7 router RT-BE88U in AsusWrt Merlin ( https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ )?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Beta - Asuswrt-Merlin 3006.102.1 Beta is now available for WIfi 7 devices

Asuswrt-Merlin 3006.102.1 Beta is now available for the RT-BE96U and the GT-BE98_PRO. This is the first release based on the new 3006 code, and also the first release to include WIfi 7 devices. Do not ask about support for other models. 3006.102.1 will only support these two models (plus the...

www.snbforums.com

Asuswrt-Merlin 3006.102.1 Beta is now available for the RT-BE96U and the GT-BE98_PRO. This is the first release based on the new 3006 code, and also the first release to include WIfi 7 devices.

Do not ask about support for other models. 3006.102.1 will only support these two models (plus the GT-BE98 by Gnuton), and we will re-evaluate things after that realease is finalized on any other potential device to support. These must be picked in collaboration with Asus as GPL code and device samples (in the case of new devices) are necessary for each individual model.

 

[bennor]

Hi,

any plan to support the new (partial) Wifi 7 router RT-BE88U in AsusWrt Merlin ( https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ )?

In addition to what ColinTaylor posted. Please note what is indicated in this subforum's sticky/tacked post: [FAQ] READ ME FIRST before posting a question

Q: Will you add support for model XYZ?
A: The decision whether or not to support a new model depend on a long list of factors, which may evolve over time. Right now:

- It needs to be Broadcom-based
- It needs to be widely available (not just in two or three countries)
- It needs to have high-end hardware so I don't have to fight with lack of flash or RAM
- It needs to receive frequent enough GPLs so I won't have to regularly skip it due to the GPL being outdated
- I need to have one
- I need to have the time to try supporting it
- I need to have the motivation to try supporting it

Each new model requires its own dedicated support. That means every time I work on a new firmware release, I have to work on each separate model, and I need GPL releases from Asus for each individual model, and I need to merge each of them separately. So that means if I support 10 different routers, then I need to merge in the content of 10 different GPL releases, and these need to be close enough to one another to still be compatible. The more models I support, the harder this is to accomplish, therefore I am VERY conservative regarding adding any new model.

So don't ask if/when a new model will be supported. I cannot speculate about future model support, and until I have working support for a model, I cannot answer that question.

 

[vanarebane]

Short quick answer.
Not in the next Merlin version.
Hardware seems to be supported, this is not limiting factor.
Merlin (the developer) needs to buy RT-BE88U (reportedly three) routers for testing/developing.
RT-BE88U is just released and needs to settle a bit more, so there are more users and availability. If it's very popular and there is demand for Merlin software, then the more likely RT-BE88U is going to be supported.
Biggest stop for the software is new GUI elements in Asus software, that needs to be replicated in Merlin GUI. Meaning when RT-BE88U is going to be supported, there is possibly a lot of work to be done on that part or the Merlin GUI is going to default to openwrt GUI.

 

[cookies]

Is the GUI thing specific for the BE88U? Or is it common to all the higher end Asus Wifi7 routers? From what I can see the 98/96/88, and indeed the upcoming 86, seems to at least be using the same SoC.

 

[vanarebane]

Is the GUI thing specific for the BE88U? Or is it common to all the higher end Asus Wifi7 routers? From what I can see the 98/96/88, and indeed the upcoming 86, seems to at least be using the same SoC.

Merlins own words

I am re-evaluating whether or not to continue offering ROG UI variant for the GT models. I haven't touched any of the ROG UI yet for 3006. If I find out I need to do a lot of extra work specifically for the ROG UI, then there's a good chance I might drop its support and only support the regular grey UI.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Asuswrt-Merlin support underway for 3 Wifi 7 routers

Hi everyone, I am now able to officially announce support for three different Wifi 7 routers is currently under development, to be part of the 3006.102.1 release: RT-BE96U GT-BE98_PRO GT-BE98 (by Gnuton) Things are still too early to have any kind of ETA, even for snapshot builds, as there...

www.snbforums.com

EDIT:
So RT series is not restricted. But they Released 3006.102.1 and I believe the RT-BE88U is currently at version 3006.102.3?
And 3006.102.1 will not have other models added later. So hopefully in the future version, like 3006.103 or higher, the RT-BE88U will be added.

 

[Lada]

I'm very much in favour of a solution. I have always used an ASUS router. This model meets the large demands of a large Small Office for several members. This device should have been here a long time ago. I will gladly wait for the Merlin solution.
With the help of Deepl from Karlovy Vary in CZECH

 

[swejuggalo]

I'm very much in favour of a solution. I have always used an ASUS router. This model meets the large demands of a large Small Office for several members. This device should have been here a long time ago. I will gladly wait for the Merlin solution.
With the help of Deepl from Karlovy Vary in CZECH

When and if it comes, I'd be happy too. But I'm in no rush. And when and if will not be answered. You know it when and if information is released about it

 

[Lada]

So far I've been using AC828. I need LAN access mode when traveling from WAN. I use NAS and remote desktop in homeoffice. On the new BE88U router I copied all the NAT and port forwarding settings from the AC828. I set up router administration from the WAN, disabled the firewall. However, I can't access either the administration or the NAS forwarding ports from the WAN. PING on the AC828 works, but the BE88U is blocked. I have spent a lot of time and effort on this. I resign, is there a firmware bug? Does anyone have any experience? Thank you for the reply.
I use a fixed public IP

 

[fededim]

Hi again,

I dismounted the router, took some pictures, there is a serial header already soldered and easily accessible, I dumped both standard and rescue mode serial output, you can find everything on my Google Drive (sorry I made the pictures with my mobile. my camera is 200 Km away, maybe I'll take a better picture of everything in the next weeks)

Inside I found these chips:

• BCM6726KFFBG_TE2341P20_W0D-03L3 (Two): 4x4 802.11be Wi-Fi 7 Residential Access Point Chip
• BCM4916KFEBG_TN2310P12_310-34T3: Quad-core ARM v8 compliant 64-bit processor for residential access point (AP) applications
• BCM50904ELA1IFEBG_TK2349_0ZE-01T2: for the 4th 2.5Gbit ports
• MX30LF2G28AD-TI: 256 MB flash memory
• NS892402: for the 4 GBit ports

The router four external antennas, but there is inside a fifth small internal antenna, which I do not know what it is used for (maybe the advertised IoT Network ?)

By the way the firmware is ASUS RT-BE88U Firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_33921, you can download it from Asus Support

When you will upgrade the SDK and have a beta firmware, I can test it, like all Asus routers it has a TFTP rescue mode

 

[Tech9]

I set up router administration from the WAN, disabled the firewall.

I hope you did this for a short time and as an experiment only.

 

[portets]

BCM6726KFFBG_TE2341P20_W0D-03L3: 4x4 802.11be Wi-Fi 7 Residential Access Point Chip

The router four external antennas, but there is inside a fifth small internal antenna, which I do not know what it is used for (maybe the advertised IoT Network ?)

Awesome info, now I don't have to open mine up. I'm also curious about that 5th antenna. Is that abnormal for a router? Also the Wi-Fi chip is interesting, configurable as 2.4, 5, or 6ghz. I wonder if the 5ghz band could be configured as 6ghz 160mhz in software? Or is it configured in hardware?

 

[fededim]

I was curious about it too, I opened it to see if there were empty PCB areas which allowed to solder the 3 radio chip, but this is not the case :-D

If you have the router you can enable SSH access and try to set it, I am not an expert, I just paste here the iw output, no 6Ghz frequency seems to be supported, even though the BCM6726 radio supports it and probably hardware antennas are capable too. Anyway even if you were able to change the frequency, you should choose among 5Ghz and 6Ghz for the second radio and the bandwidth would be only limited to 160 MHz.

As it regards the fifth antenna it seems to be an internal one.