ASUS RT-N66U Dark Knight Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router Reviewed

[G37x]

iTunes server broken?

I think I got another bug..I have itunes server enabled on my RT-N66U. Problem is if I open itunes on other PC's I see on the left column RT-N66U, I then click on it and it brings all my songs that I have on my personal PC Itunes library but then automatically shuts down everything and it jumps to local music collection. I tried this on both window 7 and MACair and got the same result, which leads all to RT-N66U...

Ideas?

Thanks!

Got this from Asus:

This is a known bug with Itunes Media server and we are working on fixing it soon.

Apple fixed all this in 10.6 itunes hurray! If anyone cares...

 

[though]

I gave it chance last night since I was having issues w/ .102 where after 36 hrs the router would drop all wifi connections and only way to get wifi back up is to reboot it. This happened twice so I loaded toastman on and so far its working well but I did notice range is little shorter than .102

you can go here: http://**YOUR IP HERE**/advanced-wireless.asp

and change the wireless transmit power if you need a boost

 

[mickeykool]

you can go here: http://**YOUR IP HERE**/advanced-wireless.asp

and change the wireless transmit power if you need a boost

ahhh... thanks for the tip! )

 

[though]

Thanks for posting your experience with toastman--I might get the confidence some day to do the same particularly since it seems easy enough to roll-back to stock( or so I have heard). Maybe just for the fun of trying it.

I've now read a couple of comments about performance hits due to toastman/tomato --so not sure that's something I would want to give up.

*IF* there is any decrease in performance, which i highly doubt there is, you will make up for it in stability. everything just works like it's supposed to and you get constant updates/tweaks/enhancements/support with a huge active following.

join the fun!

http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/toastman-releases-1-28-7493-4-5-6.36106/

 

[tonytoronto]

Thanks. I clicked on that chart you gave me, funny mine is the 3rd one (Zyxel 500 Mbps Powerline Gigabit Ethernet Adapter Kit (PLA4205kit)) it should fly! However is close to junk. Very happy I only paid like 70 for the kit. I don't believe squad from that chart.

I have the Zexel Kit and i can tell you not junk. Its way faster than wireless for me. The trick with this things-- condition power lines. My bedroom has 4 outlets, plugged in to 2 of them i can stream Avatar ( Full HD) without any problems, the other 2 barely enough to browse the web. Things that are plugged in to outlets can make big diference too. I guess i was lucky...

 

[G37x]

I have the Zexel Kit and i can tell you not junk. Its way faster than wireless for me. The trick with this things-- condition power lines. My bedroom has 4 outlets, plugged in to 2 of them i can stream Avatar ( Full HD) without any problems, the other 2 barely enough to browse the web. Things that are plugged in to outlets can make big diference too. I guess i was lucky...

Thanks. Yeah, I only tried one outlet...Really don't need this now as the wifi is booming throughout my house. I will give another try...Anyhow my point is wired LAN is one thing and powerline just a (weaker) alternative.

 

[RogerSC]

Another way to connect an AP to your main router (other than an ethernet cable or powerline networking) is to use the cable TV coax in your walls. This is called MoCA, and is very reliable for me. I'm getting about 85Mb/s via MoCA, which is better than I hear most people get from powerline networking. And it isn't affected when funky things happen on your power lines, since it uses the double-shielded coax cable in your walls as carrier.

Google it and check it out.

 

[blink18]

A few questions on Asus RT-N66U

Hello!

I'm planning to buy ASUS RT-N66U this month and have a few questions:
1. What is the max. hdd size (and partition size) that you can connect through USB port?
2. What is the maximum filesize that router can read/write on hdd?
3. What transfer rate (read/write) can I expect for USB hdd -> LAN file transfers (wired & wireless)?
4. I read that power adapter works on 19V and max. power is 1.58A..that is 30W per hour. So what is the actual measured power consumption of router?

 

[Sushiglobster]

*IF* there is any decrease in performance, which i highly doubt there is, you will make up for it in stability. everything just works like it's supposed to and you get constant updates/tweaks/enhancements/support with a huge active following.

join the fun!

http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/toastman-releases-1-28-7493-4-5-6.36106/

I downloaded: tomato-K26USB-1.28.0496.1MIPSR2-Toastman-RT-N-Ext

to flash....but for the life of me I cannot get this router in to recovery mode. For the last hour I've been holding the reset button while plugging the power in and the Power Light indicator flashes quickly and never slows down. I've held it for as long as 2 mins and the power light never slows down.

I can't get this router to go in to recovery? What am I doing wrong here? I hold the reset button, plug in the power with the power on/off switch in the on position....I hold the reset button while the unit powers up for about 30 seconds....and then....nothing happens.

what gives?

 

[KevTech]

Have you tried using the power button instead of unplugging the router?

What I do is turn off power with button > hold down reset button > push power button on while still holding reset.

After in recovery mode I open web browser to 192.168.1.1 and the miniweb server is there that you can flash through.

No need for the recovery software.

 

[G37x]

Another way to connect an AP to your main router (other than an ethernet cable or powerline networking) is to use the cable TV coax in your walls. This is called MoCA, and is very reliable for me. I'm getting about 85Mb/s via MoCA, which is better than I hear most people get from powerline networking. And it isn't affected when funky things happen on your power lines, since it uses the double-shielded coax cable in your walls as carrier.

Google it and check it out.

What do you use this?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0022NHMZY/?tag=snbforums-20

I don't see a lots of options...

 

[Sushiglobster]

Have you tried using the power button instead of unplugging the router?

What I do is turn off power with button > hold down reset button > push power button on while still holding reset.

After in recovery mode I open web browser to 192.168.1.1 and the miniweb server is there that you can flash through.

No need for the recovery software.

I tried that way too...I'll try it again I suppose. How do I know when the router goes in to recovery mode? The power light blinks fast regardless of how long I hold the reset button.

 

[Sushiglobster]

Uhg.....I was finally able to get it right...
Because I was pressing the wrong button. Fail. Haha

Now I.have a bigger problem. I flashed it...but now I can't access the router. there is no default gateway! Help!

 

[hrana]

Uhg.....I was finally able to get it right...
Because I was pressing the wrong button. Fail. Haha

Now I.have a bigger problem. I flashed it...but now I can't access the router. there is no default gateway! Help!

Toastman's firmwares don't have DHCP enabled by default. You have to manually assign your computer an IP address (for example 192.168.1.2) and then connect to the router at 192.168.1.1. The default username/password is either admin/admin or root/admin. Turn on DHCP and let your computer grab an IP automatically. Then configure away.

 

[Sushiglobster]

Thank you. I got everything going now. This was kind of unknown territory for me so I was a bit unsure.

 

[though]

Thank you. I got everything going now. This was kind of unknown territory for me so I was a bit unsure.

Good deal. Report back your findings

 

[T4xus]

Hi, first, I apologize for my bad english...
I have bought a RT-N66U in order to replace my old WRT54GL which limited my WAN connexion. I had problem from the beginning with it : I could not connect to my NAS from my local network when I typed my wan-ip adress (or my domain name), I learned it was a NAT loop problem, so I decided to upgrade with the 3.0.0.3.96 firmware... The NAT loop issue was solved but now the router disconnect very frequently. So I decided to install the beta 3.1.0.3.90 firmware and... NAT loop problem again! I have reinstalled the 3.0.0.1.96 firmware but it's unusable, too many disconnections, this firmware seems to be very unstable.
I wish Asus will quickly release a fixed firmware, meanwhile i'm using my WRT54GL... It's a pity that such an expensive router doesn't work fine from the beginning , however the hardware seems very good.

 

[KevTech]

T4xus, the 102 firmware fixes NAT loopback bug.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/czmvsr

 

[mrcom]

Hi, first, I apologize for my bad english...
I have bought a RT-N66U in order to replace my old WRT54GL which limited my WAN connexion. I had problem from the beginning with it : I could not connect to my NAS from my local network when I typed my wan-ip adress (or my domain name), I learned it was a NAT loop problem, so I decided to upgrade with the 3.0.0.3.96 firmware... The NAT loop issue was solved but now the router disconnect very frequently. So I decided to install the beta 3.1.0.3.90 firmware and... NAT loop problem again! I have reinstalled the 3.0.0.1.96 firmware but it's unusable, too many disconnections, this firmware seems to be very unstable.
I wish Asus will quickly release a fixed firmware, meanwhile i'm using my WRT54GL... It's a pity that such an expensive router doesn't work fine from the beginning , however the hardware seems very good.

Here is the .102 firmware to fix your problems
click zip file to download http://www.4shared.com/folder/h9J1MTAx/_online.html

 

[KevTech]

I just received an update on the IPv6 and traffic monitor issues from Asus.

In case anyone else has not noticed the traffic monitor does not record info correctly.

If you are downloading a file the bandwidth on the wired and wireless tabs shows up under transmission when it should show up under reception.

At first I thought my sons laptop had a virus as the monitor was showing most activity under transmission with little activity under reception.

Anyway, here is what I was told on both issues and it looks like they may not be resolved in build 106 but in a later build.

Thank you for your patience. The development team has informed me that this will be fixed in an upcoming build. I did not receive information on when the build will be available, though. Once I have this information I will let you know.
Please note that firmware 3.0.0.3.106 will be out shortly, however, this will be a minor update.