Asus RT-N66U firmware question

[Lukass2000]

Hello

I have buyed an Asus RT-N66U from a friend.
On the router is a two years old firmware, so i will flash at first an actual and new firmware.

Now i have read anything, and i think that the merlin firmware is good for my, but i have read that in the new builds i can not change the tx power?
is this right?

I use the router onla as Wifi AP, so the WLan settings should be good, so that i have the best wlan range

my old router was a linksys wrt54 with tomato.
so my other question was, is tomato shibby good for the RT-N66U?
Has Tomato shibby the same functions as merlin?

I wonder because the sock or merlin Firmware and also tomato have 21megabyte, but dd-wrt has only 8mb.

THANKS

 

[wh7qq]

While Merlin's firmware is based directly on the factory firmware and has much the same look and feel, but with bug fixes and some features added, Shibby is somewhat different and has a larger feature set. I have used Shibby since my RT-N66 was new and prefer it for the more extensive monitoring it offers.

I believe Shibby does allow a full range of TX power setting but that feature is highly over-rated, as you cannot increase power for your client devices. The result is that you increase interference by increasing power but since you don't improve reception by the router, it doesn't do you much good.

If you are accustomed to Shibby's efforts on the WRT54, you will be well pleased by the current offering for the RT-N66. I am using 1.28.0000 MIPSR2-128 K26 USB AIO-64K and it works great.

 

[jim769]

If you have the N66U you would be much better off with John's fork firmware it offers much better signal and range then any of the new builds form Asus and Merlin latest builds and retains all the latest security updates you can read more here.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available.18914/

 

[L&LD]

Or, PM hggomes for a link to his Tx unlocked latest RMerlin based firmware instead.

Note that you must do a full reset to factory defaults and then a manual and minimal configuration to connect to your ISP and to secure your router AFTER you flash any of the latest firmware you're considering.

Also note that by using generic drivers other third party firmware will not offer the best wireless experience the hardware can provide like Asus' own firmware or it's derivatives can (like RMerlin's firmware, john's and hggomes).

 

[Lukass2000]

Have tested now newest Stock, Merlin, Johns Fork and hggomes firmware.
All flashing included the factory reset
Tested several different locations and any TX power settings, but there are minimal differences in reach in my office one floor up.
I think it helps probably just a larger antenna.
I am a little disappointed with the router has yet asus the range so extremely praised

@wh7qq
will test yet tomorrow tomato shibby.
You use this realo, or?
Can i use a guest wifi in tomato?
So had tomato the same settings as the stock firmware, have no real evidence to found since in other posts?

THANKS

 

[wouterv]

I am not sure what you are looking for.
Compared to your WRT54G, which support 802.11g only, the RT-N66U shall perform much better with support of 802.11n on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.
The effective usuable range of 802.11n is much better on 2.4 GHz than 802.11g, and the final data rate will be higher with 802.11n.
I have tested various firmware builds for the RT-N66U, the final usuable range is fairly equal, and by any measure better then the WRT54GL that I have available (2.4 GHz only).

As mentioned before: changing the output power of the router only makes no sense at all because the wireless link depends on the two ends of the radio connection, these are the router and your client devices. As long as the output power of the client devices cannot be increased, increasing the output power of the router does not make sense.

Better is to upgrade all 2.4 GHz devices to support 802.11n.
For 5 GHz these days you better go for 802.11ac, which is not supported by the RT-N66U.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

John's fork for the n66 definitely increases signal and range compared with the newer builds perhaps it's something in your environment or settings that needs to be addressed. I have used the n66 and found it to be a very good router with few issues. I now use the AC68U and it also works very well I only use the 5 Ghz band here and it covers my whole home with full speed wifi also using John's fork build.

 

[Lukass2000]

Hi wouterv
And what firmware do you use on the RT-N66U?

 

[wh7qq]

@wh7qq
will test yet tomorrow tomato shibby.
You use this realo, or?
Can i use a guest wifi in tomato?
So had tomato the same settings as the stock firmware, have no real evidence to found since in other posts?

THANKS

Lukass, I really do use this firmware...have done so since I purchased the router new several years ago, having gotten used to tomatousb by shibby on my old wrt54 and e1000 routers. I have no need of guest wifi so I cannot speak to the availability of this feature. All I can say is try it...if you don't find it to your satisfaction, load something else. There is no single "Best" firmware for any router. What is best is what satisfies the user's requirements.

 

[john9527]

All flashing included the factory reset

Just to double check....after the factory reset, you need to configure things again by hand. If you restore a saved configuration file, you negate the effects of the factory reset. Any questions, see this FAQ
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/

 

[L&LD]

And another double check... after flashing is when to perform the reset to factory defaults (not before).

 

[Lukass2000]

Hi

The last days i have testet all firmwares any days (Stock, Merlin, Johns Fork, hggomes, dd-wrt, tomato)
For test i use 2.4GHz/only N Mode/40MHz (5GHz the range is even worse) with channel 6 and 11.
However there are no large differences with the range.
Increase transmission power brings little difference.

Now i have buyed three TP-Link 9db antennas.
But I'm a bit confused now?
With these three antennas the range is smaller as with the original?

Why this?
should a larger antenna not be better?

 

[wouterv]

Hi

The last days i have testet all firmwares any days (Stock, Merlin, Johns Fork, hggomes, dd-wrt, tomato)
For test i use 2.4GHz/only N Mode/40MHz (5GHz the range is even worse) with channel 6 and 11.
However there are no large differences with the range.
Increase transmission power brings little difference.

Now i have buyed three TP-Link 9db antennas.
But I'm a bit confused now?
With these three antennas the range is smaller as with the original?

Why this?
should a larger antenna not be better?

Like many objects in the world: larger is not allways better.

In radio land a one wave length antenna is about the best you can have.
The wave length for 2.4 GHz is: 12.5 cm / 5 inches.
The wave length for 5 GHz is half of 2.4 GHz: 6 cm / 2.5 inches.
Compare 12.5 cm / 5 inches with the length of the original Asus router antenna.

There are many discussions about the benefits of so called hi-gain router antenna's. In radio land it is believed that you can not really get a stronger signal out of a single rod omnidirectional antenna.

Look at old fashioned TV antennas: these are directional antennas and have multiple rods, one active and one or more passive ones, to create some signal gain.
Look at satellite antenna's: these are also directional and most sensative in one direction by collecting more signal and bringing it to one central point.
There are also (outdoor) directional antennas for wifi signals, these look like satellite antenna's.

My answer would be: the so called hi-gain router antenna's may work for you, but only if perfectly matched to the router.

 

[L&LD]

Note that the higher the antennae gain, the more focused the pattern is. That is, it may reach longer (on axis), but above and below it will have a smaller reach.

If you can picture the original antennae pattern as a donut, the high gain pattern would be a flattened donut (shorter reach vertically, slightly longer reach on axis at the edges).

What is your environment? A single story building or multiple stories? Where is the router/antennae located relative to the clients?

 

[Lukass2000]

Router should work in a house with three floors.
The router is on the second floor, quite in the middle.
My old LinkSys Wrt-54 was also on the same position, and the wifi supply worked almost everywhere.

 

[wouterv]

Router should work in a house with three floors.
The router is on the second floor, quite in the middle.
My old LinkSys Wrt-54 was also on the same position, and the wifi supply worked almost everywhere.

As in a previous post of me in this same thread:
The RT-66U shall (unless it is defect) perform better than the WRT54G for one major reason: 802.11n (given that your clients do support 802.11n).
I did have a WRT54GL with Linksys stock firmware, DD-WRT and Tomato.
The 802.11g range of the WRT45GL was less than its replacement, the RT-N66U with stock firimware.
The 802.11g range of my RT-N66U still covers the the 3 floors of our house (poor on the top floor), with the router placed on the lowest floor.
802.11n on 2.4GHz of the RT-N66U is pretty good throughout the house.
5 GHz practically only covers the floor where the router is located.
My RT-N66U is now on firmware version 3.0.0.4.378.6065.
Settings of the router are pretty default, wireless settings changes are SSIDs, passphrase, WPA2-Personal with AES, 2.4 GHz set to: 20MHz, b/g Protection disabled, and the "best" manual selected channel.
Disturbing neighbor equipment (using the same or close channel) on 2.4GHz is still killing.

 

[L&LD]

Can't really compare WRT54G coverage to today's N and higher class routers for range. The older units excelled at range, but throughput left a lot to be desired, even in the same room.

I can't tell if you reset to factory defaults after flashing each firmware you want to try. Along with a manual and minimal configuration to secure the router and connect to your ISP. I would also suggest that you use a new ssid on your router (and separate ones for each band, at least for now).

The RT-N66U you have may be past it's prime. Can you compare it to a new RT-N66U to single out a defective unit?

 

[wouterv]

Besides hard-reset and manaul configure again, also the location of the router and antenna orientation play a role.

Relative position of the router to the client devices is important, a free line of sight is ideal. Keep as much as free space around the router as possible, do NOT place it in a cabinet, do not place it on top of another electronic device. Keep distance from materials that absorb or disturb radio signals e.g. metal objects, concrete walls or floors and waterfilled objects.
Keep an eye on router temperature, place the router on a hard surface to allow natural ventilation through the router box.
Experiment with the location of the router and antenna orientation.

 

[wh7qq]

Antenna evaluation is a bugger: a science unto itself. In general, larger is better but there are so many variables, such as pattern, orientation and obstruction. The effect of different modulation methods can be dramatic, hence the poor comparison between early and later 802.11 modes. Your longer antennas may measure better distance on TP Link's antenna test range...likely an open, unused parking lot or field with no obstructions...and in this two dimensional environment, it will likely perform better, but if you were to hang the test receiver from a balloon and raise it, you would exit the field of that "flattened donut" and loose signal strength...hence the problem with your upper and lower floors. Also, realize that that donut has a hole in the center so receivers located directly above and below the transmitter antenna may suffer. Since you already invested in the hi-gain antennas, you might try changing their orientation...x, y, z axis, etc. but in the real world of a home, it will probably be impossible to evaluate.

Also, realize that the antennas on your client devices are tiny. Small antenna suffer from lack of "capture area" and this is more evident as you go up in frequency.

 

[Lukass2000]

Hallo,
Does anyone here use the RT-U66N with DD-WRT and can say the router is working stable?
Thanks