Asus updates its EOL list, adds RT-AC1750, AC1900P, AC88U, AC5300

[grifo]

@DocUmibozu Just wondering, does OpenWrt offer hardware accelerated NAT for some/any hardware?

With software NAT offloading on recent hardware it can still route 1 Gb/s unless QoS is turned on. Turning on QoS also defeats NAT acceleration on Asus and other vendors firmware.

 

[KrypteX]

With software NAT offloading on recent hardware it can still route 1 Gb/s unless QoS is turned on. Turning on QoS also defeats NAT acceleration on Asus and other vendors firmware.

That's interesting... what do you mean by recent hardware? Some examples would be nice. What about an old AC68U v2 (B1) with dual-core 1 GHz Broadcom CPU?

 

[DocUmibozu]

That's interesting... what do you mean by recent hardware? Some examples would be nice. What about an old AC68U v2 (B1) with dual-core 1 GHz Broadcom CPU?

AC68U is not popular in openwrt community because its wifi does not work.
Never seen a benchmark of that router on openwrt.
Every time someone ask a question about It or Netgear 6250/7000 (same chipset) he Is advised to use dd-wrt or tomato

 

[grifo]

That's interesting... what do you mean by recent hardware? Some examples would be nice. What about an old AC68U v2 (B1) with dual-core 1 GHz Broadcom CPU?

Broadcom based routers are a no go as the WiFi isn't supported with the exception of the RT-AC88U, so I would only install OpenWrt on them for checking it out. My RT-AC87U, which has a similar processor to the RT-AC68U, does about 300 Mb/s max NAT, about what it did under Merlin with NAT acceleration turned off / QoS turned on.

To run OpenWrt it is important to choose the hardware that has the best support by open source drivers. Currently those are Mediatek and Qualcomm chipsets. A very popular router for OpenWrt recently has been the Belkin RT3200 / Linksys E8450 (it's the same device under two different brands), with the MediaTek ARM A53 MT7622BV (and fully supported AX WiFi), which can route 1 Gb/s without QoS, and it could be bought very cheaply a few months ago (around 50 GBP, even less in the US at Walmart) but now it has become hard to find. A similar device is the Netgear WAX206, which also has a 2.5 Gb/s port.

Also a possibility are devices based on the older Mediatek MT7621, which has hardware offloading support on OpenWrt and can route 1 Gb/s without QoS. For recent devices, these are popular mostly as AX WiFi access points, but people also use them as routers. Examples are the Belkin RT1800 / Linksys E7350 (same device) and the Netgear WAX202. I have two of the latter that I use as APs, I paid about 45 euros for them new on Amazon. They will last for ages, it's more likely that the hardware breaks before they're no longer supported as with 512 MB RAM and 128 MB flash (which are the main hard limits for a devce to become unsupported by a new OpenWt release) they have a long way to go.

The newer chipset from Mediatek, called Filogic, will be one of the best choices for OpenWrt AiO routers going forward, but it's still quite new and there aren't many devices with it on the market yet. Some examples are the Cudy WR3000, the TP-Link TL-XDR4288 and TL-XDR6088, the Xiaomi AX6000, the Banana Pi BPI-R3. There will be more in the coming months.

For Qualcomm, popular devices are based on the IPQ40xx chipset or the newer IPQ806x, but I don't know much about those other than they're popular with OpenWrt users, though not as much as Mediatek's.

For the best performance you can use an x86 (mini)PC, there's a lot of choice for those and also good deals on the used market. Raspberry Pi's are also popular with OpenWrt users. You can then add OpenWrt supported APs as per above.

 

[DocUmibozu]

For Qualcomm, popular devices are based on the IPQ40xx chipset or the newer IPQ806x, but I don't know much about those other than they're popular with OpenWrt users, though not as much as Mediatek's.

Just to clarify: NSS on qualcomm ipq806x under openwrt isn't officially supported and the community is not too keen on recent qualcomm support to OSS.

 

[grifo]

Just to clarify: NSS on qualcomm ipq806x under openwrt isn't officially supported and the community is not too keen on recent qualcomm support to OSS.

Thanks for the correction, I'm not really up to speed with Qualcomm chipsets.

 

[Labdoc]

Re: RT-AX56u now on EOL list
Is there any security risk using the AX56u as an aimesh node with wired backhaul, connected to a RT-AX88u (not pro) ? Both running the most recent available Merlin FW. Currently, I run such a setup and it works OK for my limited needs

 

[Tech9]

Is there any security risk

Wired AiMesh node is an Access Point. No routing there. Continue using it as before.

 

[rgnldo]

A pfSense box can't offer what Asus does. Excellent WiFi. Nor can it do it as effortlessly either. I've tried pfSense and I may try it again, but that won't stop me from buying Asus routers either.

I'm not expecting new features. I'm expecting continued firmware updates for the best performance in the future as WiFi evolves (as it has continually until now).

I'm not being unrealistic at all. I'm evaluating the product based on the new/current information available.

I don't play the marketing game. I play the model which gives the best bang for the buck for the longest (expected) time frame.

Asus may be pricing things as other people expect them to.

I have my own criteria. Based on all the products available today.

Fitting between the product models is not a measure of the worth of a product (ever).

Absolutely. Investing in any network security product involves staying up-to-date with security updates.

 

[Wadadli]

AC68U is not popular in openwrt community because its wifi does not work.
Never seen a benchmark of that router on openwrt.
Every time someone ask a question about It or Netgear 6250/7000 (same chipset) he Is advised to use dd-wrt or tomato

I put FreshTomato on my 5300. Works great.

 

[DocUmibozu]

I put FreshTomato on my 5300. Works great.

As long as the kernel Is supported....

 

[Wadadli]

As long as the kernel Is supported....

Nothing is forever. So far I'm getting updates from FreshTomato and NOT from Asus. So what's your point?

 

[DocUmibozu]

Nothing is forever. So far I'm getting updates from FreshTomato and NOT from Asus. So what's your point?

That the packets in fresh tomato are security updated.
The kernel seems way past EOL.
So you're using an insecure product, which is bad.

 

[glens]

Whether it's insecure because the kernel's old depends on possible threats getting access that deep /because/ of it, right? Are older (than what?) kernels generally deprecated for use for a firewall / NAT / router?

 

[Wadadli]

That the packets in fresh tomato are security updated.
The kernel seems way past EOL.
So you're using an insecure product, which is bad.

What you are trying not to say is that I should buy a new $800 router from Asus. (not happening)

 

[Tech9]

So you're using an insecure product, which is bad.

In this case your router is insecure too.

 

[heywire]

What would be the disadvantage, if any (beyond the time investment) in setting up a pfsense box on an old computer and throw the whole "EOL" Asus Aimesh setup behind it?

I suppose WAN security is being handled entirety by the pfsense router in this scenario, thus security won't rely on the Asus main node or it's AP's/Aimesh mesh nodes?
Is there a high likeliness of the Wifi itself being compromised with security flaws - in other words, does this get updated often?

 

[Tech9]

If pfSense box is used I would recommend PoE switch with PoE access points with native VLAN support. Old home routers will restrict the possible network configurations. One of the challenges is Guest Network. It has no separation from the main network in Asuswrt AP Mode. I have posted an idea for low cost alternative here:

Problems with mesh on AC86U + AC68U + AC68U

Hello, New to this group, I'm having problems with these routers in a mesh configuration. The two AC68Us are connected by ethernet to the AC86U to form the mesh network. My speeds (Comcast) are great at the AC86U router but the wifi seems to go up and down from almost a crawl to very fast...

www.snbforums.com

Some APs come with power adapter saving on PoE switch. Wireless mesh option is also available.

 

[DocUmibozu]

What you are trying not to say is that I should buy a new $800 router from Asus. (not happening)

Chill 'bro...I'm just saying what I said

 

[DocUmibozu]

In this case your router is insecure too.

Uhm...no, I'm on openwrt now, kernel 5.15 lts supported until 2027
Asus router has been repurposed as an AP