ASUS XD4 Router Merlin Support?

[CIR-Engineering]

Hi,

I am just hoping that it may be possible to install Merlin on an ASUS ZenWiFi AX Mini (XD4) router. The XD4 is ASUS's low priced mesh router and is absolutely fantastic when used with wireless backhauling. Is there a current version of Merlin that I could test with or is an official Merlin release planned?

One of the first things I would like to do with Merlin is turn off the stupid DNS server that is stuck enabled on this and many other ASUS routers. Is there any way to do this without installing Merlin?

Thanks and kind regards,
craigr

 

[AndreiV]

No, Merlin is not available for that router.

>>> About Merlin <<<

>>> More about Merlin <<<

 

[Morris]

You could purchase one of the Asus routers that support Merlin and use it as the router and run Asus code on the ASUS ZenWiFi AX Mini. You will need to keep them in the same firmware for this to work best. Merlin firmware tends to lag Asus firmware so it should not be hard to achieve this.

I'm posting this suggestion based on theory and those with experience mixing the two firmwares advice should be taken before moving forward.

Morris

 

[CIR-Engineering]

No, Merlin is not available for that router.

>>> About Merlin <<<

>>> More about Merlin <<<

Thanks for the confirmation.

craigr

 

[CIR-Engineering]

You could purchase one of the Asus routers that support Merlin and use it as the router and run Asus code on the ASUS ZenWiFi AX Mini. You will need to keep them in the same firmware for this to work best. Merlin firmware tends to lag Asus firmware so it should not be hard to achieve this.

I'm posting this suggestion based on theory and those with experience mixing the two firmwares advice should be taken before moving forward.

Morris

You know, I read about doing this, but I somehow thought it didn't really apply to me. The solution is obvious though, just get a Merlin compatible router to act as the main unit. That's a strong consideration. Thanks!

In other news, I figured out a long term issue with pihole today so I have turned off the DHCP server in my current XD4 and switched it on in the pihole docker. This solves my primary problem of the XD4 being seen as a DNS server.

craigr

 

[chichow]

You know, I read about doing this, but I somehow thought it didn't really apply to me. The solution is obvious though, just get a Merlin compatible router to act as the main unit. That's a strong consideration. Thanks!

In other news, I figured out a long term issue with pihole today so I have turned off the DHCP server in my current XD4 and switched it on in the pihole docker. This solves my primary problem of the XD4 being seen as a DNS server.

craigr

Look at my sig

I run this exact configuration with no issues

Main Router is RT-AX68U running Merlin and AiMesh.

AiMesh nodes are 1x RT-AC88U and 2x ZenWiFi AX Mini running AsusWRT 3.0.0.4.386_43129.

 

[CIR-Engineering]

One snag perhaps. Can I still run a guest network properly or will I run into problems here? The XD4 does not isolate the guest network when set to "access point" mode instead of router mode. Can say an RT-AX68U properly work with my "nodes" with a guest network?

Thanks!
craigr

 

[Morris]

One snag perhaps. Can I still run a guest network properly or will I run into problems here? The XD4 does not isolate the guest network when set to "access point" mode instead of router mode. Can say an RT-AX68U properly work with my "nodes" with a guest network?

Thanks!
craigr

The RT-AX68U should be configured as a router and the XD4(s) should be reset to factory default and then connected by following the procedure to connect an AI Mesh node. They can be connected via ethernet or WiFi. Ethernet will provide the best performance. When setup this way the first guest network on each band (2.4-Ghz and 5 Ghz) is repeated to the nodes with isolation if configured.

 

[CIR-Engineering]

The RT-AX68U should be configured as a router and the XD4(s) should be reset to factory default and then connected by following the procedure to connect an AI Mesh node. They can be connected via ethernet or WiFi. Ethernet will provide the best performance. When setup this way the first guest network on each band (2.4-Ghz and 5 Ghz) is repeated to the nodes with isolation if configured.

What about wifi 6 support? I assume the main router will need to also support wifi 6? If so, what's the least expensive and/or best value for a compatible main router?

Thanks again!
craigr

 

[CIR-Engineering]

Oh, also I am already doing wired backhaul with the current nodes and would also obviously with the main router.

 

[Morris]

The RT-AX3000 is reasonably inexpensive, some reviews complain about it's range yet that should not be an issue for you. Be aware that it has less flash and RAM than the most popular RT-AX86U. If you don't plan to use a lot of add packages to the Merlin firmware it will not matter. You can always add a USB flash drive for swap and storage if needed. Slightly less powerful CPU as well. It is more powerful than your XD4s.

 

[CIR-Engineering]

The RT-AX3000 is reasonably inexpensive, some reviews complain about it's range yet that should not be an issue for you. Be aware that it has less flash and RAM than the most popular RT-AX86U. If you don't plan to use a lot of add packages to the Merlin firmware it will not matter. You can always add a USB flash drive for swap and storage if needed. Slightly less powerful CPU as well. It is more powerful than your XD4s.

It looks like the same size flash on the two but the 86 has twice as much RAM. If the 86 has a 2.5Gb LAN and WAN port I would go with that, but it looks like it goes for one or the other. If it also had a 2.5Gb LAN it would make more sense to me as I’ll only use one LAN port to run directly to my ICX6450-24p.

Most apps will run on my server or 6450 so I think either router would work. Amazon had a used 3000 last night for $102… wish I had grabbed it.

thanks for the recommendations,
craigr

 

[CIR-Engineering]

Well another RT-AX3000 showed up on Amazon Warehouse tonight for $102 so I ordered it.

Thanks for the tips.
craigr

 

[CIR-Engineering]

Well an RT-AX86U showed up on Amazon Warehouse today in "acceptable condition" also for $102 so I bought that too. I'll send one back after testing. Looking at VPN speeds I think they RT-AX86U will be a safer bet. I usually don't like running my VPN on the router because setting up rules for services like Netflix and Prime can be difficult, but with Merlin it seems easy.

craigr

 

[CIR-Engineering]

I wound up sticking with the RT-AX3000 as it does everything I need with less power draw and is wall mountable. This has worked out really well and I am happy for now; thanks @Morris for the original suggestion .

My network hardware is all connected to a UPS so I run my three XD4's powered by 12v PoE splitters via the Brokade ICX6450-24P. I wanted to do the same for the AX3000 so I bought a POE-171S to supply 19 volts to the router and it worked out perfectly. Now all my network hardware will still be operational in the event of a power failure. Interesting note, I have watched the power draw for the AX3000 in the Brokade GUI, and I have never seen it draw above 10 watts. This includes any losses in the PoE splitter. So the stock wall wart power supply for the AX3000 is really overkill I think at 1.5 amps.

Thanks again to all!
craigr

 

[Morris]

I wound up sticking with the RT-AX3000 as it does everything I need with less power draw and is wall mountable. This has worked out really well and I am happy for now; thanks @Morris for the original suggestion .

My network hardware is all connected to a UPS so I run my three XD4's powered by 12v PoE splitters via the Brokade ICX6450-24P. I wanted to do the same for the AX3000 so I bought a POE-171S to supply 19 volts to the router and it worked out perfectly. Now all my network hardware will still be operational in the event of a power failure. Interesting note, I have watched the power draw for the AX3000 in the Brokade GUI, and I have never seen it draw above 10 watts. This includes any losses in the PoE splitter. So the stock wall wart power supply for the AX3000 is really overkill I think at 1.5 amps.

Thanks again to all!
craigr

My pleasure Craig. Cleaver way to provide power.

Morris

 

[CIR-Engineering]

I posted a question over here if anyone can please check and provide confirmation or assistance.

Is this normal for a router as a AI Mesh node?

I recently setup an AI mesh system using an RT-AX3000 as the primary router and then using an XD4 Zen Mini mesh kit all as satellites: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-xd4-router-merlin-support.73633/ Basically, I just want to make sure this is all OK. The backhaul is all wired. So...

www.snbforums.com

Thank you!
craigr