Asuswrt-Merlin 3.0.0.4.374.38 is out

[L&LD]

Try what RMerlin suggested: with both routers on 38_2 - do a file transfer and see what results you get (don't rely on the indicated connection speed).

 

[TheOldMan]

Asus n66u
Total flash and update to the latest seems to have broken ipv6 with comcast which works with the pre 38 version.

My ipv6 with Centurylink works great with 38_2. I have not done a reset after 5 Merlin updates. HeeHee. Maybe the n66u is gathering sluff and needs housecleaning.

 

[saintdev]

Asus n66u
Total flash and update to the latest seems to have broken ipv6 with comcast which works with the pre 38 version.

Are you seeing anything in your logs? There's an rather large issue I'm attempting to debug. I'm hoping I can find someone else experiencing it consistently so I can isolate it a little better.

I have working prefix delegation on comcast, but the router itself no longer gets a ipv6 address like pre .38 versions. So local LAN clients get ipv6 connectivity but the router itself doesnt have a ipv6 address assigned to the wan interface anymore. Odd.

I noticed this also. Before IPv6 completely stopped working for me. Asus did some rather odd things in their last release. One of them was to disable requesting an address, and only request a prefix, unless specific RA flags are set.

 

[KGB7]

Try what RMerlin suggested: with both routers on 38_2 - do a file transfer and see what results you get (don't rely on the indicated connection speed).

I understand and appreciate what you want me to do, but i cant even surf the internet as i did with previous firmwares. Even when i click "Post Reply" button on this forum, it takes a good 3 seconds before the next page loads. And this was never an issues with any past firmwares.

Even when i do a speed test directly to my ISP, the ping has gone up from 11ms to 14ms.



When i ping google.com here is what i get;



Pinging google.com [74.125.228.66] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.228.66: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=55
Reply from 74.125.228.66: bytes=32 time=193ms TTL=55
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 74.125.228.66:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 2, Lost = 2 (50% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 14ms, Maximum = 193ms, Average = 103ms




Second Ping:


Pinging google.com [74.125.228.73] with 32 bytes of data
Reply from 74.125.228.73: bytes=32 time=2828ms TTL=55
Reply from 74.125.228.73: bytes=32 time=3506ms TTL=55
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 74.125.228.73:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 2, Lost = 2 (50% loss)
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2828ms, Maximum = 3506ms, Average = 3167ms



.

 

[L&LD]

It is just curious to me as I've never surfed faster than with this latest .38_2 firmware (N66U).

Of course, I've never used media bridge either.

I'm sure you've reset to defaults after flashing the latest firmware, as I'm sure you've manually entered any and all settings you need.

I haven't seen your settings posted anywhere - maybe they'll give a hint of what to try? MTU???

 

[KGB7]

It is just curious to me as I've never surfed faster than with this latest .38_2 firmware (N66U).

Of course, I've never used media bridge either.

I'm sure you've reset to defaults after flashing the latest firmware, as I'm sure you've manually entered any and all settings you need.

I haven't seen your settings posted anywhere - maybe they'll give a hint of what to try? MTU???

I Always reset after each flash.

I always entered settings manually and i always used same exact settings on all firmwares.


MTU has stayed at default of 1500.


See images.


.

 

[KGB7]

Side note.


Tomorrow i should have about an hour or two tops, i will install DD-WRT firmware on both routers, only if firmwares are mature enough, and test the heck out of both routers. But after observing wifi degradation so far with asus based firmwares, i might have to let the routers sit for a day with dd-wrt firmwares installed. So it might turn in to a 3 day test.


I dont want to use DD-WRT or Kong firmwares, ive used it in the past for over 7 years, because oem firmwares have always given me a better throughput from WAN to LAN. But just for shirts and giggles i will gladly test it.





Edit;

FW 371 gave me a link speed of 117Mbps on Media Bridge. RSSI -60
I installed fw 501 on ac68 Media Bridge and Link speed has gone up to a 175Mbps. RSSI -50
Main Router is still running fw 38_2.

As you can see, i have clearly observed a jump in link speed change between firmwares. Even though you can huff and puff that Link Speed doesnt meant anything. But, If that was true, then link speed should not change. And, if for some reason it should change, then it is a clear indication that there is a change with in Firmware and driver that is being implemented by Broadcom and Asus.



.

 

[Redyak]

BTW, I finally got a 7260 for my laptop last week. I had been delaying getting one because the local sellers were either charging over 10$ shipping for a 30$ card, or were too clueless to confirm whether they actually had the N or the AC variant for sale. I grabbed one at the same time as other gears during the Holidays, so it saved me on the shipping cost. Seems to work pretty well so far with the latest drivers from Intel's site. Throughput is about identical to what I was getting from the USB-AC56 I was previously using for 802.11ac tests.

For those who use the intel AC7260 i now got the 16.8.0.6 from gigabyte (they are Beta), found it on another forum. This one looks more stable then the 16.6.06
http://forum.notebookreview.com/networking-wireless/716325-intel-7260-a-28.html

 

[kublai]

I got these errors in the logs with 38_2 with an AC66R and not sure how to fix or needs to be fixed?


Jan 19 13:59:59 dnsmasq-dhcp[2334]: DHCPNAK(br0) x.x.x.x xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx wrong network
Jan 19 17:33:34 dnsmasq-dhcp[2334]: DHCPNAK(br0) x.x.x.x xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx wrong address

 

[L&LD]

I Always reset after each flash.

I always entered settings manually and i always used same exact settings on all firmwares.


MTU has stayed at default of 1500.


See images.


.

Along with your other 2.4GHz settings (don't change those) - the following settings are what give me great results with the N66U at least are:

Wireless mode: Auto
Enable TX Bursting: Enable
Enable WMM APSD: Enable
Optimize AMPDU aggregation: Enable



And the same settings for the 5GHz band.


Still disagree with your thinking on connection speed though. I have a client that connects at 300Mbps, will go down to 65Mbps (when the wireless connection is idle for a while) and will jump back to 270 - 300Mbps when doing a transfer.

The proof is not the indicated connection rate (although that is one data point) - the proof is the actual throughput; always.


Although I do feel for you with the slow and laggy internet connection you're experiencing. Maybe the above suggestions will make a difference.

 

[sir_clydes]

DLNA server issues

So I've got kind of a weird situation. I have 3 AC66U's, 2 as repeaters and one as the main ap. I was running the 3.0.0.4.374.979 and had no problems, but recently I upgrade to the new builds on Asus's site, and then tried Merlin, dd-wrt, etc. after those builds broke my setup.

The problem: I can't see my DLNA server on my NAS (or one on my PC) on my devices I want to stream from that are connected to a different router. I've turned off all the DLNA stuff on the routers them self. I also have problems seeing my wireless printer across repeaters too. I've tried the latest Asus builds, Merlin's latest build, dd-wrt, and tomato. Each time I make sure nvram is completely cleared but I still have issues. I even tried going back to the previous build that worked with no luck. I'm guessing I'm missing a step somewhere, but, the connections themselves seem fine, it's just a problem with certain network devices.

Any idea what could be going wrong?

 

[L&LD]

sir clydes,

only thing I can think to suggest is to 'forget' and setup the wireless profiles again.

 

[RMerlin]

So I've got kind of a weird situation. I have 3 AC66U's, 2 as repeaters and one as the main ap. I was running the 3.0.0.4.374.979 and had no problems, but recently I upgrade to the new builds on Asus's site, and then tried Merlin, dd-wrt, etc. after those builds broke my setup.

The problem: I can't see my DLNA server on my NAS (or one on my PC) on my devices I want to stream from that are connected to a different router. I've turned off all the DLNA stuff on the routers them self. I also have problems seeing my wireless printer across repeaters too. I've tried the latest Asus builds, Merlin's latest build, dd-wrt, and tomato. Each time I make sure nvram is completely cleared but I still have issues. I even tried going back to the previous build that worked with no luck. I'm guessing I'm missing a step somewhere, but, the connections themselves seem fine, it's just a problem with certain network devices.

Any idea what could be going wrong?

DLNA works through broadcasting on a network segment. If your three routers are creating isolated networks, then you won't be able to use DLNA across networks.

 

[Quiptix]

The only difference is the hidden SSID.
RMerlin mentioned is had something to do with the closed-source part which controls the LED's. Maybe learning to live with it...

I have tried your settings and still having those flashing patterns...
Functionality doesn't seem to be compromised by this

 

[sir_clydes]

I was under the impression that the repeater mode doesn't create separate networks. DNS is managed from my main router and the only options I have for LAN on the repeaters are to change the IP, hostname, etc which are all in the same subnet as the main router. AP isolation is turned off, so I don't see how it would create separate networks.

The exact same setup worked before, and now it's not. That's what I don't understand.

 

[Daybreak]

So I've got kind of a weird situation. I have 3 AC66U's, 2 as repeaters and one as the main ap. I was running the 3.0.0.4.374.979 and had no problems, but recently I upgrade to the new builds on Asus's site, and then tried Merlin, dd-wrt, etc. after those builds broke my setup.

The problem: I can't see my DLNA server on my NAS (or one on my PC) on my devices I want to stream from that are connected to a different router. I've turned off all the DLNA stuff on the routers them self. I also have problems seeing my wireless printer across repeaters too. I've tried the latest Asus builds, Merlin's latest build, dd-wrt, and tomato. Each time I make sure nvram is completely cleared but I still have issues. I even tried going back to the previous build that worked with no luck. I'm guessing I'm missing a step somewhere, but, the connections themselves seem fine, it's just a problem with certain network devices.

Any idea what could be going wrong?

Howdy,
It almost sound like your items are still holding a trust. I would suggest you power down all items, power up your main router, let it settle, power up each of the other routers, then go power up your devices. With each of them now receiving a new and proper DHCP served IP, you might have better luck with each seeing each other. If you don't want to do that, just wait say 48 hours after a dhcp time out and re-issue.

 

[mtrains]

I was under the impression that the repeater mode doesn't create separate networks. DNS is managed from my main router and the only options I have for LAN on the repeaters are to change the IP, hostname, etc which are all in the same subnet as the main router. AP isolation is turned off, so I don't see how it would create separate networks.

The exact same setup worked before, and now it's not. That's what I don't understand.

I have run into DLNA issues with .38_1 on AC68R where there was some kind of incompatibility with the media server database. Changing the media server database to a different directory created a new clean database and everything worked. In .38_2 Merlin has reverted back to an earlier version of DLNA. So I don't know whether this trick will work on .38_2. I am still on .38_1 and the DLNA server is working fine for me.

I don't have the same setup as you. So your problem might be elsewhere too.

 

[aht961]

Insane download speed with 5G

I was using Merlin XXX.38_2-em-2 and very pleased. Today I have noticed the recent B-version of the original Asus firmware FW_RT_N66U_30043742239.trx and could not resist to give it a try. I did not make and factory reset so I understand that I kept the tweaks from -em version.

When sitting 3 meters from the RT-N66U and using the 5G wifi connection (Macbook Air), I am having an amazing 127M download speed. My ISP provides 350M/20M connection. I can get 280M/16M when directly connected to the cable modem (using a GIG cat6 ethernet connection). When using the router the speed is around 140-185M/14-16M with ethernet connection. Now with wifi I could get almost as much. Earlier I got 60-75M download speed at most.

Does it have anything to do with the new firmware and the left-over tricks from the Merlin's -em version. See the attachment.

 

[L&LD]

I don't think that a previous version's 'tricks' are kept so much that any low level stuff may come back to bite you sometime in the future.

I would do a factory reset on the new version you're testing on and see if the speeds remain the same.

I would also disable QoS or any other setting that is turning hardware acceleration off - you should be able to hit close to double the speed you're getting now (with HW acceleration on, if I'm remembering correctly).

 

[cornflake]

IPv6

Great firmware so far. My iperf speeds went from 70 to 110 Mbps on a RT-N66U. Like others, I did lose my IPv6 connectivity though. The logs show this:

Jan 20 11:53:32 syslog: module nf_conntrack_ipv6 not found in modules.dep

That module is also not found anywhere under /lib/modules/2.6.22.19. Not sure if this is required for ipv6 connectivity, though.