Asuswrt-Merlin 378.50 is out

[WRobertE]

I am also interested in this.

I am running v7 of John's 374.43 fork on an RT-N66U

Anyone tried comparing WiFi performance on the RT-N66 with 378.50 and John's fork?

Today I upgraded from V7 of the fork to 378.50.

This is only anecdotal and I have not run any wireless performance metrics, but my wireless seems more "consistent". Less pauses than I remember previously.

RT-N66U

 

[chercm]

is Astrill application working on this router?

 

[Rankdropper84]

Stick with the Fork if you dont want your signal and range to drop.

Any reason in particular that makes you say that?

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Any reason in particular that makes you say that?

Sure is i have tested it multiple times and so have many others. John's fork has at least a 10 db difference with the N66u then any recent power locked firmware. It's very noticeable on both bands 2g and 5g. You dont even have to crank it i set my power to 120mw on both bands. I think even Merlin will agree there is a difference at least for the RT-N66U.

 

[Rankdropper84]

Sure is i have tested it multiple times and so have many others. John's fork has at least a 10 db difference with the N66u then any recent power locked firmware. It's very noticeable on both bands 2g and 5g. You dont even have to crank it i set my power to 120mw on both bands. I think even Merlin will agree there is a difference at least for the RT-N66U.

I wasn't trying to stir the pot by asking that, I was just simply curious of the reason is all. So your saying that if merlins firmware (maybe it does and I just don't know) included the ability to raise the transmit power manually like in earlier firmware builds that the differences would be negligible?

Edit: Wouldn't it be safe to say that John's firmware will provide better long range performance due to the increased transmission rate (assuming you even need it)?

 

[Grievous Angel]

Howdy folks,
I am currently planning on phasing out official support for the RT-N16.

Aaaand this is when you know: It's time to upgrade your router.

Running great on the AC66R(U) for me.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

I wasn't trying to stir the pot by asking that, I was just simply curious of the reason is all. So your saying that if merlins firmware (maybe it does and I just don't know) included the ability to raise the transmit power manually like in earlier firmware builds that the differences would be negligible?

Your not stirring the pot you asked a good question and you got a honest answer.

 

[maddler]

Hello, not sure if this has been reported already (tried searching the forum but found nothing).

BTW, I've just updated to RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_378.50_0 and, despite I've tried to factory reset, at least, twice I keep getting the yellow question mark warning telling me I'd need to update my password a WiFi encryption.

Default wifi SSID is being shown in the header, ignoring actual wifi setting and, furthermore, only 5Ghz details seem to be shown.

Changing to AP mode seems to fix both the issue.

That's odd.

Any clue?

Cheers
William

 

[Rankdropper84]

Your not stirring the pot you asked a good question and you got a honest answer.

Outside of talking about the transmit power of the router does the routers WiFi not also depend on how tight the coding is or is that all Asus proprietary source? Do custom firmware builders like Merlin mainly just alter the linux based code?

 

[Rankdropper84]

Hello, not sure if this has been reported already (tried searching the forum but found nothing).

BTW, I've just updated to RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_378.50_0 and, despite I've tried to factory reset, at least, twice I keep getting the yellow question mark warning telling me I'd need to update my password a WiFi encryption.

Default wifi SSID is being shown in the header, ignoring actual wifi setting and, furthermore, only 5Ghz details seem to be shown.

Changing to AP mode seems to fix both the issue.

That's odd.

Any clue?

Cheers
William

I had that problem on mine and my wifes fathers AC68U also one day after updating to a newer merlin firmware. If I even remember right then I had to flash to Asus stock firmware to get it to stop doing that along with having to flash back to merlins 48.1 build since the version of Merlin I had on it wouldn
t allow an update to Asus' firmware (maybe because it thought it wasn't really an upgrade?) then flashing to Asus' 3626 build then finally to the newest version from Asus to get the router to take the firmware.

 

[Puremin0rez]

Did the 2.4ghz driver for the AC-87u get updated with this release? I know 5ghz seems A LOT better with the updated Quantenna driver, not sure if Quantenna extends to the 2.4ghz aswell.

Web GUI seems very quick in this release too, seems like ASUS (and you too probably!) did some good work in this release.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Outside of talking about the transmit power of the router does the routers WiFi not also depend on how tight the coding is or is that all Asus proprietary source? Do custom firmware builders like Merlin mainly just alter the linux based code?

I am not a wizard like Merlin so i cant answer tech questions i just go by real world testing using things such as clients and apps that show signal data. I also have 2 kids that use wifi and they can also see the difference when there using there devices as well, not to mention Roku boxes that never move show a real increase in signal there is no debate there. John's Merlin fork for the RT-N66U out performs any of the new power locked firmwares as far as signal and range.

 

[Rankdropper84]

I am not a wizard like Merlin so i cant answer tech questions i just go by real world testing using things such as clients and apps that show signal data. I also have 2 kids that use wifi and they can also see the difference when there using there devices as well, not to mention Roku boxes that never move show a real increase in signal there is no debate there. John's Merlin fork for the RT-N66U out performs any of the new power locked firmwares as far as signal and range.

Really hope Merlin chimes in with a quick reply to help clear this up since I could see it being helpful for many to know. I could see you seeing an increase in signal strength from having a higher transmit power although I am questioning how much it matters having that extra little signal strength (unless you have a file server hooked up to the 5g band and need that extra link speed or have crazy fast internet and for some reason need to use it all.) over having a firmware that I have to assume has less bugs in it when pertaining to how it handles connections and what not.

Keep in mind I am not trying to step on the toes on those like merlin who devote his spare time into something that he reaps little benefit from, but rather try to get a better understanding of how all this works so that this community as a whole gets a better understanding of it.

My favorite example of signal strength is when my buddy who has a cheap netgear router told me to connect to his router while outdoors, so I did. I noticed that even though it had a good signal strength (like 2 or 3 bars) the link speed my phone connected at was something below 10mbps which meant it was practically useless lol.

 

[sbailey4]

I am not a wizard like Merlin so i cant answer tech questions i just go by real world testing using things such as clients and apps that show signal data. I also have 2 kids that use wifi and they can also see the difference when there using there devices as well, not to mention Roku boxes that never move show a real increase in signal there is no debate there. John's Merlin fork for the RT-N66U out performs any of the new power locked firmwares as far as signal and range.

Not the wizard either but as I understand it anything past 374.x dropped the power to 80mW per FCC regulations. So starting with 376.x that was implemented by ASUS.

 

[chudak]

@RMerlin

Update on latest version FW 3.0.0.4.378.50_0, on RT-AC87R
Don't see much difference in performance vs 49 versions.

Lost my IPv6 connectivity. Did not modify any settings after upgrade - any suggestions? It used to work fine on previous version, my ISP Comcast.

Thx

 

[Deleted member 22229]

@RMerlin

Update on latest version FW 3.0.0.4.378.50_0, on RT-AC87R
Don't see much difference in performance vs 49 versions.

Lost my IPv6 connectivity. Did not modify any settings after upgrade - any suggestions? It used to work fine on previous version, my ISP Comcast.

Thx

Go into the 87U GUI and go to ipv6 and change it back to disable hit apply then enable native again and hit apply, this worked for me with comcast and the 87U. Be advised your client list may show 0 clients after that. It's a endless game trying to get solid V6 with Asus routers and Comcast.

 

[setaylor]

@RMerlin

Update on latest version FW 3.0.0.4.378.50_0, on RT-AC87R
Don't see much difference in performance vs 49 versions.

Lost my IPv6 connectivity. Did not modify any settings after upgrade - any suggestions? It used to work fine on previous version, my ISP Comcast.

Thx

Or, try this simple fix:

Unplug your WAN cable from the AC87 for 30 seconds, then reinsert.

Always works for me. (Comcast, similar problem)

 

[Skirk]

is Astrill application working on this router?

Yes, but not with this latest firmware build on my AC68 or AC87. Astrill should be aware by now so it's just a waiting game.

 

[Vandergraff]

Sure is i have tested it multiple times and so have many others. John's fork has at least a 10 db difference with the N66u then any recent power locked firmware. It's very noticeable on both bands 2g and 5g. You dont even have to crank it i set my power to 120mw on both bands. I think even Merlin will agree there is a difference at least for the RT-N66U.

Understood and that's why I am using the fork.

However a couple of people in this thread reported better WiFi with the 378.50 than earlier builds (one AC68U one AC87).

I was asking to see if anyone using an N66 had seen a difference.

 

[Rankdropper84]

Understood and that's why I am using the fork.

However a couple of people in this thread reported better WiFi with the 378.50 (one AC68U one AC87).

I was asking to see if anyone using an N66 had seen a difference.

This is a qoute unqoute excerpt from a post Merlin made awhile back to someone asking about higher power levels

"Personally I don't waste my time with output power adjustment. This will be useless if your client at the other end is still unable to reach your router back with its own signal. It's like yelling louder, but the person answering you is still mumbling.

The only way to really improve range is by using better antennas."


I would start with scanning the air for networks on the same channel and trying to advert away along with disabling BG protection (personal choice)