Beta Asuswrt-Merlin 386.1 Beta (stage 2) is now available

[ne cod]

On my RT-AC66U B1, the bandwidth decreases to just over 100 Mbps. The same happens with versions 386.1 beta 3 and beta 4. With the latest stable version 384.19 it works correctly and reaches the maximum speed that my ISP offers me. The tests have been carried out from a PC wired directly to the router, with QOS disabled.
Any ideas ?

Thanks a lot !

 

[LaMpiR]

Dirty update from Beta 3. My phone which is using ax 5Ghz is now getting speeds of 1/10 of my Internet connection. Doing speedtest from the router is showing somewhat slower speeds as before the update, but that could be ISP variation.

Getting 200-250Mbps on the router. On the phone I keep getting 20-30Mbps.
AX88U

On my laptop, again with 5Ghz ax I am getting up to 150. On the router 200-250. Updated on 09.01.2021

How can I diagnose it further?

 

[boldie]

Not possible to upgrade from Beta3 to Beta4. using the correct file (RT-AC88U_386.1_beta4.trx). Redownload the file twice with same results

Invailid firmware

 

[gjf]

What about implementing of these feature in the firmware for all territories (moreover territory_code is absent at all in Merlin's CFE)?
Or it's not possible because the code that deals with territory_code parameter is closed?

 

[WillyTP]

Thank you Merlin!

Unfortunately, on RT-AC86U, Traffic Analyzer Statistics, Traffic Monitor and QoS Bandwidth Monitor continue to report completely wrong values. Also Traffic Monito continues to go out of scale. As I told by my last post, it seems that Asus fixed these problems only for RT-AX86U and not for RT-AC86U. I hope that Asus could fix them soon.

Bye.

In my personal opinion, there must be something else other than CPU Wait state.
I own two RT-AC86U; one with FW 384.19, the other one with 386.1b4.
Very similar ambient conditions, very similar idle load... in other words, at my eyes nothing so different.

384.19: 2.4 GHz: 43°C - 5 GHz: 51°C - CPU: 69°C
386.1b4 with CPU Wait Enabled: 2.4 GHz: 53°C - 5 GHz: 58°C - CPU: 84°C
386.1b4 with CPU Wait Disabled: 2.4 GHz: 53°C - 5 GHz: 59°C - CPU: 92°C

Apart the high temperature itself, the problem is that with such high temperature the router switches off CPUs with consequent performance lost.
Using a fan could be a nice idea, however I suppose we all think it's pretty weird having to use a fan even for the home router...

I hope RMerlin / Asus can fix this issue

 

[JWoo]

Known issues:

• RT-AX86U and RT-AX88U syslog spam when using Guest Network 1 (issue that will have to be resolved by Asus, only workaround is to switch to Guest Network 2)
• I need further testing of the Speedtest on the RT-AX56U and RT-AX58U, results don't seem right.
• Downgrading the RT-AC68U to a previous version will require a factory default reset (Not a bug, just the same side effect as previous models when they switched to encrypted password storage)

Hi @RMerlin . Beta 4 seems very good so far. Running on an RT-AX58U and Speedtest also seems accurate. The speeds detected using the build-in Speedtest are correct for me. Also, Speedtest impact on CPU load on the RT-AX58U is not crazy. For all CPUs, "top" shows 23-30% CPU load. One CPU at 29% and the other two CPUs at 19% approximately.

 

[szpunk]

I installed 386.1b2 on my RT-AC68U, 5G was very unstable, clients always lost connection, so i go back to 384.19.

 

[Smokey613]

Thank you Merlin!

Unfortunately, on RT-AC86U, Traffic Analyzer Statistics, Traffic Monitor and QoS Bandwidth Monitor continue to report completely wrong values. Also Traffic Monito continues to go out of scale. As I told by my last post, it seems that Asus fixed these problems only for RT-AX86U and not for RT-AC86U. I hope that Asus could fix them soon.

Bye.

I have a feeling that support for the RT-AC86U is waining rapidly with all the new AX model releases. Fortunately Merlin 384.19 runs perfect on my two RT-AC86U units and since all networking is handled by my Untangled device, it looks like I will stay put. The upside is, no more worrying about updating firmware.

 

[Sanna1967]

I'm still searching on my AC86 box, where it says, "In 2 years you have to add a FAN to cool your router. Sorry I can't find it
I know its probably closed source
It's nonsense and how trust now even in Stock fw

 

[[Jedi]]

In my personal opinion, there must be something else other than CPU Wait state.
I own two RT-AC86U; one with FW 384.19, the other one with 386.1b4.
Very similar ambient conditions, very similar idle load... in other words, at my eyes nothing so different.

384.19: 2.4 GHz: 43°C - 5 GHz: 51°C - CPU: 69°C
386.1b4 with CPU Wait Enabled: 2.4 GHz: 53°C - 5 GHz: 58°C - CPU: 84°C
386.1b4 with CPU Wait Disabled: 2.4 GHz: 53°C - 5 GHz: 59°C - CPU: 92°C

Apart the high temperature itself, the problem is that with such high temperature the router switches off CPUs with consequent performance lost.
Using a fan could be a nice idea, however I suppose we all think it's pretty weird having to use a fan even for the home router...

I hope RMerlin / Asus can fix this issue

I agree. I restored the CPU wait to on, but the average temperature is still 5 degrees higher than the builds 384.19 and 386.40451. Something has changed with the new GPLs of the 386.1 firmware and it isn't so good for RT-AC86U. It's really a pity, I'm a bit disappointed, but they're still beta versions, so I hope that Asus will fix these problem in the next official release. For now, I think that the only way is to revert back to the official 3.0.0.4.386.40451 firmware, with that version I don't have any CPU or statistics/bandwidth monitor problems.

Thank you.

Bye.

 

[Jack Yaz]

In my personal opinion, there must be something else other than CPU Wait state.
I own two RT-AC86U; one with FW 384.19, the other one with 386.1b4.
Very similar ambient conditions, very similar idle load... in other words, at my eyes nothing so different.

384.19: 2.4 GHz: 43°C - 5 GHz: 51°C - CPU: 69°C
386.1b4 with CPU Wait Enabled: 2.4 GHz: 53°C - 5 GHz: 58°C - CPU: 84°C
386.1b4 with CPU Wait Disabled: 2.4 GHz: 53°C - 5 GHz: 59°C - CPU: 92°C

Apart the high temperature itself, the problem is that with such high temperature the router switches off CPUs with consequent performance lost.
Using a fan could be a nice idea, however I suppose we all think it's pretty weird having to use a fan even for the home router...

I hope RMerlin / Asus can fix this issue

How long did you wait after re-enabling cpu wait to test? Remember the router uses passive cooling, I'd recommend waiting at least 2 hours to give the heat a chance to dissipate.

 

[[Jedi]]

I have a feeling that support for the RT-AC86U is waining rapidly with all the new AX model releases. Fortunately Merlin 384.19 runs perfect on my two RT-AC86U units and since all networking is handled by my Untangled device, it looks like I will stay put. The upside is, no more worrying about updating firmware.

That's true, less worries!

For now, I will revert back to the official 3.0.0.4.386.40451 firmware. The only problem I had with that version is an occasional drop on the 2.4 Ghz wifi, I think that I can try to address it by playing with the professional wifi settings.

It's a pity, because I really like the Merlin's features, but I have no choice for now.

Thank you.

Bye.

 

[Triton]

OpenVPN client working as it should with ProtonVPN.
Speedtest is far off, shows about a third of the actual available download speed, <300Mbps instead of 700Mbps.

Edit: showed up in the log, no impact on the performance so far though:
ovpn-client1[1954]: WARNING: 'link-mtu' is used inconsistently, local='link-mtu 1633', remote='link-mtu 1634'
ovpn-client1[1954]: WARNING: 'comp-lzo' is present in remote config but missing in local config, remote='comp-lzo'
Compression is set to Disabled in the WebUI.
In the Custom Configuration field:
tun-mtu 1500
tun-mtu-extra 32
mssfix 1450

 

[[Jedi]]

How long did you wait after re-enabling cpu wait to test? Remember the router uses passive cooling, I'd recommend waiting at least 2 hours to give the heat a chance to dissipate.

Thank you Jack, but I observed the situation for many days with the build 386.1 beta 3.

Now I'm on the build 386.1 beta 4 since 4 hours and 47 minutes (I restored immediately the CPU wait to on) and the average CPU temperature is still 5 degrees higher than the version 384.19.

I agree with WillyTP, I think that there is something more than the CPU wait states in those new GPLs. Let's see what happens with the next versions.

Thank you.

Bye.

 

[bradbort]

Just upgraded from 386 stock version of ax88u firmware, which has since been dropped by ASUS. No issues with the update. both MTU and IPV6 picked up and working properly with no changes, which was not the case with beta 3. All devices seem to be connecting to Wi-Fi with no incident. No message to reboot router after update. I may do so later if I see any issues.

 

[Fuechslein]

Dirty update from Beta 3. My phone which is using ax 5Ghz is now getting speeds of 1/10 of my Internet connection. Doing speedtest from the router is showing somewhat slower speeds as before the update, but that could be ISP variation.

Getting 200-250Mbps on the router. On the phone I keep getting 20-30Mbps.
AX88U

On my laptop, again with 5Ghz ax I am getting up to 150. On the router 200-250. Updated on 09.01.2021
View attachment 29258
How can I diagnose it further?

Having the exact same issue on my AX88U. Speed is greatly decreased on devices connected to wifi or with cable.

Beta3:

Beta4:

 

[Wade Coxon]

How long did you wait after re-enabling cpu wait to test? Remember the router uses passive cooling, I'd recommend waiting at least 2 hours to give the heat a chance to dissipate.

It has been more than 12 hours for me, and the heat is still up. The CPU wait command is definitely only half of the source of the heat with the new beta.

 

[STRUZZIN]

Upgraded all units working great so far - Thanks

 

[tdhite]

Hi -- first post, though lurk regularly to see what folks are doing. Wanted to give @RMerlin a picture of my RT-AC86U.

Beta history: upgraded from 384.19, always dirty, every beta. I have a great deal of dev (kernel / rom) flash experience in embedded devices; rarely do I find anything in nvram data that would require a reset -- I have scripts to notify me of changes from version to version upgrades so I can surgically fix if needed. None needed for any of the betas.

Beta results: Generally flawless. One smart tv, a local 4G cell expander and one google mini home needed reboots in Beta 2, no biggee, just noticed device failures logging in. Those devices were on a guest network (1). I do see some folks getting upgrade messages in Beta 4 on this router, I received no such warning -- just worked. I can't speak to the issue otherwise.

Environment: I run multiple VLANs for various isolation reasons and have extensive startup scripts to setup the VLANs (robocfg, dnsmasq adds, host adds, etc.) firewall/nat, ebtables, tinc mesh vpn (managed via entware startup) between my router and multiple other sites (family gaming), etc. Point is, my router is heavily configured at many levels, which speaks to the stability of the betas.

Temps (syslog output from regular cron job): Very consistently (literally every 10 minute check) around CPU: 79 | 5G: 70 | 2.4G: 63 (wireless the same for guest network wl.x values). /proc/dmu/temperature used for CPU temp, wl -I [ethX | wlX.Y] phy_tempsense used for radio temps.

I guess the point is, all is pretty much normal and I've seen zero issues so far other than the odd need to reboot a few clients in Beta 2 (not worried about that at all).

Hope it helps.

 

[elorimer]

With B4 the cpu wait state work around isn't necessary any more for the 86U.