Asuswrt-Merlin - custom build of the Asus RT-N66U firmware

[RMerlin]

But from what I've been reading about the problems in the firmware source code, I'm not sure how much ASUS does code reviews, new feature testing, and regression testing when they make changes.

Seeing how long this build 151 has been in beta (people even call it an official release, tho they didn't notice that the only place Asus has that file available so far is in an FTP folder called "FOR_TESTING"), I thing it's a good sign that Asus are serious about getting this firmware in better shape before making the next official release.

 

[RMerlin]

I was hoping to see a newer GPL release from Asus this week, but looks like it's being delayed. So I decided to go ahead, add a few new goodies to my build, and release 3.0.0.3.144.10. See original post for changelog and download locations.

 

[richto]

The crashes were caused by very specific scenarios. I tracked down and fixed two router crashes that occurred if you had SMB file sharing enabled (which, in turn, enabled GRO support in the networking stack), and I either tried to connect my laptop over wifi, or tried to access a device/PC on the LAN over VPN while the VPN was within the same IP network. Those bugs (especially the first one) meant that any firmware newer than 108 was impossible to use. I haven't tried build 151 yet (was hoping to see Asus do an official release + release the source code this week), so I don't know if they finally fixed that one or not.

As soon as you release a version that at least matches the original Asus firmware power level capabilities (and ideally remove the EU restrictions as per the previous request) then I will switch back to it. Being stuck with only 80mW on your version seems to makes quite a noticeable difference...

 

[RMerlin]

As soon as you release a version that at least matches the original Asus firmware power level capabilities (and ideally remove the EU restrictions as per the previous request) then I will switch back to it. Being stuck with only 80mW on your version seems to makes quite a noticeable difference...

I didn't change anything related to power level versus Asus's firmware (aside from removing the need to click three times on Apply). That code is unchanged from their 144 release. And the actual tool that applies the power level to the radios (wl) is binary-only, exact same file as used in Asus's firmware.

 

[piotrpiano]

Hi Merlin,

Would it be possible to add in your release a "Spin down each HDD when idle" option available in tomato for usb drives?

 

[Daybreak]

As soon as you release a version that at least matches the original Asus firmware power level capabilities (and ideally remove the EU restrictions as per the previous request) then I will switch back to it. Being stuck with only 80mW on your version seems to makes quite a noticeable difference...

Howdy Richto,
Really? IMHO RMerlin should leave it alone.

He is not trying to make a super custom firmware. He is working with factory settings and making fixes.

 

[RMerlin]

Hi Merlin,

Would it be possible to add in your release a "Spin down each HDD when idle" option available in tomato for usb drives?

I know there's some code in the source tree for this, but I haven't had the chance to look at that yet. Possibly another feature that Asus took from the original Tomato, and didn't keep enabled.

 

[richto]

I didn't change anything related to power level versus Asus's firmware (aside from removing the need to click three times on Apply). That code is unchanged from their 144 release. And the actual tool that applies the power level to the radios (wl) is binary-only, exact same file as used in Asus's firmware.

Well as per my previous post (And someone else's), in your firmware it is broken, but not in the Asus one. If you set 5GHZ higher than 80mW, the whole 5GHZ band stops working. Also there is a second power menu under tools that is not on the Asus one...

 

[richto]

Howdy Richto,
Really? IMHO RMerlin should leave it alone.

He is not trying to make a super custom firmware. He is working with factory settings and making fixes.

Yes Really, it's currently broken as in setting >80mW on an EU router disables 5GHz totally. Saying something like 'howdy' indicates you are in a location where it it not a restriction for you...

And it sounds like you need to read post #1 of this thread.

I'm allowed to use up to 200mW EIRP @ 5GHz in the UK but even the original firmware wont let me: http://www.solwise.co.uk/downloads/files/intheuk5ghz.pdf

 

[RMerlin]

Well as per my previous post (And someone else's), in your firmware it is broken, but not in the Asus one. If you set 5GHZ higher than 80mW, the whole 5GHZ band stops working. Also there is a second power menu under tools that is not on the Asus one...

Reports of this in the past have been resolved by affected people resetting to factory defaults.

What more can I say.. It worked fine throughout the whole evening of tests I did on it. And I just tried again, and it's still working fine here. I set my 5 GHz output to 200 mw, and my laptop reconnected just fine after the router rebooted.

http://www.lostrealm.ca/temp/power1.png
http://www.lostrealm.ca/temp/power2.png

What power menu? The whole Tools menu was added by me and contains the WOL and TCP/traffic settings. If you are referring to the Performance Tuning tab under Administration, then that page is also in Asus's firmware - it's just not shown by default as it was considered unneeded after they removed the cooler from the final revision of the router. You can access it on Asus's firmware by directly entering the URL (http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_PerformanceTuning_Content.asp). I added it back to the menu at people's request because they wanted to be able to access the temperature graph it displays.

 

[richto]

Yes I reset to factory defaults after every firmware upgrade.

Did you try setting your router to EU mode in your testing?

On the page you added to the menu it actually tells me that the limit is 80mW so maybe it's related to that in someway.

I will test it again with your latest and take screen shots if it is still broken....

 

[RMerlin]

Yes I reset to factory defaults after every firmware upgrade.

Did you try setting your router to EU mode in your testing?

On the page you added to the menu it actually tells me that the limit is 80mW so maybe it's related to that in someway.

Try doing the power settings through the usual Professional page rather than the PerformanceTuning, and see if it works better for you. Since Asus aren't using that Performance page anymore, they never fixed any of the old bugs they left on that page. That might explain why people who reported having an issue didn't experience it with Asus's firmware, as they weren't using the same page to apply their power settings.

If you can confirm it works on the Professional page and fails on the PerformaneTuning page, then I'll just remove the power settings section on that page, to make sure everyone uses only the (up-to-date) Professional page.

I'll see if I can set my router to the EU region - just not sure if the CFE will overwrite it at boot or not. But if that works, you could just do the opposite to bypass the EU limitation if you still want to go around that limitation as well

 

[RMerlin]

Just tested: I set my router to the EU region (and it survived the reboot, so people wanting to bypass the 100 mW limit can set their router's region code to US). I went to the Professional page, and tried setting a power output of 120mW, which was rejected as expected. I then set it to 100mw, and after the router rebooted I was connected back to the 5G band without any problem, and the output was still set to 100.

Original settings:
regulation_domain=US
regulation_domain_5G=Q2
wl1_country_code=Q2
wl0_country_code=US

Tested settings:
regulation_domain=EU
regulation_domain_5G=EU
wl1_country_code=EU (I also tested with Q1 - I'm not sure which is the correct one)
wl0_country_code=EU

 

[richto]

OK, thanks - well I just tried your latest firmware - and it now works!

And even better when I used the advanced page on the 144 version, it now lets me set any power value! So Im very happy with that. Yes I suspect that this was a bug on the advanced config page that has now been fixed.

Now I can generate a 200mW saved config file using your latest version and load it into 151 until you release a 151 version.....Because the power value IS still limited to 80mW on the 151 advanced config page.

If you could retain whatever allows me to set unlimited power values on the advanced page in build 144 through to build 151 then me (and no doubt many others in the EU) would be very greatful...

I stress tested it @ 200mW to see if it makes any difference to the temperature. Seems to only raise it by ~ 2 degrees C.

 

[Stimpy]

Thanks for all your work on this Merlin.

I just wanted to say thanks, and also I want to ask Richto if he has actually tested the signal strength with a tool like InSSIDer? It's all well and good if the GUI lets you set 200mV, but useless if it does not actually change the output power.

Output power is important to me, as especially on the 5GHz band, you need more power than the default to get good signal strength at any distance from the router.

 

[richto]

Putting my laptop right next to my access point shows a signal of -6dBm, so i would guess that means it is working.

Dont forget that a higher transmitter power only helps you up to a point, because you still have to rely on the client signal strength versus the sensitivity of the router for the other link direction...

It does mean that all my neighbours routers that auto configure a channel are less likely to use the same channel as me (I use channel 13), and therefore hopefully reduces my interference.

 

[Stimpy]

Thanks for the info Richto.

I just wanted to know because I recently bought this router for a family member, and was considering one for myself. I think it could be a nice upgrade from the Apple Extreme that I currently have.

But I'm also thinking that I should wait for the AC version, as I have problems with wireless streaming to my PS3 when playing Bluray rips.

 

[richto]

I will be buying the AC as soon as it comes out (I want the ASUS one as it is one of the few with proper external antennas) but for now, I think that this is by quite a long way the best range / performance on the market.

Dont forget there is always eBay if you want to do a trade in...

For streaming video like 3D @ 1080p I use 500Mbits powerline adaptors, not WiFi.

AC wont help your PS3 as your PS3 is not AC capable...

 

[RMerlin]

But I'm also thinking that I should wait for the AC version, as I have problems with wireless streaming to my PS3 when playing Bluray rips.

The AC version wouldn't help you much over an N in this case, since your PS3 won't support the higher transfer rates. But keep in mind that the release of the AC might drive the N prices down, so that's worth comparing both of them at that time.

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

Merlin, this is awesome tweaking of the firmware. I installed TomatoUSB (Shibby) out of the box but didn't like not being able to monitor temperature because this thing seems hot so I found your web page and installed your firmware. Awesome ... thanks!

Two questions (and I admit to only skimming this thread to see if you've answered so if I missed it ... sorry to be a pain).

1) Can anything be down to the radio scheduler to let us span over a day or to have more than one shutdown period? (I like to turn off my WiFi from 1:00AM to 6:00AM everyday and then when we're both at work during the day).

2) Would there be a way of adding a column to the connected clients display that always shows MAC address so they can be easily copied and pasted to the MAC filter pages?

Thanks again!