Asuswrt-Merlin - Custom firmware for RT-N16

[RMerlin]

About:
This is a customized version of Asuswrt, the firmware developed and used by Asus on many of their routers.

Currently supported: RT-N66U, RT-AC66U, RT-N16 (Experimental)

The primary goals of this project are to fix bugs, add a few basic features and tweaks to the original firmware. This firmware will try to remain as close as possible to the original firmware. If you are looking for a slew of advanced features, then this project is not for you. Look at TomatoUSB or DD-WRT, two excellent products that might suit your needs better.

If however you prefer something as close as possible to the manufacturer's firmware, then this is for you

NOTE: I don't own an RT-N16 myself, so these releases are mostly untested. Some features might not work as expected. Due to this, the RT-N16 release is always be labelled as EXPERIMENTAL.

The main changes in my version versus Asus's:

• WakeOnLan web interface (with user-entered preset targets)
• Added JFFS partition support (configurable under Administration>Advanced->System)
• Added user scripts that run on specific events
• Added SSHD (dropbear, configurable under Administration->Advanced>System)
• Clicking on the MAC address of an unidentified client will do a lookup in the OUI database (ported from DD-WRT).
• Enabled HTTPS access to web interface
• Start crond at boot time
• Optionally turn the WPS button into a radio enable/disable switch
• Optionally save traffic stats to disk (USB or JFFS partition)
• Display monthly traffic reports
• Display active/tracked network connections
• Allows tweaking TCP/UDP connection tracking timeouts
• Added CIFS client support (for mounting remote SMB share on the router)
• Added layer7 iptables matching
• Added user-defined options for DHCP requests (required by some ISPs)
• Description field added to DHCP reservation entries
• Dual WAN support (both failover and load balancing supported)
• Disk spindown after user-configurable inactivity timeout
• System info summary page
• Wireless client IP and hostname on the Wireless Log page
  

Download:
You can download it from the Github repo:
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/downloads

The source code including my changes can be found on Github: https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.

Changelog: http://www.lostrealm.ca/asuswrt-merlin/changelog.txt.

 

[RMerlin]

This is the first (Beta) release for the RT-N16. Things I will need tested in particular:

• USB support (file sharing)
• JFFS
• WakeOnLan
• Wifi (in general)
• Optware
• Downloadmaster

Please post your feedback here.

 

[Gingernut]

I've thoroughly tested wifi and can say it works as stable and fast as Asus stock, got about six clients connected all day doing diverse things.

Lets see if it's possible to get the tx ajustment function into this build even though it's not showing on stock.

Still testing other functions.

Great work!

Edit: The guest wireless network and AiCloud menus in your beta are not visable.

 

[xqr12]

wow

wow that's great. There are some reasons that make me "stick" to asuswrt... Unfortunately there are some flaws in official builds, so I really hope that this custom build can work well. Will this firmware support guest SSID? I explored the dummy UI and found that this function seems to be only available for N56 & N66 and I really need it

 

[Gingernut]

Been testing USB filesharing over samba and encountered a problem.

USB is mounted fine but is not always visable over the network, can't seem to access it either with or without an account.

This is all using Windows, my android phone can see and access the share fine, it's only the share name that's a little screwed up, it's named www.asusnetwork.net for some reason.

I reflashed .151 over the top without changing any settings and the drive becomes instantly accessable.

FTP on the other hand works perfect.

 

[RMerlin]

I've thoroughly tested wifi and can say it works as stable and fast as Asus stock, got about six clients connected all day doing diverse things.

Lets see if it's possible to get the tx ajustment function into this build even though it's not showing on stock.

Still testing other functions.

Great work!

Edit: The guest wireless network and AiCloud menus in your beta are not visable.

I haven't enabled AiCloud yet because I don't think that feature is even finished yet. For instance there's a link on its page that points to a client on the Android Market that does not exist yet. So I'll wait for Asus to officially release that feature before enabling it.

And also out of respect for Asus, as I assume they'll want to generate some marketing buzz around the official release of this feature.

Multiple SSID support is hardcoded for only specific devices in the code. It might require special support by the binary-only drivers, would be why it's not a buildtime option. Same with power output settings.

I'll focus on getting a working build out first, before looking at manually enabling features Asus is specifically not enabling for the RT-N16. Some of these might be disabled because of the lack of support by the hardware and its driver, and since I have no way to test it myself... best to have a working version out before randomly enabling feature that might not work

 

[RMerlin]

wow that's great. There are some reasons that make me "stick" to asuswrt... Unfortunately there are some flaws in official builds, so I really hope that this custom build can work well. Will this firmware support guest SSID? I explored the dummy UI and found that this function seems to be only available for N56 & N66 and I really need it

Unsure if the hardware would actually support it - might not be possible. Will see later.

 

[RMerlin]

Been testing USB filesharing over samba and encountered a problem.

USB is mounted fine but is not always visable over the network, can't seem to access it either with or without an account.

This is all using Windows, my android phone can see and access the share fine, it's only the share name that's a little screwed up, it's named www.asusnetwork.net for some reason.

I've seen at least one other report of issues with Samba and build 144 (on the RT-N66U), so this could be a bug in Asus's code that they fixed for 151. If that's the case, I'll have to wait for them to release a newer version of the code - no point in debugging things they have already fixed.

 

[xqr12]

Unsure if the hardware would actually support it - might not be possible. Will see later.

I'm pleased to see that the new 3.0.0.3.151 firmware for RT N16 starts to support guest SSID

 

[panda88]

Thanks! but need a little help

Really nice to see you've added the DHCP options.

I'm with sky fibre, do you know what I would have to enter into the additional dhcp options field?

Thank you

 

[RMerlin]

I added the feature at the request of another Sky user (makes me wonder if anyone else uses this LOL).

Check with Sky what needs to be entered there, I don't know the exact format.

 

[applyuser]

VPN problem

I am happy for upgarde N16, it add WOL is good for me, and i check VPN function is not working, please kindly to fix it, Thanks

 

[RMerlin]

I am happy for upgarde N16, it add WOL is good for me, and i check VPN function is not working, please kindly to fix it, Thanks

I don't have an RT-N16, so with so little details, there isn't much I can do about it, sorry. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work since it's exactly the same code as on the RT-N66U.

 

[applyuser]

Vpn

Is it test from RT-66U VPN function can work or not, bcoz i test many version also still problem in VPN, just use 108 version can work.

 

[applyuser]

VPN disconnect

Anyone test VPN PPTP server from 3003144_RM10_Beta1 is working or not?

 

[Raptor]

Asus Beta for the RT-N16. RT-N16_3.0.0.155. The UI is very fast. Still needs testing to see what Asus updated!

Link: http://www.asus.ru/ftp/NW_TO_TEST/RT-N16_3.0.0.3_155.trx

 

[RMerlin]

Updated OP with the release of 3.0.0.3.144.11 Beta 1. This release brings the much-requested feature that will allow you to add a description to your DHCP reservations.

 

[applyuser]

3.0.0.3.144.11 Beta 1

I already try 3.0.0.3.144.11 Beta 1 , WOL and DHCP have add description name is very clear, it is great! but VPN Server(PPTP) still not working, until now ,just 108 version can connect VPN server function...hope new version will be fix this...

 

[RMerlin]

OP updated with the 3.0.0.3.157.12 Beta release.

Note that this is based on unreleased code provided by Asus, so treat this version as more experimental than my usual betas. Also for the same reason, the sources won't be published to Github until they make a newer official release. But from what I could see after playing with this code for a while, Asus has fixed a lot of issues. Some of these were issues I was manually fixing in my builds, so that means fewer patches for me to maintain

Things to look for in this version for RT-N16 users:

- Does the Dual Wan feature work on the RT-N16?
- Asus seems to have enabled multiple SSID support for the RT-N16, which means guest networks. Can anyone confirm these do work indeed, as I don't have an RT-N16 to test it myself?

 

[snb]

OP updated with the 3.0.0.3.157.12 Beta release.

Note that this is based on unreleased code provided by Asus, so treat this version as more experimental than my usual betas. Also for the same reason, the sources won't be published to Github until they make a newer official release. But from what I could see after playing with this code for a while, Asus has fixed a lot of issues. Some of these were issues I was manually fixing in my builds, so that means fewer patches for me to maintain

Things to look for in this version for RT-N16 users:

- Does the Dual Wan feature work on the RT-N16?
- Asus seems to have enabled multiple SSID support for the RT-N16, which means guest networks. Can anyone confirm these do work indeed, as I don't have an RT-N16 to test it myself?

Just noticed there's a separate thread for n16


Anyway, I upgraded from the DDWRT today, and it went smoothly!

When I bought the RTN16, it had the first release FW, same day I put ddwrt on it, and I've been using it ever since.

Now that I just put your fw on, wow, its like going from win2000 to win7 and it's got mostly everything I need.

I enabled Guest ssid, and my devices connect to the net no problems using it, not sure if there's anything else to test, but the net works.

Just a few questions.

1. Were do I lower the WiFi antenna transmit power?

2. How do I make my voip ata connected to LAN port, the highest priority of all?


Also, in future firmwares, would it be possible to include changing the login name, and something I really would love to be able to do is have the Guest WiFi use its own DNS servers. Would these be possible, or too complicated to implement?


Thanks again, so far its been working nicely!