Best firmware choice for AC66U B1?

[enchained]

My friend needed a router, so I decided to give away my good old N66U and make myself a bit of an upgrade to boost my wireless LAN speeds for AC devices. N66U currently has Merlin's FW a couple of versions behind the last supported one, but I've read that the John's fork has ongoing support and probably better for the N66U right now, so I'm giving it a shot before giving it away all updated.

As for myself and the AC66U B1, I'd prefer something stable and with an official FW look. I've heard somewhere that getting an ASUS router nowadays is a hit and miss (I think they've meant critical bugs in official firmware), so I want something really fine-tuned to the B1 model. The choices are - official FW, Merlin's AC68U (same hardware can mean same bugs so that's probably still fine-tuned?), or John's fork (based on older 374 FW, does that mean missing some important fixes/features? I've heard something about it keeping the WiFi strength and region switching, not sure if relevant for me, the old N66U was running fine on Merlin's 380 in one-room + kitchen behind the wall setup).

As for the features, I'm not sure what can I get with which FW, and what do I need besides VPN client/server, DDNS, IPV6 tunneling, port forwarding etc. I do an occasional gaming, have a Synology for media serving purposes (so probably won't use those features from the router, remembering them a bit unstable), I'm also interested in things that help override ISP censorship. As for devices, It can be at most up to 3 laptops, 3 mobile devices, a smart tv and a console (all wireless and a few still 2.4 N) and a wired Synology server with 24/7 network activity and P2P (currently have to limit its speed to half to not affect heavy web media streaming). It would be nice if the firmware still works with ASUS iOS app, it's useful for reboots and traffic monitoring sometimes.

So, what is the top choice nowadays?

 

[L&LD]

I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to install RMerlin firmware immediately after you bought the new router?

The RT-AC66U_B1 is the most inexpensive but worthy upgrade over what you currently use. Put RMerlin on it, use a spare USB drive and install amtm and the supported scripts you need. Great upgrade for the least cost (don't forget to include a donation or two for the scripts you use).

The RT-AC86U is simply the best AC router that offers RMerlin support today. A big performance upgrade over the '_B1 and anything else that has come before.

The RT-AX88U is the best Asus router, today. It doesn't sound like you need it, but it seems like it could be destined to become a classic like the RT-N66U currently is.

Whichever tier of router you decide on above, flash the latest RMerlin firmware (the 384.15 Alpha is considered 'stable', by most) and add a USB drive and amtm along with the scripts you need. Nothing in consumer land can touch the triple threat this offers.

As for the RT-N66U, you have the option of flashing the latest official Asus firmware (much more current than john9527's official latest). Or, you may want to download the latest developer version from john9527's OneDrive folder instead (which is what I would do myself).

I would also suggest you look at the link in my signature below to see guides to get both routers to a good/known state and also optimally setup amtm, a swap file and Entware (required for many scripts) too.

 

[doczenith1]

As @L&LD mentioned, install amtm following his step by step guide (URL in his sig) as a first step. To get your feet wet with scripts I would suggest starting with the full install of Diversion. I was leery at first to use scripts but they are easy to use with the amtm tool. After using Diversion for over a year now I can't imagine life without it

 

[Marc66]

In addition to AsusWRT firmwares, you also have the Fresh Tomato option


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