Can Asus RT-AC66U+ (B1) run Asuswrt-merlin?

[bbunge]

After doing some research I think there are 2 versions of AC66U B1:

• AC66U, rev. B1 (1 core, USB2)
• AC66U B1, rev. A1 (2 cores, USB3)

It's confusing that there are two "B1" versions - one a hardware revision and the other a product name change.

I can confirm that my router is a RT-AC66U B1 HW Ver A1. I was very careful to order one from Newegg that said that it was a RT-AC66U B1. And I checked the box label very carefully before I opened it. Interesting that the box touts router features except the fact that it is dual core. Does not have replaceable antennas.
Anyone know if the WIFI RADAR feature is active in the Merlin AC68U firmware?
Does the RT-AC66U HW Ver B1 have the USB3 port in the front?

 

[sibartlett]

OK, I can provide some clarity:

AC66U - H/W ver: B1

• 1 core, USB 2
• Use the AC66U Merlin firmware (I can confirm this works)

AC66U B1 - H/W ver: A1

• New product (B1 is part of the model name, not hardware version)
• 2 cores, USB3
  
• Some users are reporting AC68U Merlin firmware works

 

[Kevin Clark]

I bought a new RT-AC66U and Open VPN performance is terrible. Barely getting 3Mbps downloads. Express VPN identified a couple of really good options for site locations that should provide a minimum of 20Mbs download which would be a huge improvement, but it never tests out at anything more than 3.5Mbps.

Can I run the AC66U Merlin on the B1 hardware version ? have seen several posts that says this HW version is not supported. Express VPN wants me to downgrade to PPTP which I am opposed to doing. An alternative was to edit the .ovpn file to use TCP which seems counter intuitive since TCP overhead is substantially greater than UDP. Without the VPN running I get well over 40Mbps average and burst speed above 50. Streaming video is virtually impossible with 3.5Mbps downloads - buffering for more than 30 seconds in order to play 10-15 seconds of content.

I would be willing to flash router to get over this issue. ExpressVPN tech support had me change DNS address because the internet would not connect until I did it. Worse yet, with the .ovpn loaded, and prior to DNS change, I had to load ExpressVPN locally to my Mac just to chat with the tech support team.

I also tried editing QoS settings as some have suggested and even turned it off with no measurable change.

All suggestions welcome.

 

[sibartlett]

I bought a new RT-AC66U and Open VPN performance is terrible. Barely getting 3Mbps downloads. Express VPN identified a couple of really good options for site locations that should provide a minimum of 20Mbs download which would be a huge improvement, but it never tests out at anything more than 3.5Mbps.

Can I run the AC66U Merlin on the B1 hardware version ? have seen several posts that says this HW version is not supported. Express VPN wants me to downgrade to PPTP which I am opposed to doing. An alternative was to edit the .ovpn file to use TCP which seems counter intuitive since TCP overhead is substantially greater than UDP. Without the VPN running I get well over 40Mbps average and burst speed above 50. Streaming video is virtually impossible with 3.5Mbps downloads - buffering for more than 30 seconds in order to play 10-15 seconds of content.

I would be willing to flash router to get over this issue. ExpressVPN tech support had me change DNS address because the internet would not connect until I did it. Worse yet, with the .ovpn loaded, and prior to DNS change, I had to load ExpressVPN locally to my Mac just to chat with the tech support team.

I also tried editing QoS settings as some have suggested and even turned it off with no measurable change.

All suggestions welcome.

In regards to what version of Merlin firmware to use, please read my post above.

 

[Kevin Clark]

In regards to what version of Merlin firmware to use, please read my post above.

Thank you. I backed up original firmware version and the Asus 3.0.0.4.380_4005-ge00c831 which is supposed to be the current FW version. Getting ready to download and flash Merlin !

 

[RMerlin]

Some companies like Linksys have done really silly things in the past with hardware revisions (look at the WRT54G), but Asus just reached a new level right there with this RT-AC66U B1, which was formerly known as RT-AC66U_V2 in the source code - that name would have made things far less confusing. Seriously.

 

[hhjauddr]

@RMerlin You are definitely right. As I also think ASUS is making an ambiguous product name, they are marking the new RT-AC66U as RT-AC66U+ (PLUS) in Asia (at least in China/Taiwan) but RT-AC66U B1 in other area.
BTW, would like to report the status of using Merlin (AC-68U) on AC-66U+ (or AC-66U B1), it's stably running for over 37 days... Very STABLE as always the firmware produced by Merlin!

 

[RMerlin]

If things go as planned, I should have an RT-AC66U_B1 in my hands in the coming weeks to test things out.

 

[jccds]

If things go as planned, I should have an RT-AC66U_B1 in my hands in the coming weeks to test things out.

Very good news, thank you very much and congratulations on your excellent work.

 

[Mirddyn]

Thanks RMerlin, we are looking forward to have good news about this router.

In the mean time, any update from the people that installed AC68's Firmware?

 

[jccds]

I've installed and had no problems so far.

Thanks once again RMerlin.

 

[RMerlin]

Everything went fine with my tests, so I've listed the RT-AC66U_B1 as being officially supported. Mediafire now has a directory for that model, directing people to the RT-AC68U firmware.

 

[bbunge]

So far so good. I started out with 380.63-2 then upgraded to 380.64. Then tried the latest Asus firmware to try it out. Worked OK except for the broken network tools. Back to 380.64 now. About the only buggy thing is the USB hard drive will not stay spun down for more than 30 seconds per the log. Have disabled spin down and let the drive care for itself. Still learning what the QOS can and can't do...

 

[as1970]

Works on rt-ac66u_b1 no problem

 

[nicksor]

I can confirm that my router is a RT-AC66U B1 HW Ver A1. I was very careful to order one from Newegg that said that it was a RT-AC66U B1. And I checked the box label very carefully before I opened it. Interesting that the box touts router features except the fact that it is dual core. Does not have replaceable antennas.
Anyone know if the WIFI RADAR feature is active in the Merlin AC68U firmware?
Does the RT-AC66U HW Ver B1 have the USB3 port in the front?

 

[Konstantin]

Hi everybody,

Today I've bought the model RT-AC66U B1 H/W ver.: B1. So it is H/W ver.: B1, not A1. I can see that it has 2 core CPU 1GHz. Here is the sticker. I've installed the latest Merlin and it seems the router works fine. But I've seen somewhere that the RT-AC66U B1 H/W ver.: A1 has got 800Mhz two core CPU. Does it make any diffetence for the latest Merlin firmware that the model RT-AC66U B1 H/W ver.: B1 has got 1GHz CPU?

 

[Chuckles67]

I just purchased an RT-AC66U B1 from Amazon/fulfilled by Amazon two weeks ago. The H/W ver. is marked as B2 see attached picture of the sales package.
I installed Asuswrt-Merlin RT-AC68U v380.65_4 five days ago, and everything seems to work fine
ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l) - Rev. c0 (Cores: 2)
CPU Frequency 1000 MHz

Several cool things for me with Merlin are
- VPN tunneling for specific LAN IP addresses (Ironsocket OpenVPN works fine for me, meaning this supports TUN)
- turn off the blue flashing LEDs
- retaining native Asus product features such as security and user interface

I have small concern this router runs a bit warm (CPU often at 70C) but that was same with the stock Asus firmware.

Thanks RMerlin!!!

 

[videobruce]

I'm looking at the router as a replacement for a TP-Link TL-WDR3600
I was originally figuring on dd-wrt F/W since I somewhat familar with ti, but haven't rouled out something else. Any additional input regarding issues and running hot?

 

[polomora]

Hello Merlin,

Is the AC66U-B1 officially supported? According to the home page:

The following routers are supported by this firmware:

• N16, N66U, AC66U (original MIPS based revs)
• AC56U, AC68U (Rev A1,A2,B1), AC68P (and the retail and color versions, R and W, of each router)
• AC68U (Rev C1,E1), AC1900 and AC1900P (and the retail and color versions, R and W, of each router) and the AC66U-B1

Is this the AC66U-B1 version?

Paul

 

[RMerlin]

Hello Merlin,

Is the AC66U-B1 officially supported? According to the home page:

The following routers are supported by this firmware:

• N16, N66U, AC66U (original MIPS based revs)
• AC56U, AC68U (Rev A1,A2,B1), AC68P (and the retail and color versions, R and W, of each router)
• AC68U (Rev C1,E1), AC1900 and AC1900P (and the retail and color versions, R and W, of each router) and the AC66U-B1

Is this the AC66U-B1 version?

Paul

Not sure what you are quoting, but this is way out of date since it even lists the RT-N16, which was dropped years ago...

https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/about