Connect to Huwaei SUN2000 inverter using asus rt-ac68u

[eibgrad]

One thing to keep in mind. The EA8500 is NOT a Broadcom router, but Atheros/Qualcomm. That means it's NOT compatible w/ FreshTomato (or Merlin), leaving you one less third-party firmware option for client mode.

But at least in terms of the specs, and according to wikidevi, the EA8500 is slightly better than the RT-AC68U, specifically the processor and memory (although I've heard of some users overclocking the RT-AC68U from 1-1.4GHz).

Linksys EA8500

For a list of all currently documented Qualcomm chipsets with specifications, see Qualcomm.For a list of all currently documented Qualcomm Atheros (QCA) chipsets...

wikidevi.wi-cat.ru

ASUS RT-AC68U

For a list of all currently documented Broadcom chipsets with specifications, see Broadcom. Wireless-AC1900 Dual Band Gigabit Router Product page Model Part...

wikidevi.wi-cat.ru

 

[KOA]

One thing to keep in mind. The EA8500 is NOT a Broadcom router, but Atheros/Qualcomm. That means it's NOT compatible w/ FreshTomato (or Merlin), leaving you one less third-party firmware option for client mode.

But at least in terms of the specs, and according to wikidevi, the EA8500 is slightly better than the RT-AC68U, specifically the processor and memory (although I've heard of some users overclocking the RT-AC68U from 1-1.4GHz).

Linksys EA8500

For a list of all currently documented Qualcomm chipsets with specifications, see Qualcomm.For a list of all currently documented Qualcomm Atheros (QCA) chipsets...

wikidevi.wi-cat.ru

ASUS RT-AC68U

For a list of all currently documented Broadcom chipsets with specifications, see Broadcom. Wireless-AC1900 Dual Band Gigabit Router Product page Model Part...

wikidevi.wi-cat.ru

Ordered RT-68U. Now I can't use openwrt on it due to N/A open-source wifi drivers.
It will be my first Broadcom router. Willing to overclock, but I think a ice-tower cooler will be required
Flashing EA8500 requires breaking open the router to access serial just for the initial flash. Secondly it was taken off the shelf (looks like it was a steal at Pkr 4250.)

 

[KOA]

What method is recommended to flash tomato on RT-AC68U from Asus firmware?

 

[RMerlin]

What method is recommended to flash tomato on RT-AC68U from Asus firmware?

Put router in Firmware Recovery Mode, then use either a TFTP client, or Asus' own Firmware Recovery tool.

 

[eibgrad]

Put router in Firmware Recovery Mode, then use either a TFTP client, or Asus' own Firmware Recovery tool.

FYI. He's over on the FT forums presently, and I suggested he stay there since from this point forward, NONE of it is Merlin related. But if you don't mind the discussion continuing here as well, that's fine. I just know sometimes mods don't like that.

 

[RMerlin]

FYI. He's over on the FT forums presently, and I suggested he stay there since from this point forward, NONE of it is Merlin related. But if you don't mind the discussion continuing here as well, that's fine. I just know sometimes mods don't like that.

I'm generally fairly loose when it comes to things going off-topic a bit, especially since this isn't going to be a very long discussion, so I don't mind.

 

[KOA]

FYI. He's over on the FT forums presently, and I suggested he stay there since from this point forward, NONE of it is Merlin related. But if you don't mind the discussion continuing here as well, that's fine. I just know sometimes mods don't like that.

actually, I will test Merlin too, just to see what features are available. I have heard very good reviews of Merlin from my friends. As you already know flashing routers is very addictive.

 

[KOA]

FYI. I got curious and decided to configure one of my spare RT-AC68U routers in the lab w/ FreshTomato 2021.5 (the most recent build as of this post), and was able to configure client mode w/ no problems, including establishing a client connection to the 5GHz radio (essentially a repeater (unbridged)). Very easy to configure.

can you mention the steps to configure it as a client mode? I am unable to find any good documentation for it.
Edit: found https://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/wireless-client.73780/page-3

 

[KOA]

How do i connect to 192.168.200.1 (Inverter AP) from my Homeassitant which has IP in range of 192.168.18.xx

 

[eibgrad]

View attachment 36116
How do i connect to 192.168.200.1 (Inverter AP) from my Homeassitant which has IP in range of 192.168.18.xx

As I stated before, if you disable the RT-AC68U's DHCP server and assign it an IP in the same network as your primary router (presumably 192.168.18.x), connect it LAN to LAN wrt the primary router, and add a static route to the primary router that points to the LAN ip of the RT-AC68U as the gateway to the 192.168.200.0/24 network, then the inverter should be accessible by any device on the 192.168.18.x network.

 

[KOA]

As I stated before, if you disable the RT-AC68U's DHCP server and assign it an IP in the same network as your primary router (presumably 192.168.18.x), connect it LAN to LAN wrt the primary router, and add a static route to the primary router that points to the LAN ip of the RT-AC68U as the gateway to the 192.168.200.0/24 network, then the inverter should be accessible by any device on the 192.168.18.x network.

RT68U's ip is 192.168.18.131. it is connected LAN to LAN with Huwaei FTTH modem (IP 192.168.18.1).
I couldn't understand the next part.

Should I add something on this page

 

[eibgrad]

RT68U's ip is 192.168.18.131. it is connected LAN to LAN with Huwaei FTTH modem (IP 192.168.18.1).
I couldn't understand the next part.

Your clients on the 192.168.18.x network don't know how to find the 192.168.200.x network. When they attempt to contact it, they will direct those requests to their default gateway, which is the primary router, 192.168.18.1. You need to add a static route to that primary router so it can redirect those clients over to the RT-AC68U, which is acting as a gateway to the 192.168.200.x network, where the inverter resides. Most routers, even using oem/stock firmware, will at least let you add static routes. Look closely in the the GUI of your primary router.

 

[KOA]

Your clients on the 192.168.18.x network don't know how to find the 192.168.200.x network. When they attempt to contact it, they will direct those requests to their default gateway, which is the primary router, 192.168.18.1. You need to add a static route to that primary router so it can redirect those clients over to the RT-AC68U, which is acting as a gateway to the 192.168.200.x network, where the inverter resides. Most routers, even using oem/stock firmware, will at least let you add static routes. Look closely in the the GUI of your primary router.

I have found the static route pages but I get this error while configuring it

 

[eibgrad]

IP Address: 192.168.200.0
Gateway: 192.168.18.131
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

P.S. It may offer the option of a WAN vs. LAN network interface for the static route. It needs to be the LAN. I'm unfamilar w/ that particularly device, but from what you posted, it seemed to be defaulting to the WAN. It may offer a metric option as well, which can be 0 or 1, whichever works.

 

[KOA]

IP Address: 192.168.200.0
Gateway: 192.168.18.131
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

P.S. It may offer the option of a WAN vs. LAN network interface for the static route. It needs to be the LAN. I'm unfamilar w/ that particularly device, but from what you posted, it seemed to be defaulting to the WAN. It may offer a metric option as well, which can be 0 or 1, whichever works.

These are the options being offered

Edit: Some success

Pinging 192.168.200.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.200.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=254
Reply from 192.168.200.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=254
Reply from 192.168.200.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=254
Reply from 192.168.200.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=254

Ping statistics for 192.168.200.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2ms, Maximum = 3ms, Average = 2ms