Does ASUSWRT-Merlin's XT12 firmware support ET12?

[spruce-jackal]

I see XT12 model support listed on Merlin's About page, but no mention of the similar ET12 / 6E variant. Any chance XT12 firmware supports ET12? Some of the other firmware support multiple similar variants, but I'm unsure if these two are similar enough.

 

[RMerlin]

No, different model which requires its own firmware.

 

[JDB]

I've been waiting for the ET12 for ages as it's my perfect long term future proof router. Can only hope it gets Merlin's blessing and then I can actually buy a pair.

 

[spruce-jackal]

I've been waiting for the ET12 for ages as it's my perfect long term future proof router. Can only hope it gets Merlin's blessing and then I can actually buy a pair.

Seriously. The ET12 is definitely the sweet spot for me too - really hoping it gets Merlin.

 

[HolgerDK]

No, different model which requires its own firmware.

Is there an alpha or beta that we can test ?

 

[spruce-jackal]

Is there an alpha or beta that we can test ?

Also interested.

The ET12 1-pack really seems to be the sweet spot right now for a lot of users. Best high end options at different price tiers being GT-AX6000 ($350), then ET12 1-pack ($480) and then GT-AXE16000 ($700).

 

[RMerlin]

Is there an alpha or beta that we can test ?

No, I don't currently support the ET12.

 

[Smokey613]

Some of us even base our home router purchases based on Merlin support. No Merlin, no buy.

 

[ep312]

I haven't seen any mention of the ET12 being on the Merlin or official fork roadmap, but would absolutely love a build for this router

 

[RMerlin]

ET12 support is unlikely to happen at this time.

I added XT12 support because I wanted to have two different devices based on the new HND 5.04 SDK at the time, and also to test the waters with a Zen Wifi device.

The XT12 barely has any users. Roughly 80 downloads on the week the firmware was released, versus over 200 for the GT-AX6000 released at the same time. The RT-AX86U gets 3000-4000 downloads on a new release week. That's simply nowhere popular enough to justify the added workload, so for now, I am not going to support the ET12.

One of the problems with the XT12 and ET12 is the lack of USB port, which greatly reduces the usefulness of running Asuswrt-Merlin: it means no Entware, and most addons won't work either. So even if these routers sold more, there would be a less compelling incentive in running Asuswrt-Merlin. People specifically wanting to run it would rather go for a model with USB ports, to allow them to use addons such as Diversion.

 

[ep312]

ET12 support is unlikely to happen at this time.

I added XT12 support because I wanted to have two different devices based on the new HND 5.04 SDK at the time, and also to test the waters with a Zen Wifi device.

The XT12 barely has any users. Roughly 80 downloads on the week the firmware was released, versus over 200 for the GT-AX6000 released at the same time. The RT-AX86U gets 3000-4000 downloads on a new release week. That's simply nowhere popular enough to justify the added workload, so for now, I am not going to support the ET12.

One of the problems with the XT12 and ET12 is the lack of USB port, which greatly reduces the usefulness of running Asuswrt-Merlin: it means no Entware, and most addons won't work either. So even if these routers sold more, there would be a less compelling incentive in running Asuswrt-Merlin. People specifically wanting to run it would rather go for a model with USB ports, to allow them to use addons such as Diversion.

Thanks for the reply and for all the work you've put into developing such a fantastic firmware.

I really appreciate the insight into your decision process around which routers to support, the calculation of the workload to deployment scale has to be an interesting one to make. I'm curious how the ET12 userbase size compares to to the XT12, as aside from lacking merlin support it is essentially a more feature-full version of the same router.

I can only speak anecdotally but the features I'm missing the most from the ET12 after "upgrading" from the RT-AX88U are the added DNS features, TOR support, and general customization which aren't necessarily related to the USB port (or lack thereof).

Thanks again for this project, and I hope things change enough to justify supporting the ET12 in the future.

 

[garysteel]

ET12 support is unlikely to happen at this time.

I added XT12 support because I wanted to have two different devices based on the new HND 5.04 SDK at the time, and also to test the waters with a Zen Wifi device.

The XT12 barely has any users. Roughly 80 downloads on the week the firmware was released, versus over 200 for the GT-AX6000 released at the same time. The RT-AX86U gets 3000-4000 downloads on a new release week. That's simply nowhere popular enough to justify the added workload, so for now, I am not going to support the ET12.

One of the problems with the XT12 and ET12 is the lack of USB port, which greatly reduces the usefulness of running Asuswrt-Merlin: it means no Entware, and most addons won't work either. So even if these routers sold more, there would be a less compelling incentive in running Asuswrt-Merlin. People specifically wanting to run it would rather go for a model with USB ports, to allow them to use addons such as Diversion.

My thanks for taking on the XT12 I moved from the XT8 and am now running 2x XT12's and one of the XT8s (XT12 with Merlin 386.7_2 and Xt8 on gnuton's all work well couple of issues with XT12 which you've hinted at fixes in the 386.8 - cannot access wifi radar pages and my HP Printer MAC never get's listed on connected devices anywhere - not sure what else isn't listed but I'm sure I read a similar issue and a fix was in the 386.8 but not yet out for XT12.

Thanks for the continued work.
Gary

 

[alexYQR]

ET12 support is unlikely to happen at this time.

I added XT12 support because I wanted to have two different devices based on the new HND 5.04 SDK at the time, and also to test the waters with a Zen Wifi device.

The XT12 barely has any users. Roughly 80 downloads on the week the firmware was released, versus over 200 for the GT-AX6000 released at the same time. The RT-AX86U gets 3000-4000 downloads on a new release week. That's simply nowhere popular enough to justify the added workload, so for now, I am not going to support the ET12.

One of the problems with the XT12 and ET12 is the lack of USB port, which greatly reduces the usefulness of running Asuswrt-Merlin: it means no Entware, and most addons won't work either. So even if these routers sold more, there would be a less compelling incentive in running Asuswrt-Merlin. People specifically wanting to run it would rather go for a model with USB ports, to allow them to use addons such as Diversion.

I'd like to reiterate thanks for your continued work.

As a long time Asuswrt-Merlin user I've never actually bothered using the USB port on any of my routers, instead choosing to let routers do router stuff, and host analytic applications on secondary devices. VPN Director and DNSFilter in Merlin are esentially what keeps me using this firmware. I'd like to add my name to whatever list of users out there exist that are one day hoping for ET12 support.

 

[Rocologo]

I have used Merlin for a long time on my ASUS RT-AC5300, but I have decided to upgrade to Zenwifi ET12 because of the WiFi 6E support which I think is the future, so I am too hoping for support for my new ET12.

I do not need the USB support but I could need the posibiliy to add a secondary DNS server.

 

[ak719]

Same here - I'd love to have Merlin running on my ET12 that I just upgraded to.

 

[AABBsolutely]

Add me to the list as well for those dreaming of future Merlin firmware support on ET12.

In the US, the XT-12 is unavailable to purchase so that may be a large factor in the low user base size of the XT-12.

Anyone in the US that upgrades routers to one of these models like myself, uses the ET-12 model so their is probably a larger user base. Thanks!

 

[Bucky2003]

ET12 support is unlikely to happen at this time.

I added XT12 support because I wanted to have two different devices based on the new HND 5.04 SDK at the time, and also to test the waters with a Zen Wifi device.

The XT12 barely has any users. Roughly 80 downloads on the week the firmware was released, versus over 200 for the GT-AX6000 released at the same time. The RT-AX86U gets 3000-4000 downloads on a new release week. That's simply nowhere popular enough to justify the added workload, so for now, I am not going to support the ET12.

One of the problems with the XT12 and ET12 is the lack of USB port, which greatly reduces the usefulness of running Asuswrt-Merlin: it means no Entware, and most addons won't work either. So even if these routers sold more, there would be a less compelling incentive in running Asuswrt-Merlin. People specifically wanting to run it would rather go for a model with USB ports, to allow them to use addons such as Diversion.

I just picked up a pair of ET12 routers. They are great so far with coverage and the firmware isn't bad either. I am running OpenVPN to a NordVPN server. The Merlin Firmware has the killswitch ability and an exclusion table. That is functionality I would like to have.
Is there any timeline for an ET12 version of Merlin? Certainly, some people would even contribute Venmo to help out.

 

[RMerlin]

Is there any timeline for an ET12 version of Merlin?

See the first line that you quoted from my post.

 

[Reeves]

See the first line that you quoted from my post.

I hope at some point you may reconsider as there seems to be a firmware issue with the ET12's regarding the WAN Port and connecting directly to an ONT by a fiber provider.
Several threads out there regarding extremely poor upload speeds, however the problem is 'fixed' if you either enable Dual-WAN and instead of using the WAN port, you use the 2.5g/1g LAN port as your second WAN or if you use a middle man, like a switch or another router.

I've read a few people mentioning it has something to do with the ONT and WAN Port not being able to negotiate correctly, but I can't tell if that's just something someone is saying and not really knowing anything as I can't find any source for this rumor.

 

[HolgerDK]

I hope at some point you may reconsider as there seems to be a firmware issue with the ET12's regarding the WAN Port and connecting directly to an ONT by a fiber provider.
Several threads out there regarding extremely poor upload speeds, however the problem is 'fixed' if you either enable Dual-WAN and instead of using the WAN port, you use the 2.5g/1g LAN port as your second WAN or if you use a middle man, like a switch or another router.

I've read a few people mentioning it has something to do with the ONT and WAN Port not being able to negotiate correctly, but I can't tell if that's just something someone is saying and not really knowing anything as I can't find any source for this rumor.

That sounds like something that Asus should fix in the base-firmware, if it is an issue.