Does T-Mobile/ASUS TM-AC1900 (RT-AC68U) Support Merlin?

[FiveOhFour]

I see a DDR Update utility on the Asus Support page for the AC68U that apparently changes the clockspeed of the memory for the AC68U, maybe earlier units or maybe all, i am not sure, is this applicable/possible/neccessary for the T-Mobile Branded model or does it already have that applied in current revisions or what?

 

[jp314]

From all indications (and hundreds of people on SlickDeals who have already flashed including myself), I would say yet. In some cases, you'll have to use the recovery method as the standard GUI method will not allow other firmwares to be written (or so it has been posted by many).

So I took the plunge and put the latest Merlin firmware on it. It worked fine -- rebooted and got to the GUI. Then I wanted to do a full reset -- nvram erase; nvram commit -- didn't seem to work, then I did a reset via the GUI. After rebooting, I had the same results as others -- incomplete GUI loading and eventually a full white screen for the GUI. Checking via curl showed there was some issue with the web pages it was serving -- I got

curl: (56) Recv failure: Connection reset by peer

at the end of the GUI.

However, since the router seemed to have booted, I tried to directly go to another config page -- I randomly choose one of the .ASP's pointed to in the HTML (that I got from curl), and tried http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_ASUSDDNS_Content.asp. That got somewhere -- a GUI, although it was malformed and the language selection was overwriting many of the fields. I was able to change some settings, and when I hit 'apply', that page came back OK. I then was able to see the main menu on the left -- links from that gave GUI pages that weren't complete, but I was still able to fill in fields. As each page was 'apply'ed, that GUI worked. I rebooted and tried some other pages (including enabling/disabling features just to be able to 'apply' them).

Now it alls seems to work. One thing is although I used the Merlin AsusWRT for an RT68U, the GUI title page still says TM-AC1900 -- how does it 'know' this ? I erased all the NVRAM.

 

[Engineer]

So I took the plunge and put the latest Merlin firmware on it. It worked fine -- rebooted and got to the GUI. Then I wanted to do a full reset -- nvram erase; nvram commit -- didn't seem to work, then I did a reset via the GUI. After rebooting, I had the same results as others -- incomplete GUI loading and eventually a full white screen for the GUI. Checking via curl showed there was some issue with the web pages it was serving -- I got

curl: (56) Recv failure: Connection reset by peer

at the end of the GUI.

However, since the router seemed to have booted, I tried to directly go to another config page -- I randomly choose one of the .ASP's pointed to in the HTML (that I got from curl), and tried http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_ASUSDDNS_Content.asp. That got somewhere -- a GUI, although it was malformed and the language selection was overwriting many of the fields. I was able to change some settings, and when I hit 'apply', that page came back OK. I then was able to see the main menu on the left -- links from that gave GUI pages that weren't complete, but I was still able to fill in fields. As each page was 'apply'ed, that GUI worked. I rebooted and tried some other pages (including enabling/disabling features just to be able to 'apply' them).

Now it alls seems to work. One thing is although I used the Merlin AsusWRT for an RT68U, the GUI title page still says TM-AC1900 -- how does it 'know' this ? I erased all the NVRAM.

Good information (even if above my head at this point). As for the TM-AC1900, is that written into the CFE instead of the running flash?

 

[Junky321]

Anyone experience with GUI issue with IE? Chrome seems to be fine but IE is missing the LEFT panel/tabs.

 

[Engineer]

There was several strange reports at SD that those users could not go to T-mobile.com after flashing the router. Turned out that T-Mobile.com was listed in the Domain field of the router. Had to be removed to allow the name to resolve correctly and for the page to load. Just a FYI for anyone with this issue.

(also was solved by selecting a Reset to Defaults from the GUI).

 

[RMerlin]

I see a DDR Update utility on the Asus Support page for the AC68U that apparently changes the clockspeed of the memory for the AC68U, maybe earlier units or maybe all, i am not sure, is this applicable/possible/neccessary for the T-Mobile Branded model or does it already have that applied in current revisions or what?

The TM-AC1900 already has an up-to-date bootloader. That updater was only for older RT-AC68U that needed the upgrade, Asus hasn't manufactured models with the older CFE in a long time.

 

[jp314]

Mine has the 2.1.2.1 CFE -- I don't know if it came with that or not:

Model TM-AC1900
Firmware Version 3.0.0.4.376.47
Firmware Build Sat Sep 20 18:50:48 UTC 2014 merlin@f20071b
Bootloader (CFE) 2.1.2.1
Driver version wl0: Apr 25 2014 11:16:33 version 6.37.14.86 (r456083)

So I'm running at 800 MHz.

One thing is this on the Performance Tuning menu:
Note: Your router bootloader version is incompatible with Turbo (overclock) mode.

 

[andyg]

mine arrived with 2.1.2.1 CFE and firmware 3.0.0.4.376_1520 out of the box. I upgraded to Merlin build 374.43_2. Currently not seeing the range on mobile devices on 5GHz like I had with N66U at 374.43. I haven't been keeping up with the best firmware for the 68U so if anyone has an opinion...?

edit: noticing a fluctuating link rate @ 5GHz between at least 2 clients and the wannabe AC68U.

RT-N66U : Merlin 374.43 / RT-N16 : tomato RAF 1.28.9014MIPSR2-RAF-v1.3g.trx

 

[stook1]

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to report that I have now applied the #a region settings and also maxed out the transmit power on the router. I am getting really great performance with this router. From about 10 feet away from the router, I am getting around 55MB/s transfer rates over my network using an Intel 7260 AC network card in my laptop. This is approximately double the throughput that I was getting on my RT-N66U. I have not done this testing around the house but it is really obvious that my range, especially on 5ghz with AC, is dramatically better than it had been. Very satisfied with the router.

 

[andyg]

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to report that I have now applied the #a region settings and also maxed out the transmit power on the router. I am getting really great performance with this router. From about 10 feet away from the router, I am getting around 55MB/s transfer rates over my network using an Intel 7260 AC network card in my laptop. This is approximately double the throughput that I was getting on my RT-N66U. I have not done this testing around the house but it is really obvious that my range, especially on 5ghz with AC, is dramatically better than it had been. Very satisfied with the router.

could you share your firmware rev and wireless settings? I'm not seeing the good range and consistency in wireless compared to my N66U

RT-N66U : Merlin 374.43 / RT-N16 : tomato RAF 1.28.9014MIPSR2-RAF-v1.3g.trx

 

[stook1]

could you share your firmware rev and wireless settings? I'm not seeing the good range and consistency in wireless compared to my N66U

RT-N66U : Merlin 374.43 / RT-N16 : tomato RAF 1.28.9014MIPSR2-RAF-v1.3g.trx

Sure - I am using revision 3 of the Merlin Fork (see the sticky on the Asus-Merlin forum). I am in the US but I nonetheless ran the commands via telnet to update the region settings to #a, etc. My transmission power settings then bumped up to 500. I am in 1 acre suburban zoning and, as a result, I can't see any other 5ghz networks from my property (I am using the highest channel I can), and I can use channel 1 on 2.4ghz, which results in no overlapping networks with neighbors. For 2.4ghz, I am using a 20mhz instead of 40mhz setting since, for whatever reason, I get much better performance. This might be because of interference with other devices in my house. I have no idea - I've had sporadic issues with 2.4ghz that I have never fully understood despite doing a ton of testing. My current setting seem to work consistently well for me now.

Are you testing with an AC client? The dramatic improvements in range and transmission speed that I noticed were most obvious on 5ghz where I could leverage AC.

 

[Waylo]

I currently have a RT-N66U running Merlin.... and T-Mobile service... but no 802.11AC-wireless peripherals. Worth 'upgrading'?

 

[L&LD]

I currently have a RT-N66U running Merlin.... and T-Mobile service... but no 802.11AC-wireless peripherals. Worth 'upgrading'?

Depends on your current level of satisfaction with the performance and how sensitive you are to changes to anything above that level.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...oes-an-ac-router-improve-n-device-performance


http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=19533

 

[wassy]

Can someone explain how to upgrade my firmware to Merlin, or even DD-WRT on the TM-1900. I've used Merlin for years, I know how to use it and upgrade firmware, but the TM-1900 has locked me out of both the GUI upgradeability, nor can I telnet into the device. Perhaps there are some special procedures? I also did the reboot into recovery mode and the recovery utility is not seeing it, nor allowing it.

what am I doing wrong?

 

[wassy]

Ok guys... I got Dd-wrt loaded (no offense Merlin). I have both files and just chose DD. that said, here's hoe I got it loaded- shut off wireless on my mac. Connected Ethernet to tm-1900. Reset by holding reset while either plugging power in or turning in power button. Once flashing slowly, waited a little and went to 192.168.29.1. That brought me to Asus's gui restore page. Cleared nvram and loaded firmware. Said it was loaded and rebooting. Took a few minutes but dd-wrt running. Haven't set it up yet but it's in there and seems fully functional. Grabbing a sandwich and will do same for my other 2. 1 router, 2 AP. I imagine I would have no issue going back to stock firmware if needed but wifi calling didn't work all that well while riaming around house. Will give this a go.

 

[fbusa2012]

I got the tm-ac1900 and I am not able to flush merlin. The stock firmware is 3.0.0.4.376_2827. I think this version prevent user from install non-TM firmware. Have anyone able to flush merlin with is firmware? If you did, can you tell me what other steps that I need to do in order to flush merlin?

Thanks

 

[CaptainSTX]

WiFi calling doesn't work as well as it should out of the box but a call to T-Mobil got me up and running after they correctly got my router provisioned in their system. Also needed to download latest update for my Samsung G5 phone. The cell spot is running in AP mode.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk

 

[Engineer]

I got the tm-ac1900 and I am not able to flush merlin. The stock firmware is 3.0.0.4.376_2827. I think this version prevent user from install non-TM firmware. Have anyone able to flush merlin with is firmware? If you did, can you tell me what other steps that I need to do in order to flush merlin?

Thanks

You will need to first downgrade your firmware to an older version of the TMobile firmware. The reason is that you will need to do this to re-enable Telnet (which was removed from your firmware). After you get that (Telnet back), you'll need to download an older CFE (or the most current CFE bootloader for an Asus RT-AC68U) and modify it with your settings from your current CFE (you'll pull that from your router, cut and paste your MAC address (3 x) into the new CFe).

I used HGGOMES guide from here and modified it for the job (posted at SlickDeals): I include links for an older TMobile firmware as well as the previous TMobile branded CFE (although you could just get the latest RT-AC68U CFE and use that one - still editing it though. That will give you a full RT-AC68U with no trace of the TM1900 ID strings of the TM CFE). You can use the Asus recovery utility, put your router into recovery mode and send the older TM firmware over to get things started.

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=70991738&postcount=2576

Edit: Updated guide: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=73690012&postcount=3895

 

[morbidj]

Just wanted to say thank you Engineer as I am new to Asus devices and Merlins build. I found your tut very informative and easy to follow.

 

[izzyy]

Engineer,

Sorry I don't know any telnet/ssh, so want to make sure before I do anything

1) On step 2, do i type in one command after another?

cat /dev/mtd0 > /tmp/sda/pen/original_cfe.bin
(change the path to your path information that you used above)

dd if=/dev/mtd0 of=/tmp/sda/pen/original_cfe.bin
(change the path to your path information that you used above)


2) Version 2.1.2.1 cfe is a rar file Am I suppose to unzip first before using it?

3) MTD-WRITE also in rar, do I unzip and extract some kind of exe to usb drive before using either ARM: mtd-write new_cfe.bin boot (v1)
OR mtd-write -i new_cfe.bin -d boot (v2) to write new cfe?

4) Step 8, before reboot, will telent show that cfe is complete or done? Am I doing a hard reboot by pressing on and off button on router after? Or must be done by some sort of command?

5) Did someone from SD use 1.0.2.0 (US) cfe (instead of 2.1.2.1 cfe) and make AC68U out of TM-1900?

Thank you so much.