Firmware Suggestions for RT-N66U (Factory, new/old or RMerlin's)

[Poseidon]

If you do try a current firmware, don't pay too much attention to signal strength or other such indicators. Test throughput and responsiveness of your network instead.

I've tried BOTH latest Asus factory firmware and current Merlin's and I'm getting wireless speed degradation from time to time, especially on 2.4. I have done everything you listed but issue still persists.

Thus far I have not seen it with the .276 firmware but it's still too early to tell. I can definitely tell of improved performance. Not sure if .276 uses a different set of drivers than current firmware?

 

[L&LD]

Yeah, the drivers are very different. v5 vs. v6 if I'm not mistaken.

Speed degradation how? At certain times of day/week or certain network loads?

Is the issue so severe that you're willing to give up on keeping up with the latest security patches and features?

 

[Poseidon]

Yeah, the drivers are very different. v5 vs. v6 if I'm not mistaken.

Speed degradation how? At certain times of day/week or certain network loads?

Is the issue so severe that you're willing to give up on keeping up with the latest security patches and features?

At this point, I would have to say yes - unless this issue is addressed in a future firmware release.

At random times throughout the day, my wireless speed cripples for several minutes than jumps back up to normal speeds. This happens a few times per day. I've seen this with Merlin's .41 and Asus firmwares. Haven't seen it with .276, which is also performing a little better than the other two.

Can someone explain the difference in v5 and v6 drivers. Which one is considered better?

 

[sm00thpapa]

.276 is the best firmware for the 66U and 66W.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[g1dtf]

Has anyone compared the wireless performance between .276 and Rmerlin .42 on the 66U ?

 

[RMerlin]

Has anyone compared the wireless performance between .276 and Rmerlin .42 on the 66U ?

There are lots of reports on this, check the discussion thread for the 374.38-em release. This is the same driver (-EM) as used in 374.42.

The vast majority of users reported similar performance. One or two users reported even better performance, and one or two reported worse performance.

 

[jlake]

Has anyone compared the wireless performance between .276 and Rmerlin .42 on the 66U ?

It probably depends on your wireless adapters on your devices (e.g. Broadcom vs atheros etc ). Make sure you remove your old wireless profiles on you computers when switching between firmware with different wireless drivers. You'll also more than likely have to reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure from scratch.....or else you'll have problems.

But to answer your question, I compared EM vs sdk5 driver with a Broadcom wireless adapter and they were very similar in performance. However, I bought a new computer with a builtin atheros adapter and it does not like the EM driver at 40 MHz (or auto) width on 5 ghz.