[Fork] Asuswrt-Merlin 374.43 LTS releases (Archive)

[Timeku]

Holy crap Tim, that is some serious cooling.
Isn't the noise driving you crazy?

Edit:
To answer your questions.
We use this fork because it's the latest that lets you play with regional settings.

That means you have the freedom to use the RF channels you want and output power you want.
(Within your local government WiFi rules of course.)
John takes care of this fork to make sure it has the latest security patches.

So no, no 500mW from the latest firmware. (ASUS or RMerlin.)
If I remember correctly it's stuck at max. 100mW.

The Noise is none. Because of the Fan's are on low speed i think 500rpm.

Does the update's 1, 2 and 3 have anything todo with the max output?
Because i think (almost know for sure) that after a update i dont have the 500 mw anymore. Even with the commands i dont see any my output like i seen without the updates on this Fork.

But then again i'm new with this router its like 4/5 days ago i have bought it in the shop. So maybe i do something wrong? because i have heard also about reboot after the commando's? but dont know for sure...

I also installed snmp on it and now i can see all dev, interfaces, and temps with zabbix.

Well maybe someone willing to explain howto get 500mw. And what are the best antennes for this router?
I have seen some i build years ago, its from a cabel made. Dont know the name, but maybe some know some cheap antennes that are better then those on it now..

Thx

Tim

 

[L&LD]

Make sure that Hardware Acceleration is on.

Where do I find the setting?

To see what state it's in, go to Tools and at the bottom right under Network, you should see 'HW acceleration' Enabled. If it's on. If it's off, it should give a hint on what option setting has turned it off.


To turn it on, go to LAN, click the Switch Control tab and make sure NAT Acceleration is turned on.


Hint: turning it on doesn't mean it is on. Go to Tools again (after a reboot) to check that it is actually on.

 

[xaviercharles]

can i use this command on the RT-N66U to set the wifi region?

nvram set pci/1/1/ccode=#a
nvram set pci/1/1/regrev=0
nvram set pci/2/1/ccode=#a
nvram set pci/2/1/regrev=0
nvram set regulation_domain_5G=#a
nvram set regulation_domain=#a
nvram set wl0_country_code=#a
nvram set wl0_country_rev=0
nvram set wl0_reg_mode=off
nvram set wl1_country_code=#a
nvram set wl1_country_rev=0
nvram set wl1_reg_mode=off
nvram commit
reboot

 

[darkknight74]

Is this fork version a security risk, is it better with merlin versions?

Skickat med Sony Z2 via Tapatalk pro

 

[redderflag]

I am currently on the latest stock firmware..heard great things about this firmware..
I am a noob with these..
I currently am not using any advanced features nor have disks attached.
I just have the static dns setup, wifi setup, connected to my modem..
I heard that you should do a factory reset after installing the firmware..
What does this entail? Would I be forced to setup the static dns's and wifi setup again?
Would it be possible to skip the factory reset if I am not using the advanced features?
Please provide any help! TIA

 

[kiesa1231]

Hello all i see rMerlin release new version 376.47.How wifi signal strength?Maybe strong like 374.43 build?Or weak like 376.44 build?And maybe work huawei e3276s modem with this version?

 

[admiral2145]

Hello all i see rMerlin release new version 376.47.How wifi signal strength?Maybe strong like 374.43 build?Or weak like 376.44 build?And maybe work huawei e3276s modem with this version?

It's never going to be as strong as this because the max mv is 80 but, if you don't need the range then try 47... Better yet put the mv to 80 and see how the range is.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[john9527]

can i use this command on the RT-N66U to set the wifi region?

nvram set pci/1/1/ccode=#a
nvram set pci/1/1/regrev=0
nvram set pci/2/1/ccode=#a
nvram set pci/2/1/regrev=0
nvram set regulation_domain_5G=#a
nvram set regulation_domain=#a
nvram set wl0_country_code=#a
nvram set wl0_country_rev=0
nvram set wl0_reg_mode=off
nvram set wl1_country_code=#a
nvram set wl1_country_rev=0
nvram set wl1_reg_mode=off
nvram commit
reboot

I don't have an N66U to test on, but that looks good. You can also double check against this post....
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=121385&postcount=26

 

[john9527]

Is this fork version a security risk, is it better with merlin versions?

Skickat med Sony Z2 via Tapatalk pro

I try to keep up with the large items/components with respect to security concerns (things like OpenSSL, lzo, etc). If a major hole is discovered and publicized I'll then look to see if something can be done to remap a fix from a later level. Some things will be common to all levels, like the inherent exposures in the SAMBA client that can't be addressed due to the growth in the module and size limitations (see http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=19389 )

What I don't see are fixes/changes that ASUS includes in the big merges that Merlin does. Now this can be a two edged sword....I might miss something that ASUS silently fixed, but I also may not pick up an exposure that is introduced in the newer level.

Given that this base/fork code has been out a while and proven stable, I personally feel comfortable with this approach.

 

[Just Checking]

Problem with RT-AC66R on 5GHz band using 374.43_2 ver 3 Fork

I have been running the 374.43_2 ver 3 Fork (need a easier, quicker name for this) on two RT-AC66R routers for about a week with seemingly no problems. Signal strength was good and no complaints about connectivity until last night.

I received a complaint from a client (set up on their own guest network) that they lost connectivity. I first tried resetting the router power (actually I did this a couple times) to no avail. I tried connecting wirelessly to the router and confirmed that there was not connection on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. I did a 30:30:30 reset on the router and got the 2.4GHz band back but the 5GHz band was still gone.

I went into the GUI to try to see what was going on. I checked the traffic monitor and I was not finding any traffic on the 5GHz band. I checked the system log but found nothing unusual (hard resets purged the log). I did find that the temperature of the 5GHz radio was running at 62C which is unusual. I normally run the routers at 140mW power setting on the 5GHz band and get a radio temperature of 54C-56C. I couldn't see any traffic to justify the radio being hot. The 2.4GHz radio was running fine. I run 110mW power input and had a temp of 49C-51C which is normal.

Since the 2.4GHz band was running ok, I switched the client over to that band to get them up and running. I monitored traffic (they were doing video conferencing) and it didn't even nudge the radio temp at all.

I played around with the settings on the 5GHz band by changing the main channel (from 149 to 161). This didn't do anything. Since I couldn't reboot the router again, I changed the power setting from 140mW down to 110mW to see if the radio temperature would drop. The temp remained the same (61C - 62C) but I did get a connection back though the signal strength was very weak. Since my laptop was about 1.5 meters away from the router, this was very strange.

I tried to essentially turn off the 5GHz radio by setting the power to Zero. The router settings only allow a setting of 1-200mW. I set the radio input power to 1mW and the signal strength jumped up to full immediately after the FW took the change. I thought this was strange so I checked the settings in the Professional tab and the router had reset itself to 110mW, not 1mW. I tried setting the radio input power to 80mW which is kind of a default for the Merlin builds. The router would not allow a reset to less than 110mW on the 5GHz band. Also, the radio temperature remained constant at 61C - 62C. even though there was no traffic on that band.

I am going to switch all the clients over to my other router so I can do more trouble shooting of the one that is acting strange.

Does anyone have any suggestions about troubleshooting this problem? It seems to me that it is either a failing radio (transistor) or some weird kink in the FW. I hope it is the latter because I've only seen pictures of the guts of these routers and don't have a circuit diagram or guide for test points if it is a hardware failure. I don't even know if anybody does discrete component troubleshooting of these devices.

Help would be appreciated.

 

[xaviercharles]

I don't have an N66U to test on, but that looks good. You can also double check against this post....
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=121385&postcount=26

thanks John9527

 

[gjf]

Some strange situation with latest fork.

I have no problem with any device, but only notebook equipped with Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230. The settings of adapter are default. The router is RT-AC68U.

With some time the level of signal according to the notebook adapter drops down by 30-50% and after that WiFi connection remains but with no actual network connection (no pings ever). Disconnecting-reconnecting helps, but only for some time - then everything repeats.

As I said this problem exists with this notebook only, so I thought it is faulty WiFi card. But now I have installed Merlin's 376.47 and the problem disappeared with all the same settings both for notebook adapter and router.

No idea what was wrong.

 

[4Leaf]

I have been running the 374.43_2 ver 3 Fork (need a easier, quicker name for this) on two RT-AC66R routers for about a week with seemingly no problems. Signal strength was good and no complaints about connectivity until last night.

I received a complaint from a client (set up on their own guest network) that they lost connectivity. I first tried resetting the router power (actually I did this a couple times) to no avail. I tried connecting wirelessly to the router and confirmed that there was not connection on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. I did a 30:30:30 reset on the router and got the 2.4GHz band back but the 5GHz band was still gone.

I went into the GUI to try to see what was going on. I checked the traffic monitor and I was not finding any traffic on the 5GHz band. I checked the system log but found nothing unusual (hard resets purged the log). I did find that the temperature of the 5GHz radio was running at 62C which is unusual. I normally run the routers at 140mW power setting on the 5GHz band and get a radio temperature of 54C-56C. I couldn't see any traffic to justify the radio being hot. The 2.4GHz radio was running fine. I run 110mW power input and had a temp of 49C-51C which is normal.

Since the 2.4GHz band was running ok, I switched the client over to that band to get them up and running. I monitored traffic (they were doing video conferencing) and it didn't even nudge the radio temp at all.

I played around with the settings on the 5GHz band by changing the main channel (from 149 to 161). This didn't do anything. Since I couldn't reboot the router again, I changed the power setting from 140mW down to 110mW to see if the radio temperature would drop. The temp remained the same (61C - 62C) but I did get a connection back though the signal strength was very weak. Since my laptop was about 1.5 meters away from the router, this was very strange.

I tried to essentially turn off the 5GHz radio by setting the power to Zero. The router settings only allow a setting of 1-200mW. I set the radio input power to 1mW and the signal strength jumped up to full immediately after the FW took the change. I thought this was strange so I checked the settings in the Professional tab and the router had reset itself to 110mW, not 1mW. I tried setting the radio input power to 80mW which is kind of a default for the Merlin builds. The router would not allow a reset to less than 110mW on the 5GHz band. Also, the radio temperature remained constant at 61C - 62C. even though there was no traffic on that band.

I am going to switch all the clients over to my other router so I can do more trouble shooting of the one that is acting strange.

Does anyone have any suggestions about troubleshooting this problem? It seems to me that it is either a failing radio (transistor) or some weird kink in the FW. I hope it is the latter because I've only seen pictures of the guts of these routers and don't have a circuit diagram or guide for test points if it is a hardware failure. I don't even know if anybody does discrete component troubleshooting of these devices.

Help would be appreciated.

I would recommend using the default tx power setting for your wifi. I have experimented with increasing the power and I never got any solid improvement. Some times it even seemed like it was making my throughput worse. Keeping your tx power so high for long periods of time could cause issues.

You should try clearing the nvram. If that doesn't fix the issue with the 5 ghz band not showing up then you might have a hardware failure.

 

[darkknight74]

I would recommend using the default tx power setting for your wifi. I have experimented with increasing the power and I never got any solid improvement. Some times it even seemed like it was making my throughput worse. Keeping your tx power so high for long periods of time could cause issues.

You should try clearing the nvram. If that doesn't fix the issue with the 5 ghz band not showing up then you might have a hardware failure.

How is The best way to clear nvram?

Skickat med Sony Z2 via Tapatalk pro

 

[CyberMew]

Increasing the power for me does helps in my case. I was getting very slow speeds from my video streaming (from a NAS directly connected to the router), and increasing it to 120 gave me a very huge improvement. At the end of the router coverage, increasing it even further to 140-160 allowed me to stay connected to the router and stream low quality videos as well, when it previously either couldn't or had connection issues.

 

[Just Checking]

I would recommend using the default tx power setting for your wifi. I have experimented with increasing the power and I never got any solid improvement. Some times it even seemed like it was making my throughput worse. Keeping your tx power so high for long periods of time could cause issues.

You should try clearing the nvram. If that doesn't fix the issue with the 5 ghz band not showing up then you might have a hardware failure.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did clear the nvram when I installed the 374.43_2 ver 3 Fork FW. I also had been running the Merlin 374.43 FW since it was out until about a week ago when I switched to the Fork. The Merlin FW was stable and I had no problems with router temp. or signal. I always run 130mW - 140mW on the 5GHz radio to get the max signal strength out of that band while keeping router radio temps below 60C and preferably below 56C for longer life.

If I remember correctly, the factory default on the stock FW when I initially started the router was 80mW-90mW. I tried to set the 5GHz band to that but it kept defaulting to 110mW.

I'd say it was definitively the Fork FW but I have the identical RT-AC66R router which is running the same FW and that one doesn't seem to be having problems. I do have more wireless traffic on the router that is acting funny.

 

[john9527]

The fact that you can't change the wireless power suggests to me that writes to nvram or the wireless hardware registers are failing, and it's probably a hardware problem.

I would try the following....
- remove power from the router
- turn the router power switch on and off several times with the power removed.
- reapply power and start the router with a WPS reset (hold the WPS button while turning on the router)
- reconfigure and hope for the best

 

[Markmaster]

the 374.43_2 ver 3 Fork (need a easier, quicker name for this)

I still can't get from the first page what firmware is the latest one. I can see 2 links for some kind of updates but can't figure out what is the latest. 3 firmwares - 2 links.

Fork 1 (2, 3) could be the good brand new name. And memorable.

 

[L&LD]

I still can't get from the first page what firmware is the latest one. I can see 2 links for some kind of updates but can't figure out what is the latest. 3 firmwares - 2 links.

Fork 1 (2, 3) could be the good brand new name. And memorable.

The Dates could be a hint, no?

 

[seth_space]

Can someone give me a hint how to activate the nvram parameters.

When i use putty to connect to the asus and input the parameters all i get is >> -ash NVRAM: not found error.
What am i doing wrong?