[Official Beta] AiMesh beta firmware for RT-AC68U/RT-AC86U/RT-AC5300/RT-AC88U

[doc octopus]

This new feature also be introduced for extender ranges?

 

[pete y testing]

This new feature also be introduced for extender ranges?

no just the wireless routers and dsl modems

 

[conquer22]

Can I expect some performance improvement from my single AC68U usage? Or AC68U has already been maxed out ever since?

 

[muddymind]

This improvement has nothing to do with performance of single units. The idea is to use multiple devices as one with centralized management and transparent roaming for the clients.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[pete y testing]

Can I expect some performance improvement from my single AC68U usage?

simple answer is no , this version is for those with multiple asus router that are supported to provide better wifi coverage

 

[galen2]

no just the wireless routers and dsl modems

That is lame from Asus. I have one EA-AC87U and one RP-AC68U, both more that capable to have this feature because are powerfull that some routers how ac66u/ac68u.

 

[pete y testing]

That is lame from Asus. I have one EA-AC87U and one RP-AC68U,

um they pretty much work the same way anyway , both have fastlane technology which is pretty much what this does for routers and modems

 

[Vexira]

I'm wating till the support the 87 & 88u models.
Since that's the two units I have.

 

[Vexira]

It is not unrealistic, they have one platform to validate for an updated SDK. Then, the end-product manufacturer (e.g. Asus) can validate the 2-3 platforms based on the updated SDK. How does Microsoft do it for Windows?

In addition, take embedded devices like a Raspberry Pi, or a Turris Omnia, they keep their Kernel up-to-date, even when they have an onboard radio stack. So it is not unrealistic. It is part-laziness and there is no accountability currently for providing hardware with vulnerable software stack.

And you are right, their SDK is tied to the phone's or device hardware. They (e.g. Broadcom, Qualcomm, etc.) provide binary blobs for their radio parts (e.g. WiFi), routing features, etc. and those binary blobs would need to be recompile, update, etc. for each newer Kernel, and they are not ready in investing into maintaining their SDK, there is also no incentive for them. That's the problem also with Android (not limited to the kernel, but also applies to the Android layer on top), manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei have no incentive into bringing newer Android release to their older phones (even if keeping the old Kernel), they earn no money for that. The only incentive will be when phones, IoT, network appliances get all hacked to a level no longer controllable (many and often DDoS, etc.) that regulations will be put in place to force manufacturer to keep their hardware secure.

It would be nice if routers go kernel upgrades, at least then we could get, full fq_codel and cake support if asus could be bothered to add it to adaptive qos.

 

[RMerlin]

That is lame from Asus. I have one EA-AC87U and one RP-AC68U, both more that capable to have this feature because are powerfull that some routers how ac66u/ac68u.

It's not about the power of the device. AMAS is for Broadcom-based devices. The RP-AC68U is a Realtek device, so it doesn't qualify.

 

[RMerlin]

It would be nice if routers go kernel upgrades, at least then we could get, full fq_codel and cake support if asus could be bothered to add it to adaptive qos.

Even if upgrading the kernel would also mean LOSING features? Not all existing code works on newer kernels. For instance, Kernel 4.1 loses port triggering capabilities, and on my firmware it will also lose IPTraffic capabilities, as both are relying on kernel modules that do not work under newer kernels, and would require a complete rewrite.

I wish people would stop calling for kernel upgrades without understand what it involves. It's not a matter of unzipping a newer kernel tarball and just compiling it. Kernels make low-level changes that require source level adjustments. 2.6.39 made some changes to its internal locking support for instance requiring changes to most third party kernel modules. 3.13 removed some previously public structures, forcing code based on these structures to be completely rewritten. And so on.

How does Microsoft do it for Windows? Pretty badly. Or have you forgotten that people had to sometime wait MONTHS to get a compatible drivers for their printer after Windows XP came out, or after Windows Vista came out? Creative Labs would take months too to have compatible AND stable drivers available following these two releases. Some devices are also no longer supported following certain Windows release. I have a couple of serial/TTL adapters for instance that no longer work under Windows 10. I had a customer who's wireless adapter no longer worked following the upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 (!). Had another with a laptop who no longer had working wireless following an upgrade to Windows 10, because Intel dropped support for it under Windows 10.

 

[galen2]

It's not about the power of the device. AMAS is for Broadcom-based devices. The RP-AC68U is a Realtek device, so it doesn't qualify.

They said will support AC87U and is quantenna based, why not ea-ac87U (same base) or rp-ac68u (realtek based)

I think the real reason is Asus support for ap/repeaters is crap, i still waiting ea-ac87 promised firmware with mu-mimo 2 years ago.

Sorry for ot, seems AMAS is not for me because i only own one router, ac88u.

 

[RMerlin]

They said will support AC87U and is quantenna based, why not ea-ac87U (same base) or rp-ac68u (realtek based)

The RT-AC87U is a Broadcom device, only the 5 GHz radio is 5 GHz. RP-AC68U is 100% Realtek, including the general SDK.

No idea as to the EA-AC87U. Keep in mind they are still at the Beta stage, and at this time they have not announced a complete list of devices that will be supported.

I think the real reason is Asus support for ap/repeaters is crap, i still waiting ea-ac87 promised firmware with mu-mimo 2 years ago.

Blame Quantenna, not Asus... Quantenna's wireless driver is still buggy, so no point for Asus to update it until they get a properly working version from Quantenna first. Notice that both Netgear and Linksys have stopped releasing firmware updates to their Quantenna-based device 1-2 years ago, having even replaced them by a V2 model without Quantenna. The fact that Asus hasn't given up entirely yet on the RT-AC87U is quite surprising.

You and I have a very different idea of "crap". Have you looked at the competition? Those that do offer AP will make maybe 1-2 firmware updates the first year, and then entirely abandon it. The fact is, the AP/repeater market is a very small one, and therefore will never get as much time and money invested in R&D and support than full-featured routers - especially as Asus' routers can easily be switched into an AP or a Repeater.

 

[galen2]

The RT-AC87U is a Broadcom device, only the 5 GHz radio is 5 GHz. RP-AC68U is 100% Realtek, including the general SDK.

No idea as to the EA-AC87U. Keep in mind they are still at the Beta stage, and at this time they have not announced a complete list of devices that will be supported.



Blame Quantenna, not Asus... Quantenna's wireless driver is still buggy, so no point for Asus to update it until they get a properly working version from Quantenna first. Notice that both Netgear and Linksys have stopped releasing firmware updates to their Quantenna-based device 1-2 years ago, having even replaced them by a V2 model without Quantenna. The fact that Asus hasn't given up entirely yet on the RT-AC87U is quite surprising.

You and I have a very different idea of "crap". Have you looked at the competition? Those that do offer AP will make maybe 1-2 firmware updates the first year, and then entirely abandon it.

I didnt know that ac87u was broadcom based and only 5ghz radio was quantenna.

I know quantenna wireless driver is buggy, but they updated it on rt-ac87u and solved some bugs, how massive batery drain on samsung phones and beanforming. Ap ea-ac87u got 0 firmwares on 3 years, still on firmware 374, so, for me, same crap support as others manufactures, i bought this asus ap when released (180€) with the hope they support it same as routers but...

I will wait and will see if they extend AMAS support, Thanks for your asnwers and sorry for ot.

 

[Vexira]

The RT-AC87U is a Broadcom device, only the 5 GHz radio is 5 GHz. RP-AC68U is 100% Realtek, including the general SDK.

No idea as to the EA-AC87U. Keep in mind they are still at the Beta stage, and at this time they have not announced a complete list of devices that will be supported.
So in other words, there is a different set of serial commands to fix an RP-AC68U, due to the Realtek chipset, I'm not surprised as to why asus doesn't use Realtek much in their main router it seems that broad companies hardware is easier to recover.


Blame Quantenna, not Asus... Quantenna's wireless driver is still buggy, so no point for Asus to update it until they get a properly working version from Quantenna first. Notice that both Netgear and Linksys have stopped releasing firmware updates to their Quantenna-based device 1-2 years ago, having even replaced them by a V2 model without Quantenna. The fact that Asus hasn't given up entirely yet on the RT-AC87U is quite surprising.

You and I have a very different idea of "crap". Have you looked at the competition? Those that do offer AP will make maybe 1-2 firmware updates the first year, and then entirely abandon it. The fact is, the AP/repeater market is a very small one, and therefore will never get as much time and money invested in R&D and support than full-featured routers - especially as Asus' routers can easily be switched into an AP or a Repeater.

I can see why asus does not use a full Realtek chipset in their main routers, it seems to be harder to recover when bricked and there is more support for broadcom hardware.
I have a RP-AC68U and can't find anything on the serial commands for that unit, where as a Broadcom based router it's more common.

 

[Vexira]

Even if upgrading the kernel would also mean LOSING features? Not all existing code works on newer kernels. For instance, Kernel 4.1 loses port triggering capabilities, and on my firmware it will also lose IPTraffic capabilities, as both are relying on kernel modules that do not work under newer kernels, and would require a complete rewrite.

I wish people would stop calling for kernel upgrades without understand what it involves. It's not a matter of unzipping a newer kernel tarball and just compiling it. Kernels make low-level changes that require source level adjustments. 2.6.39 made some changes to its internal locking support for instance requiring changes to most third party kernel modules. 3.13 removed some previously public structures, forcing code based on these structures to be completely rewritten. And so on.

How does Microsoft do it for Windows? Pretty badly. Or have you forgotten that people had to sometime wait MONTHS to get a compatible drivers for their printer after Windows XP came out, or after Windows Vista came out? Creative Labs would take months too to have compatible AND stable drivers available following these two releases. Some devices are also no longer supported following certain Windows release. I have a couple of serial/TTL adapters for instance that no longer work under Windows 10. I had a customer who's wireless adapter no longer worked following the upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 (!). Had another with a laptop who no longer had working wireless following an upgrade to Windows 10, because Intel dropped support for it under Windows 10.

So in that case the GT-5300 would have a new version of ip traffic, designed specifically for the kernel version its running, I understand that your saying all the modules are built around the kernel version the unit was developed with or for, and its easier to build a whole new box to support a new kernel version rather than upgrading existing units.

 

[pete y testing]

so back on topic

just got a second rt-ac68u to test this out

was a bit confusing at first but all you need to do is install the amas firmware on both and then setup the primary unit as needed wifi etc wise and get it up and running then make sure the secondary unit is in full factory default mode , do not access its gui or setup anything , just turn it on and let it boot up

then go to the amas area in the primary router and select search , the search can take a wile to detect but will show you what its found and you just add it and the secondary is ready to go , once synced the two router seem very stable , will post some later after i test a bit more

pete

 

[hotsauce2007]

so back on topic

just got a second rt-ac68u to test this out

was a bit confusing at first but all you need to do is install the amas firmware on both and then setup the primary unit as needed wifi etc wise and get it up and running then make sure the secondary unit is in full factory default mode , do not access its gui or setup anything , just turn it on and let it boot up

then go to the amas area in the primary router and select search , the search can take a wile to detect but will show you what its found and you just add it and the secondary is ready to go , once synced the two router seem very stable , will post some later after i test a bit more

pete

nice to hear a positive feedback from you
I´am waiting for another ac38u to set up our 3 routers at the same time in AMAS

 

[muddymind]

Let's hope you have better luck than me. I'm still waiting for the next beta so the slave router doesn't get freezed. For now it'll stay on bridge mode.

 

[pete y testing]

Let's hope you have better luck than me. I'm still waiting for the next beta so the slave router doesn't get freezed. For now it'll stay on bridge mode.

seemed fine once i installed RT-AC68U_9.0.0.4_382_16443-g9d1d1ee(3) fw on both