Padavan's Custom Firmware

[TooSteep]

Newb installation question ...

Sorry in advance if this is trivially obvious:

1. Can I go to the 'Administration-Firmware Update' tab of my Asus firmware (3.0.0.4.342), then choose RT-N56U_3.0.3.3-042_full.trx as my 'New Firmware File', click the Upload button and have it install the new firmware, reboot, and reconnect me?

2. If something goes wrong, can I then hit the physical reset button on my N56U to re-install the original ASUS firmware, have it boot and reconfigure it from a wired connection - just like when I bought it?

Anything a non-expert should be wary of?

Thank you.

 

[kayakj]

1. yes you just go there and choose the TRX file.

Note: Sometimes when I turn on the router or load a new firmware the router doesn't load within the time the browser gives it ( in terms of going to 192.168.1.1 in the browser), so if it doesnt load immediately just give it about 30 seconds and try again and it will load

2. once you flash the firmware if you hit the physical reset button it just reset the custom firmware ( aka the reset button just wipes the settings for the current firmware)

If something does go wrong during the installation the router does have a recovery mode built in that would allow you to flash the stock firmware on it

http://support.asus.com/FAQ/Detail....AC-F0BD-684C-091D-2648FE6C1D6D&p=11&m=RT-N56U
is the link for recovery mode instructions if something goes wrong follow this

Note: to go back to stock from the custom firmware all you need to do is go to administration-firmware update and choose the stock from asus if you wanted to go back and the flash worked.

I have never had a problem going between firmwares and haven't needed to use the recovery mode, so the flash to the custom firmware should have very few problems

 

[arul]

5ghz dropping under load!

does anybody face this problem too? my 5ghz will drop under a load, running transmission alone does produce the problem. tried with various settings on professional tab, still wont make much difference. anyone know a fix? thanx in advance.

 

[Mat77]

does someone know if I can disable "nat loopback"?

I have NO Server or DynDNS. The only thing I have is a Fritz Repeater. If I disable "nat loopback" does it affect something?

I read about Nat loopback but I don´t know if I need it or not.

I want to disable all things I don´t use.

 

[fsatsil]

navigate to "firewall" then "netfilter" and you will see a switch to turn off nat loopback.

 

[Shikami]

New version just posted not too long ago: https://code.google.com/p/rt-n56u/

As for NAT loopback (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation#NAT_loopback). It will not slow you down or cause any other issues. It is better to have it enabled for most users, especially for testing:

NAT loopback

Also known as NAT hairpinning or NAT reflection.[6]
NAT loopback is a feature in many consumer routers[7] which allows a user to connect to its own public IP address from inside the LAN-network. This is especially useful when a website (with domain) is hosted at that IP address.

Consider the following network:
Public IP: 203.0.113.1 (this is the IP of the WAN interface on the router)
Internal IP of router: 192.168.1.1
IP of the server: 192.168.1.2
IP of a computer: 192.168.100.1

When a packet is sent to 203.0.113.1 (public IP) by 192.168.100.1 (a computer), the packet would normally be sent to the default gateway (the router). An exception could be made in the computer's routing tables, but by default the default gateway will be used. A router with the NAT-loopback feature will detect that 203.0.113.1 is the address of its WAN interface, and treat the packet as if coming from that interface. It decides based on DNAT (port forwarding) rules where the packet should go. For example, if the data was sent to port 80 and there is a DNAT rule for port 80 to go to 192.168.1.2, it will send the packet there.

If no applicable DNAT rules are available, the router's firewall will drop the packet. An ICMP Destination Unreachable reply is usually not sent. Note that if any DNAT rules were found, address translation is still in effect; the router still rewrites the source IP address in the packet. The computer (192.168.100.1) will send the packet as coming from 192.168.100.1, but just like when a packet was sent to any global IP, the server (192.168.1.2) will receive it as coming from 203.0.113.1. When a reply is made by the server, the same thing happens again. The packet goes to the server's default gateway (the router), which will find the source and destination port in its NAT tables, and know that it originated from 192.168.100.1. This way, two-way communication is possible between hosts inside the LAN network via their public IP address.

NAT loopback is especially useful when a domain is hosted on the server. The domain name will resolve, unless the user is running a custom DNS server and has made an exception, to the public IP. When the router does not have NAT loopback, any connection attempts to that IP are discarded and time out. A workaround is to include the domain name in the hosts file,[8] but all subdomains would have to be included as well, and all devices in the LAN network would need to have the same modifications. Example entries for the hosts file, following the above network setup:

192.168.1.2 example.com
192.168.1.2 subdomain.example.com

 

[arul]

new 3.0.3.3-045 release less than an hour ago. check it out guys! =)

 

[Shikami]

Added Ethernet ports info and Connections tracking info to WebGUI.

Awesome feature

 

[RogerSC]

IPv6 finally working for me in this latest version. Looks good so far.

 

[neoshi]

Hoping TX power eventually gets addressed... so weak compared to stock.

 

[flyinonice4]

I am having my wireless go stagnant (ie no internet access) every hour after 8PM for about 1 minute every night now since I updated to .042. Is this related to the UPnP issue? If so, where do I go to disable it? Is it the setting that says "Enable IGD UPnP" under wan settings?

 

[[AFX]]

Just wanted to add that the past few firmwares (.27 through latest .45) my wireless had been pure crap. I've had to use my old dlink as a bridge to maintain performance. When the router is power cycled the wireless works great, but after a while it really takes a hit. Speeds are terrible. I have been monitoring this with frequent speedtest.net tests. Hardwired connections are fine. Also to make note this is on the 2.4ghz radio, not the 5ghz as it is disabled.

 

[RogerSC]

Can't disagree about wireless performance, seems to be not so good. Asus .342 firmware had better wireless performance for me...I assume that it varies, though, like everything else. The 5GHz. performance was about useless this time around with Padavan. If this were my main router at this point, I wouldn't be using Padavan's firmware, which is too bad, since it is so functional otherwise.

 

[arul]

although that i am a big fan of padavan's work, i also agreeing on the wireless side. my case is more towards 5ghz. it kept dropping since 3.x came out. i also know that it is unfair to put this blame on padavan. he has done sooo much more compared with what asuswrt offer, at least for me. im hoping that he can resolve the wireless issue sooner or later. the best build for me is -040 and -042, both are performers despite the 5ghz issue. -045 cant stream certain flash/html5 very well, and the ping is kinda get higher after around half a day. can somebody explain why is the new fw do that?

 

[RogerSC]

although that i am a big fan of padavan's work, i also agreeing on the wireless side. my case is more towards 5ghz. it kept dropping since 3.x came out. i also know that it is unfair to put this blame on padavan. he has done sooo much more compared with what asuswrt offer, at least for me. im hoping that he can resolve the wireless issue sooner or later. the best build for me is -040 and -042, both are performers despite the 5ghz issue. -045 cant stream certain flash/html5 very well, and the ping is kinda get higher after around half a day. can somebody explain why is the new fw do that?

Yes, I'm just observing not blaming. And my observation about relative wireless signal strength about firmware that otherwise works really well, it's always possible I might have some sort of configuration problem here that's limiting my wireless performance.

 

[Guz]

New firmware (3.0.3.3-046) is up and available for both RT-N56U, and RT-N65U.

http://code.google.com/p/rt-n56u/downloads/list

Have at it!!! I've already updated, can't really tell if there is a difference. But I like to keep current.

 

[arul]

Got it updated too! I knew it will be released not long after -045. Cz im pretty sure -045 is more sluggish than the previous version. Besides new transmission build, ability to choose time update and ddns, i cant find other improvements.

 

[RogerSC]

Got it updated too! I knew it will be released not long after -045. Cz im pretty sure -045 is more sluggish than the previous version. Besides new transmission build, ability to choose time update and ddns, i cant find other improvements.

How's the wireless this time around?

 

[arul]

the wireless is kinda the same. i grew into it. still waiting for a fix. other than than, latency problem on from -045 is gone

 

[Guz]

I just ran into the problem of my wireless cycling (RT-N65U).

Dropping the Multicast rate cleared it up. (Wireless 2.4, Professional, Multicast Rate)

Give it a try.

Remember the basic rule on multicast settings:
Higher multicast rate = more speed, less range
Lower multicast rate = less speed, more range

Start low, test. Increase, test. If things get flaky, drop back down. Or start high, and drop down till things stabilize, your choice. Just remember to experiment from your farthest distance from the router.