[Release] Asuswrt-Merlin 380.68 is available

[jsmiddleton4]

In checking out the 3200 vs the 3100 models looks like even with the lesser model number the 3100 is a bit more powerful. No wonder the 3200 is on sale and not the 3100.

Will wait.....

Fry's has the 68U for a song too. The 68U is such a stable work horse its a great value at the current sale price.

 

[AndreiV]

In checking out the 3200 vs the 3100 models looks like even with the lesser model number the 3100 is a bit more powerful. No wonder the 3200 is on sale and not the 3100.

Will wait.....

Fry's has the 68U for a song too. The 68U is such a stable work horse its a great value at the current sale price.

Either you want an AC3200 or you want an AC3100 , they are totally different routers with different features , the model number has nothing to do with price or being a "lesser" model.


https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ac3100-vs-rt-ac3200-range.31091/

You simply need to look at your needs and buy accordingly.

 

[systematic]

Welcome to snbforums!

You want the firmware for the AC88U model. 380.68 Release is the latest version.

I use policy based rules for VPN by LAN client IP address using the web gui and another by domain name using a script. There is a set-up guide at the top of the VPN forums. I wrote one specific to TorGuard.

Spoiler: Links to TorGuard VPN Setup Guide

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/t...for-asus-merlin-380-65-380-65_2-part-i.38281/

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/t...or-asus-merlin-380-65-380-65_2-part-ii.38282/

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/t...r-asus-merlin-380-65-380-65_2-part-iii.38283/

To further supercharge your router, check out Skynet firewall add on and AB-Solution for ad blocking. The support threads are in this forum.

Well what an excellent response and thank you so much for taking the time to do it. If you don't mind, I would like to dive deep and ask a couple of more questions with respect to your advice:

1. I presume there are no niggles with 380.68 considering it is been available for a week. I suspect the majority of the community find this release to be the best and most stable?

2. You mentioned TORGUARD. I presume you are utilising their $9.99 per month service? How are your speed tests going through the VPN? I have a 200Mbps connection and wondered how the performance would be?

3. Are there VPN service providers better/cheaper than TorGuard? If so, would your guides to implement still apply?

 

[lexcyn]

I've been getting 100% CPU usage so I checked via SSH and mDNSNetMonitor is hovering anywhere from 70-95% CPU usage for some reason.

Tried restoring to previous firmware and same issue. What is that service used for?'

RT-AC66U

 

[jsmiddleton4]

"the model number has nothing to do with price or being a "lesser" model."

Could be but all the reviews and side by side comparisons I can find indicate the 3100 offers a bit more muscle. And the 8 ports allow some simplification or elimination of additional switches.

There's always a reason behind pricing. Always.

 

[jack901]

I use capitols in my hostname with no issue with the this version and all other versions and never had an issue. I am using an ac56u

I just discovered a weird error in the WebUI:
WAN configuration page, - if the HostName field has any letters capitalized, the pages indicates an error:


Expected behavior:
Either capital letters should be allowed, or the error message should include the them as being excluded.

I don't know when this happened. I suspect it was not the latest release that broke it, most likely a few releases back. I've had the hostname configured with some capital letters for ages. It's not a big deal, but rather annoying.

 

[CorruptedMind]

flashed 380.68 to the ac3100 and im seeing random radio disconnects and then the radios will disappear and i have to power off then back on to see them again. tested on all three 3100 i have here same results (one was still shrink wrapped new i opened to test on that one also)? previous firmware 380.67 was perfectly stable i did reset the router and try clearing nvram. same results. any thoughts? so far i cant pinpoint a trigger causing it, seems totally random so far happened 5 times today with the unit in currently using. cpu load is not crazy high when it happens nor is memory?? thank you for all your time and work!

edit forgot to mention the unit does seem to be running a bit hotter also now.

I just want to add to this that I too have this same issue with 380.68. I have the AC3100 and I don't mess with router configs at all actually. I leave everything set to default. This has been the most stable router I own. We were watching a show and suddenly the 5Ghz band went out. The 2.4Ghz was still online. Not sure what happened but never had an issue with this router. I never use the betas, just the official releases. I reverted back to 380.67. I will wait for the next release.

 

[RMerlin]

I reverted back to 380.67. I will wait for the next release.

Again, to reiterate what I have said many times already: there has been absolutely zero change to the wireless code between 380.67 and 380.68. Your problem was NOT caused by 380.68.

 

[Naftali Oziel]

I just want to add to this that I too have this same issue with 380.68. I have the AC3100 and I don't mess with router configs at all actually. I leave everything set to default. This has been the most stable router I own. We were watching a show and suddenly the 5Ghz band went out. The 2.4Ghz was still online. Not sure what happened but never had an issue with this router. I never use the betas, just the official releases. I reverted back to 380.67. I will wait for the next release.

I would factory reset, upgrade to .68, factory reset again, config from scratch... seemed to have always solve my anomalies. Maybe an overkill but for the 10min work, I get family peace of mind.

 

[Jack Yaz]

I have to chime in here. I actually reset my 87U on .67 and am now on .68. (and have done several resets, for other reasons). Adaptive QoS shaves my speed from 220Mb/s to 160Mb/s, with a higher CPU load than .67.

While 160Mb/s is plenty, I'm another case of me too!

For the life of me, I can't see anything in the changelog that would even hint at this behaviour.

 

[KnightRider]

If you revert back it does it go up to 220Mb/s?

 

[Jack Yaz]

If you revert back it does it go up to 220Mb/s?

Yes. It seems to be this ksoftirqd using the most CPU when I fire off a speedtest. Interestingly, using @FreshJR QoS makes it worse. Stock Adaptive Qos with fq_codel nets me about 190.

 

[deefop]

Definitely something messed up with CPU load. When I had QoS turned on and a bunch of clients connected and trying to download files the entire router would crash to the floor.

It's fairly stable after disabling QoS and turning on Accelerated NAT, but QoS is the one feature I really want to work properly.

 

[tsunami2311]

I see i not the only seeing high cpu loads, I seeing 75-90+ cpu load when ever any of my clients that limited to 15/15 are download loading at that speed, which seem ridiculously high which made me think limiter is either by pass CTF or maybe my issue is cause by this ksoftirqd too?

I only have Traditional QOS and Bandwidth limiter QOS is disable CTF is on and limiter is set almost all wireless clients, anything not limited barely uses 30% load 100mbit and 55-60 at 200mbit

If people are seeing high cpu loads on faster router then mine then usual something has to be wrong someplace

 

[XIII]

Just like with 380.67 the Routine Security Assessment results are wrong for an RT-AC56U running 380.68.

The following items are listed in red, while they are configured correctly:

• UPnP Service Disabled (scan: No, configuration: Enable UPnP - No)
  
• Anonymous login to FTP share disabled (scan: No, configuration: Allow anonymous login - Off)

Is this an Asus bug?

 

[deefop]

I see i not the only seeing high cpu loads, I seeing 75-90+ cpu load when ever any of my clients that limited to 15/15 are download loading at that speed, which seem ridiculously high which made me think limiter is either by pass CTF or maybe my issue is cause by this ksoftirqd too?

I only have Traditional QOS and Bandwidth limiter QOS is disable CTF is on and limiter is set almost all wireless clients, anything not limited barely uses 30% load 100mbit and 55-60 at 200mbit

If people are seeing high cpu loads on faster router then mine then usual something has to be wrong someplace

On mine the only options I have are traditional QoS and bandwidth limiter(which I don't want).

The only NAT accel options I have are "disabled" and "auto." It seems to me that I can't use NAT accel with any form of QoS, because turning one on seems to automatically disable the other.

 

[tsunami2311]

Bandwidth limiting is compatible with CTF traditional QOS is not, only options are Auto and disabled too under tools tab it say CTF is on, can do traditinal QOS and Limiter at same time though

THis is with only Bandwidth limiter

 

[rtn66uftw]

Again, to reiterate what I have said many times already: there has been absolutely zero change to the wireless code between 380.67 and 380.68. Your problem was NOT caused by 380.68.

Did it stay the same from 380.66 to 380.67 as well? Thank you!

 

[tsunami2311]

Did it stay the same from 380.66 to 380.67 as well? Thank you!

last i heard him say wifi have not changed in year/s?

 

[Xentrk]

Well what an excellent response and thank you so much for taking the time to do it. If you don't mind, I would like to dive deep and ask a couple of more questions with respect to your advice:

1. I presume there are no niggles with 380.68 considering it is been available for a week. I suspect the majority of the community find this release to be the best and most stable?

2. You mentioned TORGUARD. I presume you are utilising their $9.99 per month service? How are your speed tests going through the VPN? I have a 200Mbps connection and wondered how the performance would be?

3. Are there VPN service providers better/cheaper than TorGuard? If so, would your guides to implement still apply?

You're Welcome!

1. I have no issues on three AC88Us.
2 & 3. I am on TorGuard's annual plan. I also pay a little extra each month for their PrivateIP service. This gives me my own IP address that is not shared by others. This allows me to get around the VPN blocks put in place by two media streaming services. There are ASUS Merlin users on the forum who use StrongVPN, PIA and others. Just make sure you get one that has instructions for Merlin. I have looked at the setup instructions for several providers and they do differ a little. But not much.

I am on a 200 Mbps fiber line. I use AES-128-CBC encryption. I don't have any issues with buffering when streaming media from half way across the globe. Sports and 4K are no issues. I use a Roku player. When I run speed tests to servers that are near by, I can get close to native line speed. The speed test results drop the farther away the servers are. Even if I don't use any encryption. I stopped getting hung up on what the speed test sites were telling me a long time ago. My browsing speed is fine, especially since I don't have advertisements to deal with! And, I am able to stream 4k media and sporting events with no buffering. I am happy in the Land of Smiles

The price of the providers varies slightly. There are a ton of sites on the web that compare the VPN providers. But these sites get a commission if you buy a VPN thru a link on their site. If you contact TorGuard directly, they will give you a discount code to use when you sign up. For me, having a service that can get around the VPN blocks was the most important combined with support for many operating systems. At the time, there were not that many VPN providers that were able to get around the VPN blocks put in place by two media streaming sites, and this is still true today. They also support many router firmwares. Not all do. Plus, their client software works on Android, iOS, Mac, Windows and others. This allows me to use the VPN when traveling.

If your need is to bit torrent or for privacy, then a less expensive provider may meet your needs.