[Release] Asuswrt-Merlin 384.13 is now available

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin, any idea when will you be adding the RT-AC 3200?
I mean the official 384 firmware.

I don't work for Asus, therefore it's not up to me to add models to the official firmware...

 

[RMerlin]

Your call as always of course, but given it IS now in the USA as well it may start to sell more than a few given the price point for the twin pack?

At 550$ CAD for the package (and actually not even in stock with Canadian retailers), I don't expect this to sell very well. It will remain a very niche product, with a very limited userbase. Simply not worth the development time and investment.

 

[Asad Ali]

@RMerlin Can you please clarify if AX88U and AC86U use the same hardware based cryptography engine or I should expect better performance on AX88U?

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin Can you please clarify if AX88U and AC86U use the same hardware based cryptography engine or I should expect better performance on AX88U?

First, we have to make a distinction between the CPU ISA and the cryptography engine, as they are two different features that affect performance.

The RT-AC86U BCM4906 and the RT-AX88U BCM4908 are basically the same CPU (Cortex A53), except one is a dual-core package, and the other is a quad-core package. They therefore share the same performance per core, the same features, and also the same instruction set. Both of these have instructions to speed up the processing of AES when used at compile time, which is what will greatly speedup OpenVPN.

Both routers also have an additional hardware cryptographic engine. This engine is NOT used by OpenVPN, because of architectural reasons, it would actually slow down OpenVPN performance (I did a lot of tests and experimentation on this a few years ago). It is however very useful for IPSEC, as they both reside in kernel space (avoiding the extra overhead OpenVPN would gain when using that engine). As far as I know, it's the same engine in both models, or at least the performance is nearly identical with IPSEC.

So for all intent and purposes, unless you have a multithreaded application, cipher-related performance should be nearly identical on both models.

 

[Asad Ali]

First, we have to make a distinction between the CPU ISA and the cryptography engine, as they are two different features that affect performance.

The RT-AC86U BCM4906 and the RT-AX88U BCM4908 are basically the same CPU (Cortex A53), except one is a dual-core package, and the other is a quad-core package. They therefore share the same performance per core, the same features, and also the same instruction set. Both of these have instructions to speed up the processing of AES when used at compile time, which is what will greatly speedup OpenVPN.

Both routers also have an additional hardware cryptographic engine. This engine is NOT used by OpenVPN, because of architectural reasons, it would actually slow down OpenVPN performance (I did a lot of tests and experimentation on this a few years ago). It is however very useful for IPSEC, as they both reside in kernel space (avoiding the extra overhead OpenVPN would gain when using that engine). As far as I know, it's the same engine in both models, or at least the performance is nearly identical with IPSEC.

So for all intent and purposes, unless you have a multithreaded application, cipher-related performance should be nearly identical on both models.

Perfect! Thank you for the detailed information.

 

[Stephen Harrington]

At 550$ CAD for the package (and actually not even in stock with Canadian retailers), I don't expect this to sell very well.

Fair enough Eric, I tend to forget how pathetically uncompetitive our pricing on tech is in Australia, street pricing here for the RT-AX88 is around AUD $525 versus AUD $649 for the RT-AX92 twin-pack, so some could see it as a "bargain" of sorts in our market. Very happy though you continue to work your magic for my AC86U and AC68U's, best wishes and thanks!

 

[Val D.]

I tend to forget how pathetically uncompetitive our pricing on tech is in Australia

Same here in Canada. Companies keep explaining how small our markets are and how hard they try to offer better prices.

 

[randomName]

What's going on with this?

Sep 7 18:54:55 acsd: selected channel spec: 0x1002 (2)
Sep 7 18:54:55 acsd: Adjusted channel spec: 0x1002 (2)
Sep 7 18:54:55 acsd: selected channel spec: 0x1002 (2)

I'm frequently getting these logs

 

[dave14305]

What's going on with this?

Sep 7 18:54:55 acsd: selected channel spec: 0x1002 (2)
Sep 7 18:54:55 acsd: Adjusted channel spec: 0x1002 (2)
Sep 7 18:54:55 acsd: selected channel spec: 0x1002 (2)

I'm frequently getting these logs

Is your WiFi channel set to Auto? That’s what this is logging, those auto channel changes.

 

[randomName]

Is your WiFi channel set to Auto? That’s what this is logging, those auto channel changes.

Are you referring to the Multicast rate?

 

[dave14305]

Are you referring to the Multicast rate?

No, the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz Control Channels.

 

[randomName]

No, the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz Control Channels.

I had Smart Connect enabled, but I set 5GHz to 36, and 2.4GHz to 2 and will wait to see what happens

 

[dave14305]

I had Smart Connect enabled, but I set 5GHz to 36, and 2.4GHz to 2 and will wait to see what happens

Okey doke. 2.4 GHz is best on either 1, 6 or 11 to avoid overlap with neighboring networks. 2 straddles both 1 and 6.

 

[Val D.]

Okey doke. 2.4 GHz is best on either 1, 6 or 11

Only if all other networks are on 1-6-11 and this is not the case. In most crowded WiFi environments best channel is the one allowing highest throughput, not necessarily 1-6-11. Today's routers filter pretty well the noise from adjacent channels and use the band much more efficiently. In my place I see 30+ 2.4GHz networks and operation on 1-6-11 is simply impossible. When I had 2.4GHz devices, I was using channels 3-4 or 8-9 with good results. My multi-functional printer used to refuse to print/scan on any of the standard 1-6-11 channels. So, 1-6-11 is not an universal recipe anymore. In theory it is correct, in practice not so much.

 

[randomName]

Actually I'm not even sure if I need 2.4GHz

 

[OzarkEdge]

I had Smart Connect enabled, but I set 5GHz to 36, and 2.4GHz to 2 and will wait to see what happens

With Smart Connect disabled and fixed channels, the excessive acsd scanning and channel changes will stop. This activity began with 45713 and was still in 81039... I have not tried Auto channels in 81049.

OE

 

[RMerlin]

Same here in Canada. Companies keep explaining how small our markets are and how hard they try to offer better prices.

And how the value of our dollar explains why we get price increases on product and services here, yet when the dollar goes up in value, we never get price reductions...

 

[Val D.]

price reductions...

Where is this option? Tools -> Other Settings? Can't find it.

 

[AndreiV]

@RMerlin, any idea when will you be adding the RT-AC 3200?
I mean the official 384 firmware.

Perhaps you should do some reading :


https://asuswrt-merlin.net

https://asuswrt-merlin.net/about

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/about-asuswrt-merlin-custom-firmware-for-asus-routers.7846/

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-read-me-first-before-posting-a-question.47153/

 

[Makaveli]

And how the value of our dollar explains why we get price increases on product and services here, yet when the dollar goes up in value, we never get price reductions...

The Retailers just markup their prices to increase their profit the consumers sees none of that.

When ATI was making Radeons in Canada and the CAD and USD were even many years back we were still paying more for gpu's than the americans were.

Hate it.