Right firmware for RT-N66U

[doka.ua]

Hi, dears,

I recently read somewhere, that all builds after 35_2 aren't good for RT-N66U WiFi performance due to changed SDK from v5 to v6 and since RT-N66U developed for SDKv5, it performs worse with SDKv6.

Whether it's true or false and which firmware version is better especially for RT-N66U?

Thank you!

 

[Mr_Andy]

I'm on Merlin 380.57 on my N66U
great router but not impressed with the wireless range. when using an app like WiFi Analyzer I seem to get a stronger signal from my neighbour's BT Home Hub 4

I might try a factory reset sometime to see if this helps

 

[mstombs]

You need to test for yourself in your own environment with your own devices. Asus were forced by US FCC to lock down the wifi settings in later firmwares which may explain why N66 appears poorer to some especially those not in US region. John's fork is well maintained with security fixes etc while staying with the latest old drivers which work best for many.

Asuswrt Merlin 380.57 on N66 has a bug in 2.4 range in UK (/EU) can't select the highest channel Nos (Asus bug apparently fixed in their recent firmwares), and I find the higher channel nos in the 5GHz range unusable (DFS range - regulatory mode gives wifi pauses?). BUT I still use 380.57 because I like the support for the Asus mobile app etc, Broadcom CTF and the great stable extra config tools provided by Merlin. I have another Linksys (Tomato firmware) router at other end of the house using the higher bands.

We hope Asus will release a firmware and GPL based on the 380 SDK for this router to maintain full support as part of Asuswrt-Merlin, but at some point we will have to give up on old MIPS routers and embrace the ARM world!

 

[Mr_Andy]

what I might try is flash John's latest fork (over the top of 380.57). hopefully this will 'just work' without the hassle of a factory reset.

 

[mstombs]

You must do a factory reset if changing the SDK version '380' to '374', or you will never know quite where you are, even it seems to work. Save the config before using the web gui - which should allow you to return to same version/config later. For upgrading I use John's nvram backup tool http://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r22.19521/, I suggest you ask for advice on the use of his tool to go to his fork!

 

[Mr_Andy]

thanks, I'll try that. Currently wireless signal is very poor unless I'm in a room right next to the router, and I'm sure when I first purchased the router it was far better than that.

should I restore to factory settings via the web GUI, or the reset button on top of the router, or does it not matter which?

 

[mstombs]

With 380.57 I can connect to the 2.4 on Channel 1 from opposite end of house, so hope its not a hardware issue - I always recommend manually choosing the channel using a PC/Mobile app to select a quiet channel as far from Neighbours as possible.
Best advice is to connect using Ethernet cable to upgrade, then reset to defaults via web gui when in the new firmware, reserve reset button for recovery, but I am lazy usually upgrade over wifi and take the risk!
Be aware the buttons may not do what you expect, see for exampl:-,
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Asus_RT-N66U#Know_your_hardware_buttons
is 'reset' really 'restore'?
Other firmwares Tomato/dd-wrt have useful checkbox to reset nvram after loading new firmware for a clean start, there are other ways to reset nvram via command line or the recovery web console.
If you use custom scripts/config you must backup the jffs folder on an N66. The jffs partition occupies what is left on flash after firmware load, so if firmware different size jffs different start/size.

 

[Nullity]

I use john's fork with my RT-N66U: http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available-v17e2.18914/

His fork is focused on the fact that older drivers work better with older (and some newer?) hardware. Try it & see... always do a "Factory Default" of your settings.


Subjectively, I have better performance with john's fork, but that may be pure coincidence.

 

[dlandiss]

I use john's fork with my RT-N66U: http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available-v17e2.18914/

His fork is focused on the fact that older drivers work better with older (and some newer?) hardware. Try it & see... always do a "Factory Default" of your settings.


Subjectively, I have better performance with john's fork, but that may be pure coincidence.

What Nullity said ^^^^^

John's fork provides measurably better range than anything using the later SDK. He folds in the newest security measures, so I have seen no downside. Merlin's software might have more features but nothing that has been needed in my installations (more than 20 in the St. Louis area).

 

[Mr_Andy]

Hi
I flashed John's fork last night on my N66U, from Merlin 380.57 to John's version 374.43_2-17E2, reset to factory settings, and manually entered all settings. So far all appears to be working OK, though the wireless range does not appear all that different than before.

one noticeable difference is the wireless transmit power on 'wireless professional' has a strength of 80ms, whereas on Merlin's it has a slider control.

also have the same issue with 5Ghz band on my Samsung Galaxy S3 that I had with Merlin's firmware, network connectivity is very slow or intermittent. changing the setting from 20/40 to just 20 and fixing the channel to 46 seems to fix it.

 

[Nullity]

Hi
I flashed John's fork last night on my N66U, from Merlin 380.57 to John's version 374.43_2-17E2, reset to factory settings, and manually entered all settings. So far all appears to be working OK, though the wireless range does not appear all that different than before.

one noticeable difference is the wireless transmit power on 'wireless professional' has a strength of 80ms, whereas on Merlin's it has a slider control.

also have the same issue with 5Ghz band on my Samsung Galaxy S3 that I had with Merlin's firmware, network connectivity is very slow or intermittent. changing the setting from 20/40 to just 20 and fixing the channel to 46 seems to fix it.

Try an actual throughput test. Do not rely on signal strength as a measurement of how reliable or fast your wireless connection is.

 

[doka.ua]

Thanks, friends! After careful reading of this thread and plenty of others, I decided to try first John's 374.43_2-17E5j9527 . It seems it's most stable and productive firmware for most of ASUS routers incl. my N66U.

 

[doka.ua]

Short report - after I've installed John's 374.43_2-17E5j9527 firmware on RT-N66U, I've really got better coverage of WiFi.