Rt-ac68u

[iatacs19]

Any updates on the hardware/pcb revisions shipping currently?

I saw on DD-WRT forums the mention of 3 different pcb revisions: 1.2x, 1.68 and 1.70

These changes seem to be pretty significant from early observations:

what i can say is that i have 2 board revisions of the AC68U. the newer one has more shields and also bigger heatsinks. . the higher rev is 1.68 written on the pcb . the older is 1.2x or something like that

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=177612&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

Is there a way to tell the difference from the box or all they all just labeled as A1?

 

[netmik3]

Wonder what my pcb is
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=13508

 

[RMerlin]

Wonder what my pcb is
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=13508

It says 1.61 on these photos.

 

[netmik3]

Damn I can't sell and upgrade because of the stupid sticker

 

[nimdjid]

OpenVPN client?

Hey..

So I got the latest firmware 3.0.0.4.374_542
and Im trying to set up the router to connect to a VPN service I pay for. OpenVPN service .
When I import the ovpn file and hit connect, I get problems. In the systemlog I find some stuff but this looks useful:

Jan 6 20:19:00 openvpn[758]: WARNING: No server certificate verification method has been enabled. See http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm for more info.

And the VPN provider says that they cant see any attempts to connect to the VPN server on their side..

So whats wrong? :S

 

[RMerlin]

Hey..

So I got the latest firmware 3.0.0.4.374_542
and Im trying to set up the router to connect to a VPN service I pay for. OpenVPN service .
When I import the ovpn file and hit connect, I get problems. In the systemlog I find some stuff but this looks useful:

Jan 6 20:19:00 openvpn[758]: WARNING: No server certificate verification method has been enabled. See http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm for more info.

And the VPN provider says that they cant see any attempts to connect to the VPN server on their side..

So whats wrong? :S

Without knowing at least which VPN provider you are dealing with, it's hard for anyone to tell what might be wrong. At a first glance I'd say either your provider requires you to manually enter a username and password, or it was missing some certificates. But we can only guess what you might possibly have configured.

 

[RMerlin]

Damn I can't sell and upgrade because of the stupid sticker

Stickers can be put back. I have two-sided sticky tape here that I used to put back the rubber feet on my N66 and AC66 after I removed the screws to provide me with easier access to the serial port

I never tried putting back the AC56 sticker tho...

 

[nimdjid]

Without knowing at least which VPN provider you are dealing with, it's hard for anyone to tell what might be wrong. At a first glance I'd say either your provider requires you to manually enter a username and password, or it was missing some certificates. But we can only guess what you might possibly have configured.

I try strongvpn

 

[RMerlin]

I try strongvpn

I don't remember if Asus kept the Advanced VPN client page or not when they merged my code. If they did, then have a look at this Tomato howto - it should point out the important fields for you to check:

http://strongvpn.com/setup_tomato_openvpn.shtml

 

[nimdjid]

But i only use the default firmware. A tech guy on strongvpn told me that the custom firmware + vpn on this specific router was not recommended and very unstable.
Will openvpn not work on the default firmware?

 

[RMerlin]

But i only use the default firmware. A tech guy on strongvpn told me that the custom firmware + vpn on this specific router was not recommended and very unstable.
Will openvpn not work on the default firmware?

Did he specify WHICH custom firmware? Because I doubt he was referring to Asuswrt-Merlin, especially since Asus's implementation is based on mine... And I haven't heard of any stability issues.

 

[nimdjid]

Did he specify WHICH custom firmware? Because I doubt he was referring to Asuswrt-Merlin, especially since Asus's implementation is based on mine... And I haven't heard of any stability issues.

No just custom firmwares in general. That the AC routers are less tested with this method and therefor they provide NO additional support for this. Also I was told that custom firmwares might damage the router..

I also have a option to switch the VPN type to a PPTP VPN instead which should work with the default firmware (I have a friend that managed to setup a PPTP vpn on the router from another provider though) .

What do you think would be the best option for me then. Switch to custom firmware and take that risk with OpenVPN or go with the default firmware and use PPTP instead (normally OpenVPN is recommended for router usage and has more stability)

thanks

 

[RMerlin]

No just custom firmwares in general. That the AC routers are less tested with this method

This might be the case with DD-WRT, however Asuswrt-Merlin is actually based on the Asus code, so it should be as reliable as the stock firmware, and benefits from all the testing Asus has done on their own code.

and therefor they provide NO additional support for this. Also I was told that custom firmwares might damage the router..

There's certainly a risk that you might accidentally fail to properly flash the firmware, leading to a dead router. However I wouldn't say the firmware itself would damage the router.

I do understand when they say that they won't provide any additional support for those firmwares however.

I also have a option to switch the VPN type to a PPTP VPN instead which should work with the default firmware (I have a friend that managed to setup a PPTP vpn on the router from another provider though) .

PPTP being far less secure than OpenVPN, I wouldn't recommend PPTP whenever a better alternative such as OpenVPN is available.

What do you think would be the best option for me then. Switch to custom firmware and take that risk with OpenVPN or go with the default firmware and use PPTP instead (normally OpenVPN is recommended for router usage and has more stability)

You're asking a developer of such a firmware, so I would obviously recommend switching to a custom firmware rather than compromising your security

 

[nimdjid]

There's certainly a risk that you might accidentally fail to properly flash the firmware, leading to a dead router. However I wouldn't say the firmware itself would damage the router.

Ok I think Im ready to try the custom firmware. Because I just tried setting up PPTP with the default software, and it was a big fail. It did connect and skype and some websites worked. But other sites refused to even leadup and everything felt very slow.

So could you please point me to some guide to how-to set up your custom firmware and some general advice not to FAIL while doing so

thanks

 

[RMerlin]

Ok I think Im ready to try the custom firmware. Because I just tried setting up PPTP with the default software, and it was a big fail. It did connect and skype and some websites worked. But other sites refused to even leadup and everything felt very slow.

So could you please point me to some guide to how-to set up your custom firmware and some general advice not to FAIL while doing so

thanks

All the information is on the Wiki. Just flash it like you would flash a regular Asus update. In your case there's no need to even do a factory default reset - all your settings will be preserved.

I recommend reconfiguring OpenVPN from scratch however. I handle a few things differently than Asus at that level, to avoid issues with the backup/restore functions. Importing an ovpn should work fairly well as a starting point.

 

[nimdjid]

For anyone else considering this option,

I got it running with the Merlin firmware with no problems. Updated the firmware just like any other firmware updated on the asus router. Then got a few more options in the GUI for the router. Then setup the OpenVPN settings.

WHen I was done configurating I couldnt get it to work. I got some error code 4
( event_wait : Interrupted system call (code=4) )

THis was fixed when I did a router "reboot" in the asus settings site.

Now Im connected to the VPN and it seems to be working. Im not superhappy about the speed though but Im not sure what to expect or if its a problem of settings/open ports or if its a limitation by the VPN provider or the encryptionlevel of the VPN.
My initial downloadspeed was about 85 Mbps and is now down to around 8 Mbps for the deluxe OpenVPN solution provided by strongvpn.com

Big thanks to Merlin for this firmware and for the information and help.
Cheers

 

[nimdjid]

problems

Hi,

Today I started getting some problems from out of nowhere.
All my wireless devices seems to drop every now and then. And now it seems I can only get them running again by rebooting the router.
In my routers connected devicelist I see only the wired connections to the router. If I reboot I can see my phone and laptop again. And then internet works, for a while..
Then happens again..

I didnt get this problem a single time before updating to the custom firmware by Merlin...

Whats wrong here?

 

[L&LD]

What firmware? You may want to update to the latest 374.38_1 for the latest bug fixes and other improvements.

 

[nimdjid]

What firmware? You may want to update to the latest 374.38_1 for the latest bug fixes and other improvements.

I just sorted this firmware like 4-5 days ago..

Firmware:3.0.0.4.374.37 (Merlin build)

Think it should be the latest.

However I suspected this was a DHCP problem as it said something in the logs a few times containing word DHCP.. But Im no expert my any means..
However I went to Lan/DHCP and locked a certain IP adress for all my wireless units and its been working so far.. We'll see in couple of hours if it still works fine..

 

[L&LD]

Which router are we talking about? Either way, that firmware was pulled hours after it was uploaded (for some routers) and it is not the latest anymore too.

I would try the firmware I indicated instead of trying to troubleshoot firmware that is now history.