RT-N66U FW

[wouterv]

which mobile app do you recommend to find the least congested channels?

For Windows: InSSIDer.
For Android: Wifi Analyzer by Kevin Yuan.

is John's fork a derivative of Merlin's? Stock?

Johns fork is a derivative of Asuswrt-Merlin and uses old SDK5 wireless drivers for at least the RT-N66U:
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available-v15e5.18914/
Stock firmware changed longer ago to SDK6 drivers which are more compliant to the formal rules.
The Software Development Kit (SDK) comes from Broadcom, the wireless chip manufacturer.
Some users claim better wireless performance with the old SDK5 drivers, I do not notice a difference.

I am confused, so which is a better and more stable build, Merlin's or John's? or are they basically the same but which to choose depends on your needs?

Stock firmware is usually most up to date with security fixes, drivers and other software packages.
I assume stock firmware, Asuswrt-Merlin and Johns fork are equal in stability as long as they are based on the same GPL.

Asuswrt-Merlin adds features to stock firmware, and is allways a little behind stock firmware (RMerlin needs to get the latest GPL files from Asus to make his builds):
http://www.lostrealm.ca/tower/node/79

Johns fork is behind Asuswrt-Merlin.

Firmware choice depends on your personal preferences and needs.

how is Merlin's 378.55 FW, better wifi?

Wireless performance may depend on your regulatory domain (country).
I am in Europe/the Netherlands and do not see any wireless performance difference between old and new drivers.

Setting guidelines:
Set 2.4 GHz to a Channel bandwidth of 20 MHz.
For 2.4 GHz disable b/g Protection (use of old 802.11b devices combined with 802.11n is anyway not recommended).
Set a different SSID for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, e.g. "myhome" and "myhome5", this makes it easier to connect a client device to the right frequency band.
Use alphanumeric characters only for the SSID's (Aa to Zz and 0 to 9, no spaces and no odd characters).
Use InSSIDer or a similar program to determine the usage of wireless channels in your neighborhood, do the check at various locations in your house. Do this check at least every month (new neighbor devices may have arrived or neighbors may have changed their settings).
Set 2.4 GHz to the least used channel out of 1, 6 or 11.
Leave 5 GHz to Auto channel (if possible exclude DFS channels) or set it to the least used channel out of 36, 40, 44 or 48 (the non DFS channels).
The range of 5 GHz is practical about half of 2.4 GHz.

Google for DFS or look here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels
DFS may cause 5 GHz to appear working intermittent due to the required waiting time.
Older firmware (and maybe the SDK5 driver) may not even include de DFS channels.

Relative position of the router to the client devices is important, a free line of sight is ideal.
Keep as much as free space around the router as possible, do NOT place the router in a cabinet, do not place it on top of another electronic device.
Keep the router on distance from your modem, your TV, wireless telephones, microwaves and bluetooth devices.
Keep the router on distance from materials that absorb or disturb radio signals e.g. metal objects, concrete walls or floors and waterfilled objects.
Keep an eye on router temperature, place the router on a hard surface to allow natural ventilation through the router box.
Experiment with the location of the router and antenna orientation.

 

[mstombs]

John's fork is a fork of an earlier merlin build AFAIK, but he cherry picks bug fixes from later releases rather than following all Asus developments. I personally use 378.55_2, not too worried about Wifi, have a wired AP at other end of house. Most folk say John's fork better for Wifi - the older drivers have more tweaks available, but you need to experiment what works best for you.

 

[LaFemme69]

For Windows: InSSIDer.
For Android: Wifi Analyzer by Kevin Yuan.

Johns fork is a derivative of Asuswrt-Merlin and uses old SDK5 wireless drivers for at least the RT-N66U:
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available-v15e5.18914/
Stock firmware changed longer ago to SDK6 drivers which are more compliant to the formal rules.
The Software Development Kit (SDK) comes from Broadcom, the wireless chip manufacturer.
Some users claim better wireless performance with the old SDK5 drivers, I do not notice a difference.

Stock firmware is usually most up to date with security fixes, drivers and other software packages.
I assume stock firmware, Asuswrt-Merlin and Johns fork are equal in stability as long as they are based on the same GPL.

Asuswrt-Merlin adds features to stock firmware, and is allways a little behind stock firmware (RMerlin needs to get the latest GPL files from Asus to make his builds):
http://www.lostrealm.ca/tower/node/79

Johns fork is behind Asuswrt-Merlin.

Firmware choice depends on your personal preferences and needs.

Wireless performance may depend on your regulatory domain (country).
I am in Europe/the Netherlands and do not see any wireless performance difference between old and new drivers.

Setting guidelines:
Set 2.4 GHz to a Channel bandwidth of 20 MHz.
For 2.4 GHz disable b/g Protection (use of old 802.11b devices combined with 802.11n is anyway not recommended).
Set a different SSID for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, e.g. "myhome" and "myhome5", this makes it easier to connect a client device to the right frequency band.
Use alphanumeric characters only for the SSID's (Aa to Zz and 0 to 9, no spaces and no odd characters).
Use InSSIDer or a similar program to determine the usage of wireless channels in your neighborhood, do the check at various locations in your house. Do this check at least every month (new neighbor devices may have arrived or neighbors may have changed their settings).
Set 2.4 GHz to the least used channel out of 1, 6 or 11.
Leave 5 GHz to Auto channel (if possible exclude DFS channels) or set it to the least used channel out of 36, 40, 44 or 48 (the non DFS channels).
The range of 5 GHz is practical about half of 2.4 GHz.

Google for DFS or look here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels
DFS may cause 5 GHz to appear working intermittent due to the required waiting time.
Older firmware (and maybe the SDK5 driver) may not even include de DFS channels.

Relative position of the router to the client devices is important, a free line of sight is ideal.
Keep as much as free space around the router as possible, do NOT place the router in a cabinet, do not place it on top of another electronic device.
Keep the router on distance from your modem, your TV, wireless telephones, microwaves and bluetooth devices.
Keep the router on distance from materials that absorb or disturb radio signals e.g. metal objects, concrete walls or floors and waterfilled objects.
Keep an eye on router temperature, place the router on a hard surface to allow natural ventilation through the router box.
Experiment with the location of the router and antenna orientation.

thank you for detailed insight.

I did not know that wifi performance may depend on your country of origin......geographically!

I will try to play around with your recommended wifi guidelines and see if that makes a difference or not.

I'm probably gonna stick with Merlin's FW for now because so far it's been great, unless i see a huge handicap in my wifi

thanx

kd

 

[wouterv]

thank you for detailed insight.
I did not know that wifi performance may depend on your country of origin......geographically!

The difference in performance is related to local laws, allowing more or less channels (less channels may lead to more neighbor disturbance) and different allowable transmit power (less power means less neighbor disturbance...and shorter range).
Power levels are ideally equal at the router end and the wireless client device end.

More power (at the router end due to specific drivers) does not mean better performance. Radio wise routers transmit at minimal power levels, the guidelines I gave you have much more effect than more power.

More power would defenitely work if both ends get a significant higher power level (e.g. 5 watts) with much better antennas. Those levels are only allowed in professional licensed applications and those radio signals have a negative health effect (you better don't read a book or sleep with a 5 watt / 2.4 GHz radio within a few meters from your brains). Its is the reason why microwave ovens only work with the shielded door closed...it is high power 2.4 GHz, yes very similar to your router.

 

[LaFemme69]

just curious, is it an easy and straightforward process if I want to downgrade my FW to a lower version of Merlin's (from 378.56_2 to 378.55)? Same steps just as if I were upgrading? I can probably save my current configurations and restore once i downgrade?

thank you.

kd

 

[wouterv]

just curious, is it an easy and straightforward process if I want to downgrade my FW to a lower version of Merlin's (from 378.56_2 to 378.55)? Same steps just as if I were upgrading? I can probably save my current configurations and restore once i downgrade?

thank you.

kd

Upgrade and downgrade firmware is all straight forward, following the same steps.
Usually you better revert to factory defaults at the end of the upgrade or downgrade process.

Save and restore configurations between different firmware versions is not that straight forward.
Save and Restore through the GUI is ONLY safe for using with exactly the same firmware version.
It may work between different versions, no garantee and risk for bigger trouble.

It all depend of the changes between the "old" firmware and "new" firmware versions

More can be read here:
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/