[Thread-1] [ 386.1_Alpha Build(s) ] Testing available build(s)

[Vexira]

Telstra on NBN HFC does not use authentication.
Any ethernet wan port set for dynamic IP would be fine.
Some other Australian providers on NBN HFC do use authentication and/or vlan tagging but Telstra does not.

If the user has an analog phone service out of a FXS port they want to keep they can connect the Telstra routers WAN to their Asus LAN.
Telstra does not give out any SIP credentials for their basic analog FXS services.
Telstra router would be used only as ATA for the phone service. Turn of WIFI etc.

Telstra is using dhcp or ipoe like Optus, depends on the modem you might be able to fish for the credentials using a script I had to for my Optus modem I've once seen the sip credentials in a modem form Telstra minus the sip password.

 

[JWoo]

I also ran the 386 rc2-7 for a while on my RT-AX58U and it worked pretty well; for a new code base I would say it was excellent. @RMerlin indicated there is a WAN issue which is what is precluding an alpha Merlin build for the RT-AX58U just now. Commits to merge the GPL are in GIT, but due to the WAN issue no build yet. Hoping Asus / Broadcom figure this out soon!

 

[brummygit]

I'm running alpha 2 on my RT-AX88U with 2 x RT-AX56Us (also alpha 2) running as mesh nodes. I'm having weird issues after everything has been running for a day or so with 2.4Ghz getting in a real mess and devices just not connecting to any node whilst 5Ghz continues to run fine. I'm not using any AX functionality or doing anything different to 384_19 but something is strange at the moment - I've ended up turning 2.4Ghz off on my RT-AX56Us and I'm waiting to see if this helps but so far all has been stable for a couple of days.

I also ran RC2-7 on all routers before alpha 2 was available and suffered the same issues so do not expect that it's a Merlin specific problem.

 

[L&LD]

@brummygit after flashing Alpha 2, did you fully reset all routers to factory defaults?

 

[brummygit]

@brummygit after flashing Alpha 2, did you fully reset all routers to factory defaults?

Yes

 

[redbird71]

Reporting that the Asus 386.40558 worked well on my AC66U_b1 node with Merlin 386.1 alpha2 on the main router. Created a guest WIFI on 2.4 GHZ which I synced to the node successfully. Disappointing that you can create only one synced guest node per WIFI band. But one is better than nothing and now I can go forth with changes to the network at the not-for-profit office I manage. Thanks Eric and Asus!

This - 'only one synced guest network per Wifi band' thing - is this going to be that way or will more than one be possible in the future?

 

[bbunge]

This - 'only one synced guest network per Wifi band' thing - is this going to be that way or will more than one be possible in the future?

Difficult to see the future is...

 

[RMerlin]

386.1 will introduce support for the RT-AX86U. It was again a major PITA to add another separate SDK to the repo, but I got things working sufficiently enough at this point to go ahead and announce it.

 

[princi]

Brilliant! The two belong together.

Appreciate your effort.

 

[L&LD]

@RMerlin I would appreciate any thoughts on the quality of the hardware for the RT-AX86U vs. the RT-AX88U that you may have. Thank you in advance if there is anything you can add here.

 

[LimJK]

Observation:
Bug: network map --> view list --> interface --> guest network (I setup Guest Network Index 1 on 5GHz band)
Incorrect Guest WiFi IP ADDRESS ASSIGNMENT displayed for devices whose MAC Address that are manually defined in my DHCP List.

• Displayed incorrectly as 192.168.50.101 which is in my Primary subnet of my Home Network
• Where It is actually 192.168.102.88 in a different subnet, I found out with a Network Analyser App

PS: The problem exist in RC2-6 (and earlier) and was fixed in RC2-7 (9.0.0.4_386_40577-g3427c43). Found in Merlin 386.1 Alpha 2.

 

[RAH-66]

386.1 will introduce support for the RT-AX86U.

AX92 plz

 

[Jack Yaz]

AX92 plz

ungrateful much?

 

[dfunked]

I can't seem to reply to the donations thread now so just wanted to say a quick thanks for adding AX86U support. Your hard work is very much appreciated!

 

[Smokey613]

I guess there is a plus to running “old” hardware such as my pair of RT-AC86U routers. They are usually supported early on.

 

[Slawek P]

Hello,

Upgraded to alpha2 my 2 x AX88U (router and AiMesh node) with full factory reset.
Appears to be running smoothly, I will observe it for a few days.

A few notes for your consideration.

System Log
Start of system log looks very strange, @RMerlin - does it look normal?

May 5 06:05:13 syslogd started: BusyBox v1.25.1
May 5 06:05:13 kernel: klogd started: BusyBox v1.25.1 (2020-11-02 18:11:38 EST)
May 5 06:05:13 crashlog:
May 5 06:05:13 kernel: Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0
May 5 06:05:13 kernel: Linux version 4.1.51 (merlin@ubuntu-dev) (gcc version 5.5.0 (Buildroot 2017.11.1) ) #2 SMP PREEMPT Mon Nov 2 18:28:05 EST 2020
May 5 06:05:13 crashlog:
May 5 06:05:13 kernel: CPU: AArch64 Processor [420f1000] revision 0
May 5 06:05:13 kernel: Detected VIPT I-cache on CPU0
May 5 06:05:13 crashlog:
May 5 06:05:13 kernel: alternatives: enabling workaround for ARM erratum 845719
May 5 06:05:13 crashlog:
May 5 06:05:13 crashlog

Ookla CLI speed
This is an interesting one. I have 910/110 nominal speed and on Asus Merlin 384.19 it was showing that when plugged to routher via 1GB cable, while on the router itself spdMerlin was showing approx. half of it due to utilisation of single CPU only. Now spdMerlin and WebUI speed tests show 820-840/110 and strangely my PC connected to the main router via ethernet cable is now shoing 820-840/110 too. So great it is all consistent, not so great than 10% of speed disappears somewhere on the router. Other people observed same slow down behaviour on AX88U earlier - see ASUSWRT 386 RC2 thread for all release candidates. Sounds as a Asus bug, @ASUSWRT_2020
UPDATE: Sadly Ookla CLI runs on speeds went back down to 340-380/111, back to maxing out one CPU - both WebUI or spdMerlin, it shows something is odd with Asus infra rather than Ookla test itself. Even more sad that speed test on my PC connected via ethernet cable to AX88U remain low as 820-840. Not going back to 384.19 just for to increase it back to 910.
UPDATE2: Managed to find out what causing Ookla timings to be halfed on AX88U.
It is TrendMicro Traffic Analyser. Signing or withdrawing privacy EULA flicks the behaviour. Sounds as a feature that's here to stay for a while.
UPDATE3: Managed to solve 10% speed dropdown - it required two things:
- resetting my BT FTTH modem, speed went up immediately, do not know how that's relevant to router upgrade
- switching to a different Ookla server for tests (do not know why the one I have been always been using). Now getting consistent speeds on PC, Ookla WebUI and spdMerlin 900-915/111-112Mbs

WAN default settings [found some earlier Merlin response on another thread that this normal]
I observed that default WAN settings has changed, specifically
Special Requirement from ISP / Enable VPN + DHCP Connection was flicked to Yes after factory reset.
I flicked it back No, but unsure what should be setting for BT really. Comments?

Strange behaviour on first startup
I observed a strange behaviour after first start (after factory reseet and setting up WAN). Basically everything appeared to be running - WAN/LAN connecting, nslookups/pings from my PC, even ookla cli test.
However any browsers were unable to load any websites (not DNS message, some disconnects). Not something I have seen before. Tried on my PC: reboot, ipconfig/flushdns, ipconfig/renew. Nothing helped.
Only full router reboot helped, which I was planning to do anyway.

AiMesh client list bug
@ASUSWRT_2020 There is a bug with wirless clients that disconected with AiMesh node (as they are switched off). They appear on Network Map / View list as wired strangely.

Overall happy with my AX88U AiMesh 386.1-alpha2 and keeping it until official release.

 

[Elmer]

I have a mesh, AX88 <--> AC88, AC1750, with the AC's both using Asus firmware (20631, 40558 then downgraded to 20633, respectively). When I upgraded the AX from 19 to alpha2, I lost the AC1750. I lost the AC88 during the tinkering phase when I tried alpha2 on it. After six hours of trying everything, I downgraded the AX to 19, the AC88 to Asus 2063, and the AC1750 to 20633, and everything started working. Ouch. Really liked the AiMesh tab while I had it, lol.

 

[FeRReTTi]

@RMerlin Running alpha 2 on my AC5300, was the gaming section removed? I can't seem to find it. Also, the bandwidth monitor is doing that thing again where it's showing I've used 34 or so terabytes of data today,

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin I would appreciate any thoughts on the quality of the hardware for the RT-AX86U vs. the RT-AX88U that you may have. Thank you in advance if there is anything you can add here.

As usual, the build quality itself is solid. They also improved their antenna design, the pivot is much more sturdy now, so you can orient them at an angle without any fear of them falling off.

The RT-AX86U is a more polished product in terms of specs. They reduced the 2.4 GHz radio performance (since it doesn't really matter in 2020), removed the four extra ports (as most people are going wireless, and they can still easily add a 20$ switch if need be), and added a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port which is starting to become more widespread in 2020 (lots of higher-end motherboards include one now). And the final product is slightly less expensive than the RT-AX88U.

I can't really comment about performance itself. My RT-AX86U had been sitting on my desk for about two months now, and I only turned in on for development purposes over the last week.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

As usual, the build quality itself is solid. They also improved their antenna design, the pivot is much more sturdy now, so you can orient them at an angle without any fear of them falling off.

The RT-AX86U is a more polished product in terms of specs. They reduced the 2.4 GHz radio performance (since it doesn't really matter in 2020), removed the four extra ports (as most people are going wireless, and they can still easily add a 20$ switch if need be), and added a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port which is starting to become more widespread in 2020 (lots of higher-end motherboards include one now). And the final product is slightly less expensive than the RT-AX88U.

I can't really comment about performance itself. My RT-AX86U had been sitting on my desk for about two months now, and I only turned in on for development purposes over the last week.

I have been patiently waiting for the addition of the AX86U, despite the desire for using merlin on my GT-AX11000, the addition of the RT-AX86U should keep me busy enough to forget. Thank you RMerlin.