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what do each of the interfaces in merlin translate to?

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Evan Richardson

New Around Here
I'm trying to set up collectd + grafana + influxdb to monitor my network equipment, but am having a hell of a time figuring out merlin/asus interfaces. I apologize in advance, but I tried searching google and on here and only came up with eth0 being WAN, nothing else.


I have the following on my RT-AC68U:

br0
eth0
eth1
eth2
lo
tun21 (openvpn)
vlan1
vlan2


Can someone help me figure out which each of these translate to? Since eth0 looks like WAN, what does br0 and the rest translate to?

Thanks!
 
br0 is the LAN bridge, eth1 and 2 the wireless interfaces
The 5-external port Ethernet switch is split by use of nvram params and the Broadcom switch driver into vlan1 for 4 LAN ports and vlan2 for the WAN - in Tomato firmware the WAN port is vlan2, but Asus change and access it as eth0 - but naming conventional fails for dual wan using LAN4?

Normally vlan1, eth1 and eth2 are bridged into br0

Code:
admin@RT-N66U:/tmp/home/root# brctl show
bridge name     bridge id               STP enabled     interfaces
br0             8000.08606ecbfea8       yes             vlan1
                                                        eth1
                                                        eth2

lo is local loopback, internal to router.
If you have pppoe wan connection you will also have ppp0 as a virtual wan interface.
 
The RT-AC87U is different:
br0
br0:0
eth0
eth1
lo
tun21
vlan1

admin@RT-AC87U:/tmp/home/root# brctl show
bridge name bridge id STP enabled interfaces
br0 8000.382c4aa16228 yes vlan1
eth1
 
The RT-AC87U is different:
br0
br0:0
eth0
eth1
lo
tun21
vlan1

admin@RT-AC87U:/tmp/home/root# brctl show
bridge name bridge id STP enabled interfaces
br0 8000.382c4aa16228 yes vlan1
eth1
Please, so in this case what should be the eth for 5Ghz?
 
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I found a good picture that explained this here: https://coertvonk.com/sw/networking/dd-wrt-heading-two-networks-asus-rt-ac68u-11717
RT-AC68-block-before.png
 
I have RT-AX88U and the list is as follows:

Code:
ASUSWRT-Merlin RT-AX88U 384.13-0 Wed Jul 31 17:30:47 UTC 2019
admin@Router:/tmp/home/root# ifconfig -a

bcmsw     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:322455530 errors:0 dropped:55883 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:280299416 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:226452940377 (210.9 GiB)  TX bytes:188338681521 (175.4 GiB)

bcmswlpbk0 Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

br0       Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          inet addr:192.168.77.1  Bcast:192.168.77.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:175441181 errors:0 dropped:3516 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:118291725 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:148210195119 (138.0 GiB)  TX bytes:65856114783 (61.3 GiB)

dpsta     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00 
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 50:46:5D:6B:E5:50 
          inet addr:78.90.26.41  Bcast:78.90.26.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:152253046 errors:0 dropped:31153238 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:176515073 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:68309292756 (63.6 GiB)  TX bytes:152607909506 (142.1 GiB)

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          UP BROADCAST ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:152571 errors:0 dropped:16 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:303132 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:33208595 (31.6 MiB)  TX bytes:304416108 (290.3 MiB)

eth2      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:5580 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:16328 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1363646 (1.2 MiB)  TX bytes:2039883 (1.9 MiB)

eth3      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:149232141 errors:0 dropped:55852 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:73599720 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:155500117742 (144.8 GiB)  TX bytes:18489181694 (17.2 GiB)

eth4      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:11193 errors:0 dropped:15 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:26714 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1515055 (1.4 MiB)  TX bytes:31983644 (30.5 MiB)

eth5      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:262599 errors:0 dropped:42 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:3842011 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:24202005 (23.0 MiB)  TX bytes:1832913752 (1.7 GiB)

eth6      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:98 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:363 errors:0 dropped:15 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2667131 errors:0 dropped:3685 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:94696 (92.4 KiB)  TX bytes:261278154 (249.1 MiB)

eth7      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 0C:9D:92:02:31:9C 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:12396354 errors:0 dropped:15 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:36135935 errors:0 dropped:6242 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:5144466184 (4.7 GiB)  TX bytes:41344814175 (38.5 GiB)

ifb0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr C6:9E:BB:8F:9F:8D 
          BROADCAST NOARP  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:32
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

ifb1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 12:BE:1A:F0:83:45 
          BROADCAST NOARP  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:32
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

imq0      Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 
          NOARP  MTU:16000  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:11000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

imq1      Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 
          NOARP  MTU:16000  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:11000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

imq2      Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 
          NOARP  MTU:16000  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:11000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

ip6tnl0   Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 
          NOARP  MTU:1452  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback 
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:12924629 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:12924629 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:2411677362 (2.2 GiB)  TX bytes:2411677362 (2.2 GiB)

lo:0      Link encap:Local Loopback 
          inet addr:127.0.1.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:65536  Metric:1

sit0      Link encap:IPv6-in-IPv4 
          NOARP  MTU:1480  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

spu_ds_dummy Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 
          UP RUNNING NOARP  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

spu_us_dummy Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 
          UP RUNNING NOARP  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

tap21     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr C6:5B:DF:5E:32:45 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING PROMISC MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:360414 errors:0 dropped:36 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2671507 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:260042868 (247.9 MiB)  TX bytes:571299038 (544.8 MiB)

tap22     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 7E:04:14:D2:8D:E7 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING PROMISC MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1387183 errors:0 dropped:50 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:4038863 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:731709733 (697.8 MiB)  TX bytes:2059395498 (1.9 GiB)

The only two I am sure about are tap21 and tap22 (two OpenVPN TAP interfaces)
 
On Ax88u is eth0 still the WAN?
 
No WAN aggregation.
So LAN 1 to 7 would be ETH1 to ETH7? What is LAN8 I don't see ETH8 in my ifconfig

Where could I find the details of each interface?
 
No WAN aggregation.
So LAN 1 to 7 would be ETH1 to ETH7? What is LAN8 I don't see ETH8 in my ifconfig
I don't have that router so can't say. But it's common for some eight port routers to have four of the ports daisy-chained off a single logical interface. You'll have to work it out by the volume of traffic flowing. So it might be that eth5 represents four LAN ports (eth6 and eth7 would then be the wireless interfaces).

EDIT: Just seen post #8 and that would seem to be the case.

Where could I find the details of each interface?
It's not documented. You'll either have to look at the source code or search the forum posts.
 
Last edited:
Yes, unless you're using WAN Aggregation.

Not sure about the AX or HND routers but I know with some routers the WAN interface changes based on whether you have hardware acceleration enabled or not. For example the AC68U uses ETH0 for WAN when acceleration is disabled (or partially disabled as in my case due to Trend Micro and traffic stats being on) and VLAN2 for the WAN interface when it is fully enabled.

So in other words, YMMV on all routers it seems, as wan aggregation and other features can change the interfaces.

And like you say to make it more confusing, many of the 8 port ones are actually 2 4 port switches daisy chained and it ends up looking strange. Then there are often ports in there that aren't connected to anything or used.

Requires some detective work by the user, watching ifconfig up/down status as you plug physical ports, looking at MAC addresses, traffic stats, etc.
 
Found some info here

As always you need to verify against your own device as various code bases and hardware revisions have changed things over time. But that does confirm that port 5 is actually 4 ethernet ports on the secondary switch, which is the case with most/all of the 8 port models.
 

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