Why do you use ASUSWRT-Merlin?

[thiggins]

I'm interested in why you use this firmware instead of ASUS stock firmware. Can you simply list your top three reasons (maximum)? Thanks.

 

[jerry6]

Stable and has a few extra features and it works well , unlike some of the Asus releases

 

[thiggins]

Stable and has a few extra features and it works well , unlike some of the Asus releases

Specifically which extra features matter to you? What didn't work well in the ASUS release that prompted you to switch?

 

[oric1]

My top consideration in choosing Merlin's fw over Asus is his top-notch online support!

Here are the rest :

1) LED control - put your Dark Knight in Stealth Mode by turning off all LEDs
2) Clicking on the MAC address of an unidentified client will do a lookup in the OUI database
3) System info summary page

Thanks Merlin!

 

[mikeg]

Stability , no olkd bugs introduced compared to Asus own f/w and the extra functions such as wireless statistics ip-adresses instead of Mac and speed TX/Rx - thamk you for time and effort for this Merlin.

 

[garypower]

1 - Stability / bug fixes and the immense support Merlin brings to the community by posting here.

2 - Custom JFFS startup scripts to enable custom IP table rules so that I can manage control of mutiple IP addresses WAN side (amongst other things)

3 - The up & coming stats per device

 

[jsmiddleton4]

Performance, stability, maintains compatibility with Asus stock firmware which makes it easy to stay current as well as update.

Merlin.

Merlin is one of the reasons. His work and attention to the firmware is an asset.

 

[Bagman]

Extra features whilst retaining the official UI look and feel. Bugfixes that increase stability and speed. Excellent and responsive support direct from the developer.

 

[dazz87]

Wake on lan via web. Having the option to change devices name. And great support from Merlin!!!

 

[Nerre]

The jffs support with customization options.

 

[Jallopy]

1. Stability
2. Stealth on leds
3. Disk spin down

Merlin does a great job with user refinements while keeping the Asus basics. Thanks Merlin!

 

[sliverstorm]

The key reason I switched is the ability to arbitrarily customize config files, in a persistent fashion. I'm talking dnsmasq.conf.add, in particular. I have been having trouble getting my NAS to sleep while Windows machines are simply on the network, so I wanted to shut off client use of NetBIOS. This can generally be done with a dhcp-option parameter. Then, as a result, I had no name resolution. dnsmasq.conf.add to the rescue again- static DNS entries for all my static DHCP clients!

Still having some trouble with sleeping the NAS, but I like Asuswrt-Merlin just fine, and I'm sure disabling NetBIOS has at least gotten me closer.

Extra features whilst retaining the official UI look and feel

This is huge for me, I've become a big fan of minimal changesets. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"- so a package that merely appends particular bits of functionality to the original base, sounds great to me!

 

[dsring]

1.) Stability - the Merlin firmware is released with the known bugs removed, and issues that causes stability problems with many users are removed prior to its release; 2.) Enhanced Wireless Log; 3.) Community Support - if an issue is identified with one of his releases, it is addressed in a timely manner.

 

[valerima]

merln builds

...Suppose sense of urgency and attentiveness of Merlin is a main feature.
You always will get an answer to question. It is for sure...
Merin is reliable bridge among customers and Asus.

Asus should react as fast as Merlin does...

 

[TT7]

My choice is OpenVPN client.

 

[thiggins]

Posts discussing why ASUS can't react as quickly as Merlin does have been moved to their own thread.

 

[Mektub]

JFFS startup scripts, f.e. dnsmasq.conf.add, and customize other config files.

With them, I manipulate optware in a kind of persistent way.

And I love the minimal changes that maintain the overall look of the firmware.

Last but not least, Merlin itself.

Mektub

 

[thiggins]

What do you mean by stability?

Thanks for your replies. There are many mentions of stability. What do you mean by this and how do you measure it? Basically, how do you know that Merlin's firmware is more stable?

The reason I am asking about this is that we are going to be doing an article comparing stock ASUS and Merlin's firmware.

Thanks,

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for your replies. There are many mentions of stability? What do you mean by this and how do you measure it? Basically, how do you know that Merlin's firmware is more stable?

The reason I am asking about this is that we are going to be doing an article comparing stock ASUS and Merlin's firmware.

Thanks,

Some technical background related to stability, if I may.

One stability bug that I fixed is related to the GRO feature. Asus recently started looking into the issue and for the time being only have a workaround implemented (they added an option to allow users to disable it since 3.0.0.4.246), but for a long time there was no way to prevent Asuswrt from randomly crashing.

All my builds are compiled with that feature entirely disabled, so it's more stable out-of-the-box.

The side-effect of having GRO enabled would cause the router to reboot itself in these situations:

- When accessing a LAN device over VPN
- When accessing a local device over the NAT loopback
- Sometimes on connecting to the wireless radio (always happened with one of my laptops but not with my other wireless devices)

So until 3.0.0.4.246, the RT-N66U and RT-AC66U could randomly reboot under one of these scenarios.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks, Merlin. That is helpful.

Anyone have comments on stability?