re: my new ASUS RT-AC56U came in today..damn fast shipping from the Egg

would probably be better than the Cox Gateway I currently have I'll probably bug the wife about the router but I also have gun stuff I want....

quote:

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Would you suggest always flashing to a custom firmware?

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i did a ton of research in the last several days and pretty much came to the following conclusions:

- RMerlin is a God. Dude was an Amiga tinker-er from way back which puts him up there in my book.

- There are 2 or 3 major 'custom firmware' groups out there but most are designed to *ADD* complexity and features which i honestly don't need or want.

- Merlin's version is based on the ASUS firmware and he generally releases an update incorporating any changes into his flavor almost immediately after ASUS updates their own.

- if you look back to page 1 of this thread, his goal is to simplify, add some compelling missing features and provide the most ROCK SOLID firmware available.

- ASUS has actually taken his work and incorporated his features into newer versions of their own firmware.

finally, it took all of 45 seconds to flash it and so far it seems really nice.

i'll let you know after i hook the router up & put it through it paces some. right now i'm playing with it at work.

Appreciate it man. I'll more than likely give it a shot. I read up on it after I asked my question in here.
I remember before I bought my Asus, I played with the idea of DDWRT, only because I thought doing something like that would really enhance my router. I then realized that firmware can only add so much if the hardware is shitty.
But I really like what I'm reading about Merlin. Plus I like customized things anyway

OK I didn't have time to set the router completely up yesterday but here are preliminary findings:

The 2.4ghz network is getting much better reception in my sons room.. WiFi analyzer shows it nearly green where he couldn't get a signal at all before.

The 5ghz network he's getting 1-2 bars so that may not the way to go here.

I did some baseline speedtest captures using the laptop, desktop and different phones. Once the new router is configured I'll repeat the tests and see what happens.

I'm pretty excited

Merlin Firmware AC56U

You want the AC56U directory..then the one at the bottom..the RT-AC56U_3.0.0.4_376.45_0 is the current version.

Note the "45" at the end. If there's a "46" or newer by the time your router comes in, just grab that one.

He's up to "47" but that is for a new router that just came out..unless its in this directory, don't worry about other versions.

One you unzip it, you'll have a 'read me' (boring) and this file:

RT-AC56U_3.0.0.4_376.45_0.trx

That's the file you'll point your router to.

Simply go to "advanced" tab and select "update firmware" tab the "select file" (see below) and browse to that TRX file on your PC.

nothing to it.




NOTE DO THIS FIRST!! Then configure your router using the wizard. No need to configure anything before you have the right software installed on it.

I'm running Merlin's latest on my AC68U. It's solid & if you want to use I would have no reservations about it. That said, the only differences of note is the GUI which has additional information & a couple more options - the OEM Asus performance was identical for me.

I've got the RT-N56U at home, which unfortunately, a Merlin firmware was never done for it appears.

So it's good then? Those reviews keep me from getting it. Ain't it like 3 stars? I dunno if I can handle it.