Update ASUS RT-AC87U

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Update ASUS RT-AC87U

kapitikarl

151 posts

Master Geek

#222658 22-Aug-2017 16:51

Hi All

As promised here are the recent updates concerning my ongoing saga with trying to understand why my Asus router has slowed down of late. For those new to this a brief update first:

1. I have Spark Fibre Max - originally had 900mbps download speed - recently slowed to 250mbps

2. Troubleshooting with Customer Support concluded with the problem associated with my router.

3. Troubleshooting with Asus support who have been utterly ineffectual lead to no where.

4. Recently updated my router to the Merlin Firmware 380.68 and now getting speeds of 700+ mbps dl (I also did a pseed test just prior to updating the firmware and it was still 200+ mbps)

5. Have emailed Asus to say it is their firmware - I don't expect much in return.

Anyone facing similar issues may consider reading up about Merlin as an alternative firmware at https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/

Cheers.

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151 posts

Master Geek

#1850547 22-Aug-2017 16:56

Correction - getting 930 mbps download speed now.

Router is fine - ASUS firmware sucks.

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Jase2985

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#1850881 23-Aug-2017 07:52

to put the post into perspective, here are his other threads:

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=39&topicid=221433

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumId=39&topicId=214701

michaelmurfy

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#1850918 23-Aug-2017 08:17

kapitikarl:

Correction - getting 930 mbps download speed now.

Router is fine - ASUS firmware sucks.

Find that figure incredibly hard to believe since this router cuts off at around 800Mbit with hardware NAT enabled (it's chipset isn't that powerful) however good job, glad you're happy.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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Batman

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#1850931 23-Aug-2017 08:34

Just kind of hijacking this thread - I got an Asus RT-AC3200

Is there an alternative firmware that could improve its performance? ALthough I have no major complains about it at the moment. Range speed and reliability excellent. (Can't be said about my desktop asus ROG mobo wifi that always gives me BSOD when loaded to the max)

michaelmurfy

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#1850973 23-Aug-2017 08:57

Batman:

Just kind of hijacking this thread - I got an Asus RT-AC3200

Is there an alternative firmware that could improve its performance? ALthough I have no major complains about it at the moment. Range speed and reliability excellent. (Can't be said about my desktop asus ROG mobo wifi that always gives me BSOD when loaded to the max)

Yes - https://advancedtomato.com/downloads/router/rt-ac3200 - is an excellent firmware package for this router. Brings tonnes of new features to the table and also performance improvements too.

tripp

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#1850978 23-Aug-2017 09:03

removing port forwarding worked on mine.

Batman

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#1850979 23-Aug-2017 09:04

Pardon my ignorance I'm not going to use any features, but what performance improvement does that bring?

Batman

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#1850981 23-Aug-2017 09:05

I find the more advanced features i use the slower the router gets due to cpu bottlenecking

kapitikarl

151 posts

Master Geek

#1851007 23-Aug-2017 09:21

michaelmurfy - have attached today's speedtest which I ran whilst 11 devices still running in background (2LAN, 9WIFI). I don't expect you to believe it but all I know is that yesterday pre-merlin I was getting 340mbps dl with nothing other than my PC attached. Interestingly a test I ran yesterday did peak at 1011mbps not sure how that happened.

Batman - this is the sort of hijacking I don't mind because there was no request for help I posted on this forum entry that remained unanswered. The Merlin software boasts about stability, not sure if it is true but you can see I am reaping the rewards for swapping over. The only issue I have at the moment is there appears to be no notification of when a new version has been released so I think you have to just keep checking the website periodically.

michaelmurfy

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#1851009 23-Aug-2017 09:26

@kapitikarl that is pretty darn impressive. Wonder how they did that?

@Batman The firmware supports hardware NAT, furthermore the Asus RT-AC3200 is boasted to be the "best" router for the Tomato firmware. There are tonnes of features, some you likely won't use but others you will. Well worth flashing.

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#1851027 23-Aug-2017 09:46

So with the 2 files given in the link the NAT one is 20MB the VPN one is 9MB, I should flash the NAT 20MB one?

javadub

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Wannabe Geek

#1868889 19-Sep-2017 23:21

Thank you kapitikarl for sorting out that merlin firmware would fix spark fibre max speeds on asus rt-ac87u I can confirm that it does work 100%

www.speedtest.net/my-result/6636740717

kapitikarl

151 posts

Master Geek

#1869031 20-Sep-2017 09:24

All good mate - had an update notification appear when I logged in - version 380.68_2

So the update function works.

Router still going strong - dl 894.23Mbps, and ul 500 Mbps - with wireless on and 8 devices connected.

Domoth

16 posts

Geek

#1877980 5-Oct-2017 16:43

Came to Geekzone today to check if anyone else was having this same issue and was not disappointed. I can add a unique perspective here as I have just switched back to Spark after being with My Republic for 6 months.

I have a RT-AC87U with current firmware 3.0.0.4.380_7743 and was getting up to 938Mbps on My Republic (Averaging 650 / 750)

As soon as I changed to Spark it went down to sub 300Mbps speeds with the only Router configuration changes being:

WAN Connection Type
VID 0 > 10

Like the original poster I was sent a HG659b from Spark which got me a constant 780Mbps. A few people were asking why not just use the Huawei. For me its:

App control from my phone
Superior WiFi performance and coverage
Traffic Analyser
General usability

None of these trumps speed though which is what we pay for so I have been entertaining swapping over. I will give the suggested new firmware a try also. My Brother recently bought a newer Asus model which I could also try. Will share if anything interesting comes of it all.

Spyware

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#1877986 5-Oct-2017 16:52

I thought My Republic used DHCP rather than PPPoE??

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

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