Does the Asus RT-AC58U from Stuff have custom firmware

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Does the Asus RT-AC58U from Stuff have custom firmware - can it be removed?

lchiu7

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#300570 19-Sep-2022 12:10

Picked up one of these from Trademe to replace an aging router I had. It appears to be flashed with custom firmware since even if I factory reset it (trying both methods) it still retains Stuff fibre connection configurations and also Stuff SSID's.

Is that the situation and if so, is my only way out of this, apart from asking for a refund, to try to flash the standard factory from Asus?

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dpf81nz

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#2970105 19-Sep-2022 13:54

I dont recall having any issues with mine (dont have it anymore). I used it on multiple ISPs, had no issues changing SSIDs etc. I'm almost 100% certain i would have flashed the latest official ASUS firmware onto it though

lchiu7

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#2970108 19-Sep-2022 13:58

I have tried a factory reset several times and it still retains the Stuff_Fibre SSID's. I can go in and change them but I would have thought they would revert back to the factory SSID's which I can't tell since the seller removed the stickers.

And I use custom DNS and if I do that I cannot access any site that needs Google DNS (which I block for various reasons). My other Asus has no such problem.

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NightStalker

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#2982346 13-Oct-2022 16:25

you could try installing the stock asus firmware just by doing an in place upgrade to current installed firmware.

If that fails have a look at below as it details how to do a rescue mode recovery
https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1000814/

dpf81nz

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#2982349 13-Oct-2022 16:33

yep thats what i did when i used to have mine, zero issues

lchiu7

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#2982409 13-Oct-2022 18:33

dpf81nz:

yep thats what i did when i used to have mine, zero issues

I just asked for a refund from Trademe. Didn't want to deal with that.

Spyware

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#2982416 13-Oct-2022 18:50

PBTech have a large range of Asus. This 8 antenna model can be had for $998

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lchiu7

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#2982432 13-Oct-2022 19:22

Spyware:

PBTech have a large range of Asus. This 8 antenna model can be had for $998

I ended up buying this one from Trademe for $200 in excellent condition

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETAS65700/ASUS-RT-AX86U-Wi-Fi-6-Gigabit-Gaming-Router-Dual-B

Kiwifruta

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#2982465 13-Oct-2022 23:54

That's standard for the ISP firmware to be the factory default, ISPs order them that way, if it weren't this way imagine the grief when the ISP gets the customer to factory reset the device.

The ISP custom firmware doesn't prevent you from loading the ASUS or even Merlin firmware for the particular device you have. Worthwhile checking the ASUS website (or upgrade option on your device) to see if you are running the latest firmware of the 2nd device you just bought off TradeMe. I like to keep mine up to date for security patches and bug fixes.

lchiu7

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#2982476 14-Oct-2022 07:46

Kiwifruta:

That's standard for the ISP firmware to be the factory default, ISPs order them that way, if it weren't this way imagine the grief when the ISP gets the customer to factory reset the device.

The ISP custom firmware doesn't prevent you from loading the ASUS or even Merlin firmware for the particular device you have. Worthwhile checking the ASUS website (or upgrade option on your device) to see if you are running the latest firmware of the 2nd device you just bought off TradeMe. I like to keep mine up to date for security patches and bug fixes.

I didn't want to go through all that grief and sent it back to the TM seller. He had no idea. I mentioned that a few factory resets still left the Stuff firmware on it.

lucky015

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#2982511 14-Oct-2022 10:01

For the Stuff Fibre RT-AC58U specifically, Early units where just a custom firmware with the settings baked into the firmware but later versions used the mainstream ASUS firmware but with a region code baked into the device elsewhere that the default firmware would detect and apply the Stuff Fibre default settings.

The region coding is not supposed to be user editable based on the info they gave us at the time.

Most of the Stuff Fibre customizations other than the SSID can be toggled off via the ISP Profile under LAN -> IPTV