faikioscarm Just wondering if you ever manage to find the stock firmware?

This post has been edited by fli_guy84: Jul 10 2018, 01:38 PM

Thanks for the suggestion wind01. I've gotten the firmware from Tenda MY support. It's the same version that comes with the router.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Nt8emUcJ...iew?usp=sharing

Edit (09/06/2019): Link above is dead. Updated link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rHSOv6hKE...bGzQ26jMCs7kqyY

And of course, flash it at your own risk.

This post has been edited by fli_guy84: Jun 9 2019, 11:03 PM

I have the router. Stock firmware has nothing to shout about, it's basic and it works.

If you want more features, get the Asus-Merlin firmware. Though it's kind of 'illegal' to install it on non-Asus routers, it adds tons of features. WiFi strength gets a bit weaker but the additional features are worth it.

Follow this guide, it's better: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=a...t-text=&act=url

For firmware mentioned in the guide, you can download it here: https://source.wifihell.com/9-firmware.koolshare.cn/MERLIN/

As far as I know, the firmware is customised version of Merlin by Koolshare. What I notice is it has Webshell built-in. Not sure what else is different.

It's good that you can read Chinese, it took me a few rounds of reading the translated page to fully understand the guide.

I started with firmware RT-AC68U_378.56_beta2-X5.7-20151017 as in the guide. Then, I upgraded to RT-AC68U_380.59_X6.6.1 by using the Merlin's firmware upgrade page under Administration. Lastly, I upgraded to RT-AC68U_380.70_0-X7.9.

I guess you can skip 380.59_X6.6.1 and go directly to 380.70_0-X7.9, but you gotta add the Webshell app manually under 'Koolshare Merlin software center'. I think it's important that you start with 378.56 as the base firmware though, so don't skip this firmware.

Reason: https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/Installation


Edit: Added more info.

This post has been edited by fli_guy84: Jul 23 2018, 10:05 AM

Just noticed that 378.56 firmware is not available on the link. I've uploaded it here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1N9pJO11ZD...-V7buCQxN7RZ3yC

Yup, I'm using it right now and just noticed that the '5G' and 'USB3.0' LEDs are not lighted up even though I've enabled them both. I guess it's a bug.

Hey! It depends, if you're satisfied with the performance, I think you should just stick with the stock firmware. However, if you're feeling adventurous and willing to take a small risk of bricking the router, I do recommend you to flash the Merlin firmware for the added features. It's a small risk but I did brick my router after performing the factory reset. So, don't ever perform the factory reset.

After flashing with Merlin, I have no issues at all. Everything works as intended after following the guide I posted earlier. I just haven't tested HyppTV but I guess it should work. No cons so far.

Damn, too little too late. Well, no way to unbrick it from my experience. Your best bet it to let contact the customer service for replacement and be honest about it. They did replace my router even though I said I flashed it with Merlin.

Whoops, misunderstood your post. Thought you performed Factory Reset already. Glad that you didn't.

Anyway, I've tried the latest branch from official Merlin, but the UI is a bit laggy so I didn't like it. So I sticked with latest Koolshare's version. You can try to flash it, just as long as you don't perform Factory Reset. For my case, I don't use the app so I'm fine with it.

Can't promise it, but I'll try when I'm free this week. My TV is gone, so gotta try to connect to my monitor, which is cumbersome.

Great! Thanks for checking it out.

Damn, are you like Torrenting with Max number of connections?

Anyway, glad that a lot of people found this cheap router.

Ah yes, I warned not to perform factory reset a earlier in this thread.

Thanks for the detailed steps, it works for me!

Thanks for the heads up. Upgraded to this firmware and there's no issue for me. Not sure what are the updates though. System status is still in Chinese but it's no big deal.

You could try to talk to the customer service people if they can accept warranty claim. I bricked my router and they were willing to accept it even though I was honest and told them it was my fault.

Not a big change though but still nice.

Woah, neat. Pretty easy then.

Yup, same experience here. One of the 'best bang for your ringgit' router.

I added the Webshell so that I could enable the USB port by using some commands. So it's doesn't affect any stability of the router.

Yes for both, the software center is only in Chinese and 380.70_0-X7.9 is the most stable for me right now. As far as I know, this is the latest Koolshare version for this router.

Telnet works too but I was lazy and Webshell seemed easier.

Ah yes, there seems to be a minor version 7.9.1 update, which I upgraded to.

You can set up a guest account I guess?

No problem. But yeah as prokiller1199 says, there isn't any newer firmware available.

I guess there's nothing else since both firmware are pretty stable. But I read that 5GHz WiFi signal is a bit weaker on Merlin. Unfortunately, I can't confirm that myself.