ASUS RT-N66U Black Diamond Router

[Lloyd_mcse]

I'm thinking about getting a couple of these for my fibre lines..

ASUS RT-N66U Black Diamond Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router

From what I have read they sound really good, has anyone got one of their routers?
I'm reluctant to move from Cisco as my WAG320N has been bullet proof, but it is ASUS


ASUS Download Page

Merlin Firmware

[Lloyd_mcse]

I have one coming later today, so I will post back with my thoughts and findings

[Lloyd_mcse]

So far so good.
First impression was the quality, as I've come to expect from their products.
Then you get to the admin panel and well that's a bit of a shock, reminds me of an ASUS motherboard EFI BIOS. It looks great and I found very easy to use.

A spec I didn't see anywhere was the CPU type/speed etc, well it has a 600MHz Dual Core CPU, with 256MB RAM.

I haven't had it set up long but so far I'm very impressed.

[Lloyd_mcse]

Here's my network setup atm.

BT Fibre Modem (Going to hang it on the wall out of the way)
ASUS RT-N66U
3Com Baseline 2920, 20 Port Gigabit Managed Switch (16x RJ45 4xMini-GBIC) (next in-line for an upgrade)

[Lloyd_mcse]

So far so good. I'm using the latest Merlin firmware, I hope ASUS add full MER support soon.

[Lloyd_mcse]

The latest firmware is available for download

ASUS RT-N66U v3.0.0.4.270 Download

Fixed
1. Parental control time shift issue in GMT-8 time zone
2. Quick internet setting wizard connection issue in iOS platform
3. Quick internet setting wizard login issue when multiple device connect to router at the same time
4. Network place hyperlink issue on IE8 and IE9
5. Live update related bug.

Add
1. Android phone USB Tethering suport. (For more information, please refer to Link)
2. Select all in parental control
3. Login password strength checker
4. Show lease time at log
5. Add hostname info for who is login
6. YES ISP support in Malaysia
7. More 3G /4G dongles support

[Lloyd_mcse]

Beta Version 3.0.0.4.354

ASUS RT-N66U B1 Firmware Version 3.0.0.4.354

Fix
1. Potential security issue from UPnP overflow.
2. Wireless time control related bugs.
3. Media server related issues when lan subnet change or USB hot plug
4. IPv6 over PPPoE interoperability issues.
5. PPPoE password setting error in Advanced wan setting.

Modify
1. Upgrade to latest Broadcom driver.
2. Enhance the PPPoE NAT throughput.
3. Enhance both 2.4GHz and 5GHz throughput.
4. Support Huawai E353 3G/4G USB dongle.
5. The router setting URL is changed to http://router.asus.com, use the original URL http://www.asusnetwork.net can also go to the
setting page.

Add
1. Optimize for XBOX option in Advanced Setting-->Wireless-->General. Enable this function can stabilize streaming speed.
2. Network tools in Advanced setting
3. WOL user interface (wake on LAN)
4. H.323 and SIP passthrough can be disabled in Advanced Settings --> WAN -->NAT Passthrough
5. Click the device name and lookup the manufacturer information
6. Change the DHCP query frequency in Advanced settings-->WAN-->Internet connection to resolve the ISP compatibility issue.
Special thanks to Merlin for his contribution.
AiCloud
1. Add deleted button in upload file page.
2. Fixed share link management bugs.
3. Fixed the file and folder rename bugs.
4. Fixed IE9 file upload compatibility issue.

Known issues
1. The router need to reboot after 3G/4G USB dongle setting. It caused longer setting time. If you use the 3G/4G router mode, we recommend staying in 3.0.0.4.270.

[Lloyd_mcse]

The DHCP features on the ASUS RT-N66U are excellent. You have reserved IP addresses which is very handy for Laptops and other wi-fi devices as you can have a static IP address without setting a static IP address on the Laptop.
Here's a screenshot of most of the DHCP settings.

[Lloyd_mcse]

I'm now running the latest Merlin 3.0.0.4_354_28 Beta1 firmware, very good it is too.

[Lloyd_mcse]

Ah, there's Merlins' version RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_354.29-BETA1 available to download