# Help with DD-WRT on RT-n66u?



## hat (Jun 22, 2016)

I have an RT-N66U (technically, it's an RT-N66R, the only difference being the R model is sold at retailers like Best Buy) and I tried flashing DD-WRT to it. I booted the router into recovery mode, downgraded the stock Asus firmware (because the newer ones won't allow you to flash dd-wrt) and flashed the DD-WRT firmware as this page says, and it booted to DD-WRT... but I could not get a WAN IP. I tried resetting my modem, pulling the power and plugging it back in, and doing the same to both the modem and the router. I even tried hitting DHCP Release/DHCP renew in the router. No WAN IP to speak of... so I wound up flashing to the stock ASUS firmware anyway.


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## Kursah (Jun 22, 2016)

I have an AC66R, bought off of Newegg...I was under the impression the R derivative is the refurbished model...mine was. 

I would recommend MerlinWRT over DD-WRT, works excellent on my AC66R (which has been relegated to AP duty in recent months...). 

I had an issue with the stock AsusWRT on my 66R years ago now I guess with WAN IP's where I'd need to plug my laptop or PC into the modem directly to pull an IP, then plug the router in. I went to Merlin and never had the issue again, had a more stable router with more capabilities. Winning! 

See if you can set your WAN DHCP retrieval to aggressive mode. Can you verify if you plug your PC directly in that you grab an IP address? I guess going back to stock, you don't have the issue. Maybe try a different DD-WRT version...or try a different ROM, Tomato or Merlin. I'd recommend Merlin as it works so damn well on Asus routers...it's absolutely worth trying.


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## Nordic (Jun 22, 2016)

I am using MerlinWRT myself.


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## hat (Jun 22, 2016)

MerlinWRT? It looks the same as the stock firmware, based on images I've seen. What I'm really looking for is, first and foremost, the ability to track bandwidth usage by device on the network (and if at all possible, find out what is causing it on said device(s) eg too much youtube or something. Internet usage seems to be high lately and I want to find the offender. Secondly, my Alien Swarm server seems to behave very strangely (one guy in particular takes forever to load when he shouldn't, and sometimes people just disappear even though they're still present in the server if I type status in the server console). I know a million things, some of which might not even be on my end, can cause that, but I also know sometimes certain routers behave very strangely with certain things...

I'm trying to get this spare Netgear router set up first though, in case something bad happens to the RT-N66R, and it really does need DD-WRT or something on it because I've heard it's really bad the way it is now. There is the 'big' rom, I only tried flashing the 'mega'. The 'big' rom is considerably larger than the mega for some reason. I kinda gave up on it at the time because, well, we had no router while I was playing with it... so I need to setup the Netgear as a stand-in for the time being first.


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## Kursah (Jun 22, 2016)

If you read about Merlin, it is a modded AsusWRT with expanded capabilities and better stability, solid QoS, management, etc.


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## hat (Jun 22, 2016)

So, would Merlin allow me to see which device could be using so much bandwidth? For example, I see 10gb incoming traffic from WAN to 192.168.1.2 every day?


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## jboydgolfer (Jun 22, 2016)

I dont think it allows you to monitor to that degree .iirc.
But the QOS tab DOES have a bandwidth limiter, more of a proactive approach in regards to traffic usage.

It allows channel monitoring, and user monitoring of connection status tx/rx , and it has a traffic mknitor but i dont think its that detailed.
@hat  i think this is what your router would have with merlin installed.
i know i have the AC version , but i would think they would be close, i could be wrong, but i would try it.



Kursah said:


> I was under the impression the R derivative is the refurbished model...mine was



with the RT-AC66W the "W" refers to "white" model, its not different than the AC66u, aside from being white. maybe the letter naming schemes mean whatever they want.


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## Ungari (Jun 22, 2016)

If this becomes law the ability to modify Wireless devices may become moribund.
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/213351-new-fcc-rules-could-ban-dd-wrt-and-router-modification


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## jboydgolfer (Jun 22, 2016)

Ungari said:


> If this becomes law the ability to modify Wireless devices may become moribund.
> http://www.extremetech.com/computing/213351-new-fcc-rules-could-ban-dd-wrt-and-router-modification


in my opinion Asus HAS made that FCC alteration to theyre FW, or Some step in that direction

_"Last month, Libre Planet—a free software community—raised the alarm that TP-Link, one of the largest router manufacturers, had begun locking down firmware in newly released routers. As proof, Libre Planet pointed to a transcript of a support conversation. In the chat, a TP-Link rep says that the lockdown—which blocks the installation of open source firmware—was a reaction to new FCC requirements."_

i see no reason that one of the largest Router makers WOULD impliment this change and other wouldnt.
_*SOURCE*_


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## v12dock (Jun 22, 2016)

Go to Merlin then ddwrt


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## newtekie1 (Jun 22, 2016)

hat said:


> I have an RT-N66U (technically, it's an RT-N66R, the only difference being the R model is sold at retailers like Best Buy) and I tried flashing DD-WRT to it. I booted the router into recovery mode, downgraded the stock Asus firmware (because the newer ones won't allow you to flash dd-wrt) and flashed the DD-WRT firmware as this page says, and it booted to DD-WRT... but I could not get a WAN IP. I tried resetting my modem, pulling the power and plugging it back in, and doing the same to both the modem and the router. I even tried hitting DHCP Release/DHCP renew in the router. No WAN IP to speak of... so I wound up flashing to the stock ASUS firmware anyway.



It is a common problem with the RT-N66U when you first flash DD-WRT.  After you flash, telnet into the router and run erase nvram.  Then reboot the router and the WAN will start working.

https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Hard_reset_or_30/30/30


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## Sasqui (Jun 22, 2016)

Subbed.  I've got the RT-N66R, bought new at Best Buy.  AFAIK, it's simply a re-brand of the RT-N66U and sold only by Best Buy.  Looked and found this thread:

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-n66r-rt-n66u-but.8156/

Snip from one of the thread posts:



> I just talked with an Asus wireless router tech support rep (Ron), who confirmed -- as I was told before -- that R is simply the "retail" version of U. Asus provides the routers to Best Buy and they market them. But this time, I specifically asked about the firmware. He said that the U firmware is for the R. That's why there's no firmware listed under downloads for RT-N66R. He said that the latest 220 build is also for the R (and you can't get into trouble with Asus for flashing it). That's probably true for the AC66 router as well. Perhaps with enough queries, they'll consolidate the download options on the Asus support web page to cover the models under one selection as "U/R" or "U or R". I think that would provide the needed clarification to customers. *Edit:* On second thought, that might not work because separate manuals for the R and U models were published. Instead, just replicate the U firmware under the R model selection, starting with build 220. And include the current shipping R firmware, build 176, for download to enable a customer to flash back to it.
> 
> So, for me, that opens the door to official firmware upgrade for the R.


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## jboydgolfer (Jun 22, 2016)

Sasqui said:


> Snip from one of the thread posts:



that last letter can mean a couple things.
I have the RT-AC66*W *, which is the same thing as the ac66u, except its white. i think they kind of throw those last letters around to mean what suites them,or the situation best.


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## hat (Jun 25, 2016)

Well, flashing Tomato was successful. All I did was put it in rescue mode and flash Tomato directly from there. I don't know why they have a million hoops for you to jump through (telnet this, TFTP that)...

it gives me the functionality I wanted. I can see the amount of data going to each IP now.


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## total4linux (Oct 7, 2017)

Hi All
i came across this forum hopping to get some help, i own a RT-N66U and flushed latest Merlin RT-N66U_380.68_2.trx and try to flush latest DD-WRT dd-wrt.v24-29134_NEWD-2_K3.x-big-RT-N66U.trx into it but it won't let me(screen shot attached) also i tried to do via recovery mode which again strangely the wire won't connect to reach to recovery mode GUI.
I am wondering if this is something done(new policy) in Merlin firmware to prevent using other firmwares such as DD-WRT.
is there anyway i can install it via telnet/ssh at all or it is not safe doing so?
thanks for help in advance.


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## RejZoR (Oct 7, 2017)

@total4linux 
Go to ASUS page, download latest firmware, flash it and then flash Merlin's firmware. That should do the trick. From there on, it should work directly with Merlin's firmwares...


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