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Updated: Asus RT-N16, initial thoughts

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UPDATE:

After testing several builds of DD-WRT I was unable to get port forwarding working. While uPNP did the job, it just wasn’t what I wanted. After fighting with DD-WRT I flashed Tomato. Tomato has been running stable ever since. I have yet to encounter a single issue. I highly recommend Tomato for this router.

After all of the troubles with the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH, I decided it was time to upgrade. After a bit of research, I decided on the Asus RT-N16.

Pros:

  • Detachable, external antennas (x3). This is a major upgrade over the non-detachable  external antenna (x2) and internal antenna (x1) of the WZR-HP-G300NH. This should allow me to mount the router just about anywhere and still have the antennas in a prime location.
  • Very powerful. Both CPU and Wifi
  • Actively supported by DD-WRT, Tomato, and others.
  • Wireless N Draft, and gigabit, since I use a NAS to transfer very large files this is a great feature. I could have gotten away with a cheap gigabit switch, but this is a nice feature.
  • And, it just looks cool. Let’s be honest, there is always that cool factor.

Cons:

  • Runs Hot. I have noticed that the router runs very hot, even under minimal load. I have yet to really put this thing to work, and had originally intended to mount it in an enclosure. But with the heat, this just wont be an option.

DD-WRT

It was extremely easy to upgrade the router to DD-WRT following the steps on the DD-WRT wiki. I flashed the mega build and while it is a step up over the stock firmware, it still has it’s flaws. Most specifically port forwarding is not working.  This resulted in having to run UPnP which I normally do not like to do.

Supposedly the brainslayer or eko builds perform better, and may well have the port forwarding issue fixed, I have just yet to try them.

Flashing DD-WRT: http://dd-wrt.ca/wiki/index.php/Asus_RT-N16#Installation_:

Tomato

The general consensus is that TomatoUSB runs better, and is more featured than DD-WRT on this router. But I have yet to use Tomato on any router. I will be testing it to see which runs better.

To-Do: 

  • Test other builds of DD-WRT
  • Test TomatoUSB
  • Add some sort of cooling system to allow for more output power (heatsinks and fans)
  • Add higher gain antennas (possibly remotely)

Un-Bricking the WZR-HP-G300NH router

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A while back I completely bricked my Buffalo WZR-HP G300NH router. I was trying to flash Open-WRT from DD-WRT in an effort to fix an issue with Wifi constantly dropping. Needless to say, something went wrong and I would up with a virtually lifeless router.

I tried following the guide found here, but after many failed attempts I was frustrated and quit.

Now, I can proudly say that said router has now been successfully un-bricked!

These are the steps I took using Ubuntu Linux:

  1. Download the stock firmware from Buffalo’s website found here.
  2. After downloading the .zip file extract the actual flash file to your Desktop. The version I downloaded was called “wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-14998.” The file name you get may vary, but the important part is that the file you have has no extension.
  3. Now open a terminal session and run the following commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tftp-hpa
sudo /etc/init.d/networking stop
sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.11.2
sudo ifconfig eth0 netmask 255.255.255.0
sudo arp -s 192.168.11.1 02:AA:BB:CC:DD:1A
cd /home/user/Desktop
  1. Now get your router ready to receive the file. Plug an Ethernet cable into your computer and into the LAN 1 port on the router. DO NOT PLUG THE ROUTER INTO A WALL OUTLET YET
  2. Now back in the terminal do the following.
tftp 192.168.11.1
verbose
binary
trace
rexmt 1
timeout 60
put wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-14998 <–replace with the name of the file you downloaded
  1. At this point your computer will keep attempting to send the firmware file to the router. Now QUICKLY plug your router’s power cord in.
  2. After about 10 seconds you should see the file start to transfer.
  3. After the transfer is complete the router will reboot, when the Wifi light comes on, the process is complete.
  4. Turn networking back on by running the following in the terminal:
sudo service networking start
  1. If all went well, you should be able to log into your router by navigating to http://192.168.11.1/
TIPS:
  • Do not replace the MAC address with your own, use 02:AA:BB:CC:DD:1A. Trust me, it works.
  • After running “sudo /etc/init.d/networking stop” you see “Ignoring wlan0″ run this command.
sudo ifconfig wlan0 down