Converting DSL-AC68U to RT-AC68U for use as AiMesh Node – Solved I’m sure there were a series of posts on the old forum about hacking a DSL-AC68U to make it into an RT-AC68U. Sadly those posts are lost and not cached...

[Andrew Anson]

I have a couple of DSL-AC68U’s that i am unsuccessfuly trying to setup in AiMesh in AP & Node modes when connected to our 4G Fixed Wireless Connection.

The working setup is our 4G Wireless internet is accessed by an ISP supplied modem/router (Huawei B618-65d) with one of the 68’s running the Experimental Gnuton Asuswrt firmware (enables Operational Modes like the RT-AC68U) as an Access Point. All WiFi and Ethernet runs through the AP. This works well with much better WiFi coverage than the ISP router offers, but i would like to make it even better by adding the 2nd 68.

I have tried various ASUS and Gnuton Asuswrt firmwares on the 2nd 68, but have had no success adding it as an AiMesh Node. I factory reset it and can see it when i try to add it as a Node from AiMesh on the AP, but once the adding process gets to 100% it returns a “could not add it” error due to a list of possible factors that i do not see apply.

It has been suggested that i use an Ethernet cable from the AP to the Node when trying to pair it, but that makes no difference, probably because LAN1 on the factory reset Node is not configured as a WAN port at that point. I have the two 68’s right next to each other when trying to pair them.

Any help appreciated as I have run out of ideas to try. The one option i haven’t tried is to follow this post and try converting one or both of the DSL-AC68U’s to RT-AC68U’s. Will this resolve the problem?

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

Welcome, DSL-AC68U/R with stock firmware supports both AiMesh primary/node modes now. However, for node only Wireless backhaul mode supported, do not support Ethernet backhaul(as this model lacks dedicated Ethernet WAN port).

https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1039736/

Are you running the newest (and same) firmware for both the DSL-AC68U ? and initial pairing usually requires the two units to be physically located next to each other .

Maybe a longshot, but try unplugging Huawei B618-65d, reboot DSL-AC68U and see if you can then Aimesh the 2 x DSL-AC68U, I would assume as Huawei B618-65d  is connected to AiMesh primary via LAN 1, as DSL-AC68U has no WAN port, then this maybe causing the issue with AiMesh ?

Maybe a feature we can ask ASUS to include in future releases ?

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

Liked by:

You need to login in order to vote

[Andrew Anson]

I have tried using exactly the same firmware, though currently they are different. I will give it another go. I am of the view (maybe incorrectly) that to get the internet connection from the B618 into the primary and run an AiMesh network, i need to run the custom firmware from Gnuton on the primary that enables the Operational Modes like an RT-AC68u. Is that correct, or should i be able to get it to work using the official ASUS firmware and just find the appropriate changes to the settings to do the same?

Unplugging the Huawei to do the initial pariring will be worth trying. Fingers crossed, and yes it is connected by LAN1 to AiMesh primary.

The other option is to convert the DSL to an RT per the instructions in this thread, though i am not sure if this is needed anymore given updates to the firmware for the DSL

Thanks for your ideas

 

You need to login in order to vote

[Andrew Anson]

Unplugging the Huawei made no difference i’m afraid. I factory reset the Node and Priamry prior to trying this

You need to login in order to vote

[Andrew Anson]

###ignore this, i managed to upload an older version of the RT Firmware###

I am now trying to follow the instructions to convert the DSL to a RT,but i haven’t got far before striking a problem.

When i run the recovery tool to upload the RT Firmware, the upload gets to 42% completed and then goes back to 0%. It does this a couple of times before aborting the process.

I have tried running the Recovery Tool as Administrator and disabling the firewall, otherwise i have just followed the instructions to this point.

Any idea on how to get the RT Firmware uploaded successfully?

 

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

WHen I created this thread originally, it was because the RT-AC68U supported Aimesh Node and the DSL-AC68U did not.

Now that the DSL-AC68U supports Aimesh Node, seems little point in flashing RT-AC68U firmware on the DSL-AC68U as you still have no WAN port, so problem will remain.

When recovery mode is run, you need to set IP address subnet of Laptop/PC to that of Router (try 192.168.1.10) and as it is reaching only 42%, does sound like a proper connection is not being made.

Following instruction below should do the trick.

https://www.asus.com/uk/support/FAQ/1000814/

 

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

Liked by:

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

Andrew Anson wrote:

I am of the view (maybe incorrectly) that to get the internet connection from the B618 into the primary and run an AiMesh network, i need to run the custom firmware from Gnuton on the primary that enables the Operational Modes like an RT-AC68u

I am unsure, which operational mode do you think you need that @GNUton firmware will offer,  @GNUtons firmware is very good and worth a try ?

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

Liked by:

You need to login in order to vote

[Andrew Anson]

The only reason i have used the GNUton’s firmware has been to activate the ability to use Operational Modes on the DSL. When i only had one DSL-AC68U (and no DSL connection), the Access Point mode worked really well without having to worry about changing any other settings on either the Huawei or the DSL68. I have Ethernet cable running to any place i would plan on putting the Node 68U (if i could get it to work). I also tried Wireless Router mode but it never seemed to work well, which probably means i would have to play with the settings on the Huwaei to make it work.

So based on your answer on the need to convert the DSL68 to a RT68, and given i have struck trouble doing that anyway (i’m having trouble capturing all the content of NVRAM to get alll the information required), i think i will go back to stock ASUS DSL firmware and try and emulate the settings of Access Point mode manually and hope that AiMesh works for the Node router.

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

AiMesh is temperamental to set-up and several tries are usually required.

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[Andrew Anson]

A follow up – i finally got the two DSL-AC68U’s set up as an Access Point & a Node

In the end i needed to convert both of the DSL’s to RT’s as per the instructions in the post and bingo it finally worked after every other combination i tried didn’t.

A couple of points

1. I needed to use the RT 300438640558 Firmware to get the initial firmware restoration to work
2. The last line of the nvram commands says nvram commit=1, but this wasn’t valid, but nvram commit seemed to work

Thanks for your help UK Sentinel!

 

Liked by:

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

Great news, I will amend original instructions to capture the “nvram commit” variable   

Edit: Could not find ‘nvram commit=1’ could you link to where this is posted ?

 

Thanks

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[Andrew Anson]

Nor can i find it now. I was looking at the suggested changes on page 2 and must have picked up the =1 from the line above. My mistake – sorry about that

 

You need to login in order to vote

[booji]

Hi all, changing the subject slightly I don’t know why they can’t convert one of the Lan ports into a Wan port on the DSL-AC68U to get the wired Imesh to work. They can manage this for plugging in an external modem. It’s a pity there’s no custom firmware to support this.

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

Andrew Anson wrote:

Nor can i find it now. I was looking at the suggested changes on page 2 and must have picked up the =1 from the line above. My mistake – sorry about that

No problem and glad your all sorted

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

booji wrote:

Hi all, changing the subject slightly I don’t know why they can’t convert one of the Lan ports into a Wan port on the DSL-AC68U to get the wired Imesh to work. They can manage this for plugging in an external modem. It’s a pity there’s no custom firmware to support this.

Indeed, there is @GNUton firmware, which uses the RMerlin fork

Who is GNUton and what is he about?

 

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[Author]

Posts