Asuswrt is the name of the firmware developed by Asus for use on all their recent routers. It was originally based on Tomato, and got extensively modified by Asus over the years as they added their own features to it.
I bought a DSL-N55U in 2015 on recommendation of someone on this forum. It was ok as a modem/router but excellent as a router. I converted the it into a pure router in 2015 and never looked back. Wifi has been rock solid over the past 5 years but security updates stopped in 2016 with a beta firmware where a few security holes were fixed. DSL-N55U by Asus information and hardware knowledge base.
Asuswrt-Merlin is an alternative, customized version of that firmware. Developed by Eric Sauvageau, its primary goals are to enhance the existing firmware without bringing any radical changes, and to fix some of the known issues and limitations, while maintaining the same level of performance as the original firmware. This means Asuswrt-Merlin retains full support for NAT acceleration (sometimes referred to as 'hardware acceleration'), enhanced NTFS performance (through the proprietary drivers used by Asus from either Paragon or Tuxera), and the Asus exclusive features such as AiCloud or the Trend Micro-powered AiProtection. New feature addition is very low on the list of priorities for this project.
Supported models:
- RT-AC66U_B1 (same firmware as the RT-AC68U)
- RT-AC68U (including revisions C1 and E1)
- RT-AC68P (same firmware as RT-AC68U)
- RT-AC68UF (same firmware as RT-AC68U)
- RT-AC88U
- RT-AC3100
- RT-AC5300
- RT-AC1900 (same firmware as RT-AC68U)
- RT-AC1900P (same firmware as RT-AC68U)
- RT-AC86U (starting with version 382.1)
- RT-AC2900 (same firmware as RT-AC86U)
- RT-AX88U
- RT-AX56U
- RT-AX58U
- RT-AX3000 (same firmware as RT-AX58U)
- RT-AX86U
- GT-AC2900
Asus Dsl N55u Custom Firmware Software
Custom asuswrt-based firmware for Asus DSL-N55U Supporting DSL-N55U-D1 This device is a Wireless Router with built-in Trendchip modem. Asus Dsl-n55u C1 Firmware security vulnerabilities, exploits, metasploit modules, vulnerability statistics and list of versions (e.g.: CVE-2009-1234 or 2010-1234 or 20101234).
(Note: the U, R and W variants are all supported, as they are the exact same hardware and firmware, only different marketing SKUs or different case color)
No longer supported:
- RT-N16
- RT-N66U
- RT-AC66U
- RT-AC56U
- RT-AC87U
- RT-AC3200
Forks and variants
There are a number of forks available which may cover different models. A few notable ones are John9527's fork which focuses on older models, and GNUton which covers the DSL-AC68U.
There are also a number of illegal forks which run on non-Asus routers. Asuswrt cannot legally be run on these, as they are not licensed for use of the proprietary components like Trend Micro's engine. These illegal forks are not supported, and should not be used. In addition they are generally in violation of GPL licensing terms, as their source code is not publicly available.
AddOns
Asuswrt-Merlin has a rich ecosystem that consists of third party developed addons, which can enhance the router with features like ad blocking or connection monitoring. Csi utility tool lite download. You find more info in the AddOns support forum at SNBForums.
I bought a Asus DSL-N55U Annex A router a few years back when my old ADSL router from the telco broke down. It is a solid router and did not give any problems. Since I have just upgraded to Viewquest Fibre, it seems that is no more need for the DSL-N55U router. Wasted really. However with my new Asus RT-AC88U at the far end of the house. I will need another Access Point (AP) at the other corner of the house to get better coverage. Should i get another Access Point/ router or perhaps just use the DSL-N55U router?
Assuming at the far end you already have a LAN connection, you could configure the Asus DSL-N55U Annex A as an Access Point. I do not recommend buying a WIFI extender. A WIFI extender halves your WIFI bandwidth and stability can be an issue.
Searching online I seem to find a lot of links to try the following with the latest ASUS DSL-N55U firmware.
Asus Dsl N55u Custom Firmware Windows 10
Without deleting your setup and before connecting the DSL-N55U to your new network, you could try going to http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8080/Advanced_OperationMode_Content.asp. Click on Access Point (AP) mode, then save it.
The next screen will pop up and you can key in the necessary details
However at the next screen there is no way to go through as it will detect the ADSL connection, which will not time out. Click on Home to leave this page.
Some other online users claim that if successful, this will turn DHCP off and then convert any of the 4 LAN ports to a WAN port but i had no luck in this setup. Basically once you reboot the router it returns to the default wireless router mode (Default). So Trial Setup A doesn’t work for me.
Another set of articles I found online advised to do the following:
- Connect a PC to the DSL-N55U first.
- Make sure your WIFI SSID and passwords have been configured.
- Under Advanced Settings -> LAN-> Set a LAN IP which will not conflict with your new router IP Address and it has to be in the same subnet. (For example, assuming your new router’s IP is 192.168.1.1, the Asus DSL-N55U cannot have this IP and should use 192.168.1.2)
- Under Advanced Settings -> LAN -> Turn off DHCP on the Asus DSL-N55U
- Remove and plug the DSL-N55U into your new router. All DHCP will come from your new netowork router.
This setup works however i noticed after sometime WIFI connections tend to have problems getting an IP address from your main router. Rebooting the DSL-N55U is the only way but it becomes tiring to do so a few times in a day.
I decided to try something different, with some trial and error, i configured my Asus DSL-N55U as below
Asus Dsl N55u Custom Firmware Settings
- Assuming you had done Trial B, On the DSL-N55U, Under Advanced Settings -> LAN-> Turn on DHCP again and apply
- Disconnect the Asus DSL-N55U from your new Network and connect it to a PC.
- Since DHCP is on -> Go to Advanced Setting -> LAN -> Now make sure your IP is not in the same range as your new network. Assuming your new network’s IP range is 192.168.1.X , the DSL-N55U IP has got to be configured differently other than 192.168.1.X (e.g DSL-N55U IP address is 192.168.2.1)
- Next go to Internet connection-> If your ASDL settings are still there, remove it by clicking on the – at the far right corner and apply. If you do not have any ADSL settings, you should go to step 5.
- You should see the following -> Make sure that Advanced settings -> WAN -> Automatic IP Is chosen and choose apply
- Under Dual Wan tab, make sure that Primary wan is changed from DSL to Ethernet WAN, the LAN Port number is up to you .
- That is all! Connect the DSL-N55U as an AP by the assied Ethernet WAN Port to your new network router. And it should work!
- To remote into the DSL-N55U, check on your new router the IP address and if you can manually assign this IP so that every reboot or cold power startup it will take the same IP.
You are done if you just require internet surfing for devices connected on the Asus DSL-N55U AP. However if you require network services to be accessed on devices connected in the DSL-N55U subnet, you will need to do 2 more steps
Asus Dsl-n55u Custom Firmware
- On the DSL-N55U, turn off the firewall and appl
- On your main new network router, you will need to route any traffic towards the DSL-N55U. Below assumes you are using another Asus Router. Assuming the new Asus Router is on subnet 192.168.1.x and you have setup the DSL-N55U’s AP Subnet as 192.168.2.x. The below example is to be done on the new Asus Router. You may also specify 1 IP address instead of the whole subnet.
I hope this article is useful and hopefully help you to put your Asus DSL-N55U Annex A to good use and not discard or throw it away. 🙂
Asus Dsl N55u Custom Firmware Download
Thoughts? Comments? Do share with us!