RT-AC68U clone $59 - use code WIFI40 - T-Mobile.com

Link to flashing instructions:

https://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=73690012&postcount=3895

EDIT: My Router came in today, here are its hardware specs:
HW Version: 170
CFE Version: 2.1.2.2
Board Revision: 0x1100
NAND Info:

Dec 31 16:00:17 kernel: Found a AMD NAND flash:
Dec 31 16:00:17 kernel: pflash: found no supported devices
Dec 31 16:00:17 kernel: bcmsflash: found no supported devices
Dec 31 16:00:17 kernel: lookup_nflash_rootfs_offset: offset = 0x200000
Dec 31 16:00:17 kernel: nflash: squash filesystem with lzma found at block 28Dec 31 16:00:17 kernel: Creating 6 MTD partitions on "nflash":
Dec 31 16:00:18 kernel: Creating 2 MTD partitions on "brcmnand":
Dec 31 16:00:18 kernel: 0x000006000000-0x000007ec0000 : "brcmnand"


FINALLY!!! MERLIN!!

http://imgur.com/a/DMY41
 
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Interesting, I didn't realize they sold these direct. I got two of them free from TMobile because we're on their cell plan.

Fantastic router. I use merlin firmware on one and tomato on the other.
 
Interesting, I didn't realize they sold these direct. I got two of them free from TMobile because we're on their cell plan.

Fantastic router. I use merlin firmware on one and tomato on the other.

Which firmware do you like better? Any features missing / prioritized in one over the other?
 
I bought one of these not too long ago for like $150... :mad:

Just bought another one, though...great router, great price.
 
I prefer merlin for being stock with bug fixes and improvements. I think it might rely on some proprietary code for speed and I know it does for QOS.

I use Advanced Tomato on the second router because I need to use it as a wireless bridge (a feature not available via stock firmware).
 
Interesting, I didn't realize they sold these direct. I got two of them free from TMobile because we're on their cell plan.

Fantastic router. I use merlin firmware on one and tomato on the other.

You might to double check on those "free" routers. Many folks found out the hard way that they are actually on "loan" and must be returned whenever you end your services with t-mobile. They registered the routers by serial number so you can't return a different one if you accidentally sold them or toss them out. If you fail to return them you pay $99 or in some cases $250 each.
 
Nothing to check. Seems pretty obvious that you'd have to return them if you stop your Tmobile service.
Nothing hard to learn about that unless someone tried to scam Tmobile.
 
Anyone know what's the range on this? My RT-AC56U is fast enough, but it starts to lose connection around 40-60 feet.
 
I have a 1600sq ft townhouse and it covers all of it from upstairs and a few houses down the street on either side.
 
Nothing to check. Seems pretty obvious that you'd have to return them if you stop your Tmobile service.
Nothing hard to learn about that unless someone tried to scam Tmobile.

Don't even have to be a tmobile customer so I can't see how you would ever need to return these. They've done this promotion before and no one who got them the first time has ever mentioned that. From their site:

This product is available for purchase by both T-Mobile and non-T-Mobile customers.
 
Don't even have to be a tmobile customer so I can't see how you would ever need to return these. They've done this promotion before and no one who got them the first time has ever mentioned that. From their site:

This product is available for purchase by both T-Mobile and non-T-Mobile customers.
He/She wasn't talking about these (the sale), they were responding to the post above theirs. User talking about the leased routers......
 
BOUGHTED!

Thanks OP! I've been looking for something to replace our current TP-Link WDR3600 and this will fit the bill nicely...
 
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I am still blown away, the ac1900 platform from broadcom is pretty much the best "usable" home router platform you can get today. Thus is such a great deal, thanks again.
 
I dont need it but one heck of a deal. I can use it as repeater, a bridge, access point or simply a backup router. Just got a netgear repeater/bridge for 120. I think I am still within return policy. That baby is going back.
 
Love my "real" AC68U. If you can get this on Merlin, excellent deal. If they're stuck on T-Mobile firmware (conflicting reports) then so-so deal.
 
Love my "real" AC68U. If you can get this on Merlin, excellent deal. If they're stuck on T-Mobile firmware (conflicting reports) then so-so deal.

I highly doubt their really 'stuck', hell if I have to I'll rig up a JTAG and flash it that way or something.
 
Looks like the latest batches of the router are coming with a CFE (basically the bootloader) that locks the unit to only accept T-Mobile firmware. This doesn't make flashing a non T-mobile firmware impossible - you just have to flash an older T-Mobile firmware that doesn't have the CFE lock. Then you can flash the ASUS firmware, or DD-WRT, or whatever other firmware you like...

More info:

https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Asus_T-Mobile_Cellspot


One of the things I'm really stoked about is that this router supports Tomato! I used Tomato on several deployed WRT54G units and absolutely love it. It's slick as snot, and has always been extremely stable.

FWIW I hear the ASUS firmware is no slouch either so....
 
From what I have read, the router will auto update the CFE if connected to the interwebz. This will make it harder to flash!

NOTE to [H] Purchasers: Do not give it access to the webz0rz until you follow all your flashing instructions to change the CFE to your preferred distro.

People could also update their posts with what firmware version their routers came with, I get mine today and will update!!
 
From what I have read, the router will auto update the CFE if connected to the interwebz. This will make it harder to flash!

NOTE to [H] Purchasers: Do not give it access to the webz0rz until you follow all your flashing instructions to change the CFE to your preferred distro.

People could also update their posts with what firmware version their routers came with, I get mine today and will update!!
Yep, Engineer has it all spelled out clearly in the guide you posted. Thanks for that again btw.
 
In for 1 too. Actually was in the market for a new router that could do ddwrt, so this was perfect timing!
 
Set this up for my brother. He picked one up from Slickdeals a while back when it was like $30 via some promo. It covers his 3200sq ft 2 story house no problem. I could not get an aftermarket firmware to take on it due to the signature and the version he had. This was done a few months back so I dont remember all of the details. I tried for a short while and just gave up. Stock firmware is based off of DDWRT anyway. So its not that much different over stock. Overall good router. I have an Asus AC3200 myself and love it. Asus makes solid routers.
 
For all those would are using outdated information or myths....

NEVER let this thing connect to the internet till after the first boot of the 3rd party firmware. As others have stated it will auto update if it sees internet. Odd are i spent 1-2 hours boxing with it. I would get uboot flashed correctly, and then it would boot the tmobile image because i did not quite throw enough bones to get it into limp mode, and that would blow away the uboot, but i would not know it. Then i would get back into limp mode, and wonder why the hell my uboot changed, rinse repeat.

Once you get uboot fixed and are on a 3rd party firmware you are gold.
As for all the haters uboot is pretty much set in stone, so even if you install the dredded asus firmware with image lock, you can still just reboot into limp mode and use the uboot gui to flash whatever you want, only flashing from the asus update page is locked to asus images.

If you want ultra low pings, install tomato or openwrt with sqm QOS baked in. No matter what you are doing on the network ping will be just as good as if zero traffic was flowing, aka zero buffer bloat. However you will sacrifice 5-10mbs of bandwith to achieve zero buffer bloat, for me , disabled i got 7.3Mbs with a 1200ms ping, and enabled i got 6.5Mbs with a 50ms ping. Using pfsense to do the same thing i could still pull 7Mbs with zero buffer bloat. Using merlin firmware and smart QOS, i could still pull 7.3Mbs but ping would go to 150-200ms. Yes i am blessed with a 50mbs connection that runs a bit faster than it should.

As for the other haters that think the new tmobile firmware disables the ability to get to limp mode, they are just doing it wrong. It takes a bit of a nack to get the timing down to bring up the tmobile uboot gui to be able to flash telnet to downgrade the tmobile firmware so you can change uboot.
 
Yes just keeping the page on 192.168.29.1 and hitting refresh after doing the hardware recovery mode instantly pulled up the firmware flashing page for me downgrade. So far it is working great with merlin. Will update if there are any concerns with stability
 
So did you guys just follow the directions on the DD-WRT wiki, or is there more to it?
 
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