ASUS RT-AC68U AsusWrt-Merlin Firmware 380.68.0

The AsusWrt-Merlin firmware was developed with the primary goal of boosting the original ASUS firmware, fix bugs and also add new improvements. This package includes a customized firmware targeted at ASUS routers that brings various changes without modifying the interface of the original firmware.

Changes:

- IMPORTANT: due to major webui changes, you will need to either flush your browser cache, or force it to reload the page (shift-reload) the first time you access the webui after upgrading to 380.68.
- NEW: Merged GPL 380_7743 binary blobs for the RT-N66U.
- NEW: Backported Ethernet port status report on the Network Map from GPL 382.
- NEW: Description field added to OpenVPN client configuration
- NEW: Added missing hash types to ipset_arm (Patch by john9527)
- NEW: Added hostname Busybox applet, used by some Entware packages
- NEW: Added TPROXY netfilter target module (ARM only)
- CHANGED: Switched webui menu generation code to GPL 382 code. This new code is easier for me to maintain.
- CHANGED: Used webui menu icons from GPL 382.
- CHANGED: Re-organized VPN pages, merging some together.
- CHANGED: Reworked VPNStatus page, will now refresh itself every 5 seconds. It will also report a client's local and public IP addresses.
- CHANGED: Re-designed webui interface for managing SSL certificate. Added Upload button, and revamped certificate info display (includes some backports from GPL 382)
- CHANGED: Removed option to enable/disable persistent webui certificate - they are now always persistent.
- CHANGED: Reworked Tools -> Sysinfo page, dynamic data will refresh itself every 3 seconds, also port ordering will be more consistent, and display based on the new tableAPI from GPL 382.
- CHANGED: Backported system log page from GPL 382: moved logging settings to it, added option to set a remote syslog server's port, and shown log will auto refresh.
- CHANGED: Re-designed DHCP Lease log page to use the new tableAPI, with sortable fields (defaults to IP sort)
- CHANGED: Do not alternate between ntp server from webui and the one hardcoded in nvram - use webui one, unless it's empty - then use the second server set in nvram.
- CHANGED: Moved App icon out of the notification area and into the footer of the page, with other links.
- CHANGED: Updated Curl to 7.54.1
- CHANGED: Updated nano to 2.8.6
- CHANGED: Re-designed the way the Tor database gets backed up, so it won't grow stale by never being updated.
- CHANGED: Define and forward a small range of ports (57535-57565) for use for passive FTP (needed for TLS over WAN).
- CHANGED: Reduce the amount of logging done while configuring policy-based routing for an OpenVPN client when using the default log verbosity level of 3.
- FIXED: Duplicate LAN port 1 shown for the RT-AC87U on the Sysinfo page.
- FIXED: Port forward/UPNP issues with CTF enabled depending on selected NAT loopback mode.
- FIXED: URL filtering wasn't working over IPv4.
- FIXED: OpenVPN instances could potentially start too early at boot time (before clock was set)
- FIXED: When multiple OpenVPN clients are connected to the router, their username wouldn't show as Connected.
- FIXED: Progress report would go to 200% if you changed a setting and started or stopped an OpenVPN client or server.
- FIXED: Security issues CVE-2017-11344, CVE-2017-11345 and CVE-2017-11420 in networkmap (patches by Kilo Foxtrot Papa)
- FIXED: Webui self-generated certificate could sometime be invalid due to a race condition between the SSL and non-SSL httpd instances starting at the same time.
- FIXED: Tor would fail to start if there was a backed up database in /jffs/.tordb, due to bad permissions.
- FIXED: SMB sharing without user authentication would fail if router's admin username was changed from "admin" (Asus bug)
- FIXED: SMB sharing without user authentication would cause SMB2 to downgrade to SMB1.
- FIXED: 5GHz-2 would show an "undefined" channel on the Wireless-> General and in the wifi popup if 5GHz-1 was disabled (Asus bug).
 

Installation Notes:

- This custom firmware can be applied like any regular update.
- You should not need to reset to factory defaults.
- You can revert back to an original ASUS firmware at any time.
- Do not load a saved copy of your settings. 

About Router Firmware:

Before you consider downloading this firmware, go to the system information page of the router and make sure that the currently installed version isn't either newer or matching this release.

Due to the large variety of router models and different methods for upgrading the device, it is highly recommended that you read and, above all, understand the installation steps before you apply the new firmware, even if you are a power user.

In theory, these steps shouldn't be much of a hassle for anyone, because manufacturers try to make them as easy as possible, even if they don't always succeed. Basically, you must upload the new firmware to the router through its administration page and allow it to upgrade.

If you install a new version, you can expect increased security levels, different vulnerability issues to be resolved, improved overall performance and transfer speeds, enhanced compatibility with other devices, added support for newly developed technologies, as well as several other changes.

If you're looking for certain safety measures, remember that it would be best if you perform the upload using an Ethernet cable rather than a wireless connection, which can be interrupted easily. Also, make sure you don't power off the router or use its buttons during the installation, if you wish avoid any malfunctions.

If this firmware meets your current needs, get the desired version and apply it to your router unit; if not, check with our website as often as possible so that you don't miss the update that will improve your device.