ASUS RT-AC66U

ASUS RT-AC66U A1 (1.30)
Availability: common

Manuf (OEM/ODM): Askey RT2320W -E61

FCC approval date: 30 May 2012
(Est.) release date: 10 June 2012
(Est.) initial retail price (in USD): $200
UPC: 886227214341 (UPC DB, On eBay)
Country of manuf.: China
Series: AC1750

Amazon image

ASIN
B008ABOJKS (, On Amazon, On CCC)
multiple revisions of this device, use caution

Type: wireless router

FCC ID: MSQ-RTAC66U
IC ID: 3568A-RTAC66U

Power: 19 VDC, 1.58 A
Connector type: barrel

CPU1: Broadcom BCM4706 (600 MHz)
FLA1: 128 MiB134,217,728 B 1,048,576 Kib 131,072 KiB 1,024 Mib 0.125 GiB  (Samsung K9F1G08U0D-SCB0)
FLA2: 2 MiB2,097,152 B 16,384 Kib 2,048 KiB 16 Mib 0.00195 GiB  (Macronix MX25L1606EM2I-12G)
RAM1: 256 MiB268,435,456 B 2,097,152 Kib 262,144 KiB 2,048 Mib 0.25 GiB  (Samsung K4T1G164QF-BCF7 × 2)

Expansion IFs: USB 2.0
USB ports: 2
JTAG: yes
Serial: yes, 3.3V TTL

WI1 chip1: Broadcom BCM4360
WI1 802dot11 protocols: an+ac
WI1 MIMO config: 3x3:3
WI1 antenna connector: U.FL, RP-SMA
WI2 chip1: Broadcom BCM4331
WI2 802dot11 protocols: bgn
WI2 MIMO config: 3x3:3
WI2 antenna connector: U.FL, RP-SMA

ETH chip1: Broadcom BCM4706
Switch: Broadcom BCM53125
LAN speed: 1GbE
LAN ports: 4
WAN speed: 1GbE
WAN ports: 1

abgn+ac

TPFirmware supported: AsusWRT-Merlin • (Wiki | List), DD-WRT • (List), FreshTomato • (List | DLs), Tomato (Shibby) • (List | DLs)

Flags: AiCloud support

Default SSID: ASUS (97 addl. devices)
, ASUS_5G (44 addl. devices)
Default IP address: 192.168.1.1
the IP 192.168.1.1 is used by 1304 additional devices
of which 167 are ASUS devices
Default login user: admin
Default login password: admin
admin:admin credentials used by 1324 additional devices
of which 198 are ASUS devices

802dot11 OUI: 08:60:6E (1 E, 1 W), 10:BF:48 (3 E, 4 W), 30:85:A9 (3 E, 3 W), 50:46:5D (2 E, 2 W)
Ethernet OUI: 08:60:6E (1 E, 1 W), 10:BF:48 (3 E, 4 W), 30:85:A9 (3 E, 3 W), 50:46:5D (2 E, 2 W)

	FCC ID
ASUS RT-AC1750	MSQ-RTAC66U

	CPU1 brand	WI1 chip1 brand	WI2 chip1 brand
ASUS RT-AC66U	Broadcom	Broadcom	Broadcom
ASUS RT-AC66U B1	Broadcom	Broadcom	Broadcom

For a list of all currently documented Broadcom chipsets with specifications, see Broadcom.

802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router

Product page • (RT-AC66W) • (RT-AC66R)

Specifications

"RT-AC66U" and "REV 1.30" is silkscreened on the (blue) board in the FCC photos.

This router is sold in various brick & mortar stores as the RT-AC66R and RT-AC66W..

The FCC label states the default SSID is ASUS.

Links of Interest

News

Reviews

Tim Higgins review on SmallNetBuilder

10:BF:48 OUI on the label in the internal photos

Maylyn's review on the hardwarezone.com.sg forums

UPC: 886227214341, EAN: 4716<?>4342,

OUI: 10:BF:48, rev. A1, mfg. year 2012

Review on tweakers.net

CPU: Broadcom BCM4706KPBG MIPS74K, @600MHz

Flash: Samsung K9F1G08U0D-SCB0 128MB, SLC

RAM: 2x Samsung K4T1G164QF-BCF7 256MB, DDR2 @800MHz

2.4GHz: Broadcom BCM4331KMLG + 3x PA (E0GB 2AKC 216A)

5GHz: Broadcom BCM4360KMLG + 3x PA (5003L1 210ED 1210)

SiGe SE5003L, 23dBm (200mW) Datasheet

Switch: Broadcom BCM53125SKMML 1GbE

Forum threads

New ASUS RT-AC66U router (5G 802.11ac) on wl500g.info
On the DD-WRT forums (w/ DD-WRT test build and internal images

posted by Magnetron1.1 [hosted on Mediafire], official support added

in build 20873 - 20130308 per the DD-WRT wiki)

50:46:5D OUI on a label shot in the thread

08:60:6E OUI on a DD-WRT build shot in the thread

A later revision A2 model in the thread has "RT-AC66U" and "REV 1.60"

silkscreened on the board.

Small info dump in the RT-N66U thread on the DD-WRT forums

Serial log indicates the device has an additional 2MB Serial Flash chip

Flashing

NOTE: During configuration or flashing a device, the only things that should be hooked to the device is the computer and power.

Flashing DD-WRT

Download firmware image here
Set static ip of 192.168.1.7
reset to defaults in Asus GUI or in recovery mode
In recovery mode, upload BrainSlayer's file
Give the router plenty of time to flash and reboot.
Once able browse to 192.168.1.1, if you see the change password screen of dd-wrt then

do a hard reset which puts the router in recovery mode, select erase nvram and reboot.

If you donot see the change password screen start over from step 1.

Flashing Tomato

• ASUS Tomato Flash Guide
Source Note: some people say you need to install DD-WRT first. I do NOT recommend anyone to install DD-WRT first before installing Tomato on Asus routers. Download a suitable tomato firmware Install the Asus router utility from the CD that came with the router. Run \Utility\setup.exe from the CD to install it. If you no longer have the CD you can also download it from the Asus website. Disable Firewall on your computer. Disable anti-virus on your computer. Connect your computer to one of the LAN ports of the router with an ethernet cable. Assign a static IP of 192.168.1.10 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0 to your computer LAN port. Disconnect the router WAN port if you already have a cable plugged into that port. From Windows Start menu, run ASUS Utility -> RT-N Wireless Router -> Firmware Restoration. Click the Browse button and select the file that you downloaded in step #1. Don’t click the upload button yet. Put the router in recovery mode: Unplug the power cord of the router. Hold down the black Restore button using a pen (not the red button). Plug the power cord back in. Once the power light starts flashing slowing, release the Restore button. The power light should continue to flash. The flashing light means the router is ready to accept the new firmware in recovery mode. Click the upload button in the Restoration utility. If it warns about incorrect Asus firmware, ignore it. The firmware should now start uploading into the router. Don’t touch anything while the firmware is being uploaded. (Note: these steps worked when I flashed my RT-N16. However, the utility could not find my RT-N12 B1 when I tried to flash the router, although it did work for other people. After failing for more than a dozen times, I tried to perform the upload first before putting the router in recovery mode, then it finally worked. Later I tried a different unit of RT-N12 B1 strangely it could be flashed the first time using the normal procedure. If neither of these procedures work, please see the Addendum in The Wiert Corner, and the tftp method described by Simeon W in the comments section.) No matter whether the utility says the upload is completed, or it hangs at a certain percent, DO NOT PANIC, and WAIT FOR FIVE MINUTES before you do anything else. After five minutes, open a browser and go to http://192.168.1.1. Login with user “admin” (or “root”) and password “admin”. You should be logged into Tomato. Administration -> Configuration -> Restore Default Configuration -> Erase all data in NVRAM memory(thorough) -> OK (Note: there is a forum report saying this reset function does not work properly on RT-N53 – in this case, try the hardware reset button.) After it is completed, login again, enable DHCP (for Toastman Builds), change admin password, enable WiFi security if you use WiFi, plug in your WAN connection and configure it. Also take a look at the CPU frequency, you may need to manually change it if it is not correct. (Note: overclocking your router is usually not a good idea from my experience.) Change your computer LAN port back to use DHCP (dynamic address) and dynamic DNS. Wiert Corner method pull the power plug on the RT N66U press and hold the reset button insert the power plug on the RT N66U wait for the power led to slowly blink release the reset button wait a few minutes for the modem to become stable in the mean time set your PC to these IPv4 settings: – host = `192.168.1.100` – mask = `255.255.255.0` start your web-browser point your web-browser to `http://192.168.1.1` (it will time out, don’t worry) press the power button to turn off the router wait a few seconds press the power button to turn on the router now your router gets into rescue mode refresh your browser so it goes to `http://192.168.1.1` again upload your Tomato firmware –jeroen TFTP method Put the router into recovery mode, set a static IP address on the computer then run in the shell: tftp 192.168.1.1 binary put [filename].trx Wait several minutes while firmware transfers and router updates. Reboot twice, waiting 3 minutes in between each reboot, and the router should now have tomato installed.

Upgrading

Updating DD-WRT

• ASUS DD-WRT Upgrade Guide
===Updating DD-WRT=== If dd-wrt is already on the router follow these instructions. If stock firmware is on the router follow the flashing instructions. Check for recommended builds here first. Set your computer to a static IP of 192.168.1.7. (or to whatever subnet the router is on) Disable all firewalls and security. Disable wireless on your computer and only have the router connected to the flashing computer by the ethernet cable between the two. Hard reset or 30/30/30 (If the router supports it, if not, reset to defults in the GUI) prior to flashing. Wait. Check for password page on re-login and change password. Flash firmware. You can use the webgui except if you have a belkin router. (For belkin use tftp.exe to flash) Wait...at least three minutes. Lights should return to normal. See important2, below. Failing to wait is how most people brick their routers. Do a power cycle of the router. (Unplug the cord, count to 30 and plug it back in.) Wait for the lights to return to normal usually about 2 minutes. Hard reset or 30/30/30 again (If the router supports it, if not, reset to defults in the GUI). Wait. Check for the password page and re-login to change the password. Then you can reconfigure your settings manually. Once configured set your computer back to autoIP and autoDNS. Important1: This Hard reset or 30/30/30 works fine for Asus router, but you do have to power cycle after the reset. Important2: After you flash the firmware, and before you do the hard reset, the router will be building some nvram settings. YOU MUST WAIT FOR THIS TO FINISH PRIOR TO DOING ANYTHING WITH THE ROUTER INCLUDING A HARD RESET. Usually, you can tell when this process is completed by the WAN light coming on, but it does take several minutes. Go have a beer. There are starting to be more and more people who BRICK their routers by not waiting until the nvram is rebuilt, PRIOR to doing a hard reset. YOU NEED TO WAIT!

USB Info

DD-WRT USB

The USB port is where you can connect an external USB hard drive or flash drive.

Which can do a multitude of things. You can use in as a NAS, storage for a FTP

server, use Optware to run external programs like torrent software, samba for

sharing files to network, share a USB printer with network...

The list of possibilities is long, it just takes a little research.

ProFTPd is included in most the newer builds of dd-wrt.

Check the features chart to be sure.

Tomato

TomatoUSB comes with file sharing, ftp server and media server built in.

Tutorial: How to set up NAS and Optware on Tomato FOR TOTAL NOOBS

Pictures

Asus' Images

front
angled
angled2
back
angled3
front2
top
side
side angled
back
Details

Magnetron1.1's Unit

Top view of System PCB
Top view without heat sink
Top view without heat sink, EMI shields, and 3 heat conductive foam tape pads
Closeup of Broadcom CPU
Closeup of Samsung SDRAM's
Closeup of Broadcom Ethernet Switch
Closeup of Broadcom 802.11 IC's
Bottom view of System PCB
Bottom view without ground plate
Closeup of Macronix 2MB NOR Serial Flash Memory
Closeup of Samsung 128MB NAND Flash Memory

Notes

jffs Issue in DD-WRT

This problem is caused by the firmware encountering an unmarked bad block during an erase operation while attempting to setup a JFFS2 filesystem on device /dev/mtd/4.

Most people will probably never experience this problem. The AC66U, the D1800H, and the Buffalo WLI-H4-D1300 Media Bridge use the same Samsung flash memory chip. In my case, 4 of my 5 D1800H's had the problem but my D1300 didn't. Neither of my AC66U's had the problem. One person on one of the AC66U threads reported having the problem; here's a link to his post.

If you have the problem, you will not be able to create or copy directories and files to /jffs. Here are some example error messages:(this list was shortened to save space - it can go on for several pages)

root@WZR-D1800HRT2:~# dmesg|grep jffs
jffs2: jffs2_scan_eraseblock(): Magic bitmask 0x1985 not found at 0x05ee0020: 0xe952 instead
jffs2: jffs2_scan_eraseblock(): Magic bitmask 0x1985 not found at 0x05ee0024: 0x0e6d instead
jffs2: Further such events for this erase block will not be printed
jffs2: Old JFFS2 bitmask found at 0x05efc7fc
jffs2: You cannot use older JFFS2 filesystems with newer kernels
jffs2: Cowardly refusing to erase blocks on filesystem with no valid JFFS2 nodes
jffs2: empty_blocks 379, bad_blocks 1, c->nr_blocks 760

Also the Status -> Router webpage will show that JFFS2 has no free space.

To fix this problem try the following at a command line prompt:

flash_erase -j /dev/mtd/4 0 0 && reboot

This command erases and marks bad any bad blocks encountered so that they can be "skipped"

and formats the partition to JFFS2 specifications.

I believe the firmware uses the mtd erase command which seems to fail at handling bad blocks.

The flash_erase command needs to be run only once.

- Magnetron1.1

Trouble with recovery mode

mhchm

I just want to give a tip for anybody who has trouble getting into recovery mode. I didn't find this simple information on the internet yet. First, some context:

I flashed a Brainslayer build from a Fractal build, and then my router stopped responding to ping. When booting normally, the power and ethernet LEDs would light up. The same thing happened when booting up with the reset button pressed, which should have put into recovery mode, but didn't. When booting up with the WPS button pressed, the power LED would flash and clear the NVRAM. The router then started up and enabled the two radios, broadcasting a "dd-wrt" SSID, but still no ping.

To force it into recovery mode:

   Set a static IP of 192.168.1.2
   Press the WPS button and start up
   Let the power LED flash rapidly for 5 seconds, then release WPS
   Immediately press the reset button, keeping it pressed until the power LED flashes slowly
   Release the reset button
   Point your browser to 192.168.1.1

Voilà.

revinfo

per comments on a commit on Oleg's wl500g Google Code repo

wl -i eth1 revinfo (BCM4331)

admin@RT-AC66U:/tmp/home/root# wl -i eth1 revinfo
vendorid 0x14e4
deviceid 0x4332
radiorev 0x2059000
chipnum 0x4331
chiprev 0x2
chippackage 0x8
corerev 0x1d
boardid 0xf5b2
boardvendor 0x14e4
boardrev P100
driverrev 0x61e271f
ucoderev 0x2f10071
bus 0x1
phytype 0x7
phyrev 0x1
anarev 0x0

wl -i eth2 revinfo (BCM4360)

admin@RT-AC66U:/tmp/home/root# wl -i eth2 revinfo
vendorid 0x14e4
deviceid 0x43a2
radiorev 0x32069000
chipnum 0x4360
chiprev 0x2
chippackage 0x1
corerev 0x28
boardid 0x621
boardvendor 0x14e4
boardrev P305
driverrev 0x61e271f
ucoderev 0x2f10071
bus 0x1
phytype 0xb
phyrev 0x0
anarev 0x0