How to Install Merlin Firmware on Asus RT-AC86u?

Install Merlin Firmware on Asus RT AC86u:

Below are the steps to install Merlin Firmware on Asus RT AC86u, the process is as similar as updating the firmware update.

Let us tell you how to upgrade the latest firmware update.

Step 1 : Go to the website in order to install Merlin Firmware on Asus RT AC86u.

Step 2 : You need to browse your wireless router model folder on the website.

Step 3 : Under the AC68u folder, the two subfolders will appear on your screen.

Step 4 : First named Release (public release) and the second one is Beta (Normally directed toward alpha and beta testers to conduct Whitebox and black-box testing before submitting the report to RMerlin to be tweaked further after approval)

Step 5 : We would highly recommend you to download the firmware from the release folder.

Step 6 : Browse through the recently offered firmware of your wireless router under the release folder.

Step 7 : If it is in the latest state, by the provided modified section then look through the firmware.

Step 8 : Click on the latest firmware you found.

Step 9 : Next, you will be directed to the download page.

Step 10 : Your file will be downloaded within 5 seconds.

Step 11 : Log in to your wireless router web interface I.e. 192.168.1.1.

Step 12 : There are two ways of going to firmware sub-panel of your wireless router.

Step 13 : Click on your wireless router firmware version (the version number), under the reboot button.

Step 14 : Or, you can also click the Administration panel located on the bottom left of your Web Interface and click on Firmware Upgrade sub-panel (Step 4).

Step 15 : If you don’t have any compression tools installed in your computer, then, we would recommend you to give it a try to an open-source compression tool, 7-Zip.

Step 16 : You will see a few buttons like two Check buttons.

Step 17 : Now Click on the Upload link and a windows popup will pop up.

Step 18 : Using the compression tool  7-Zip or your own preferred compression tool, and then extract the firmware.

Step 19 : Click on the Merlin firmware with .trx extension and click on Open button.

Step 20 : Now your firmware will automatically start the updating process which will take at least 3 minutes to complete. Due to the upgrading process, you might lose your internet connection as well.

Step 21 : You can now log in to your wireless router Web Interface once the above process completes.

Step 22 : The UI will be nearly identical with the stock firmware, but a with few tweaks such as the Tools panel and the wizard icon located next to your wireless router model and loses an AiMesh button (AiMesh not supported in Asus-Merlin).

In case you want to revert back to the stock firmware, you just need to follow the above steps simply by uploading the original ASUSWRT firmware and, and in some cases, factory reset the wireless router to its factory settings and set the wireless router again is needed. This tutorial also can be used for users who wish to manually install Merlin Firmware on Asus RT AC86u.

• The focus of Asus – Merlin
• Specific stress on code tweaks
• Bug fixes
• Performance enhancement
• Pros and Cons of Asus – Merlin

Reflecting Asus-Merlin would cost your wireless router to lose AiMesh feature, however, Merlin retains the AiProtection which a major advantage with Merlin Firmware.

ASUS affirmed their confinement to providing the best to their end-user as, all of their products, constantly receiving software support for a specific amount of time, which usually hovers in between 5 to 6 years. When it comes to networking, ASUS marks the first position here due to their confinement to providing constant firmware update even for their older models like RT-AC68U.

But you should know that the Asus-Merlin only supports dual-band AC routers starting from AC66U_B1 to the top. And even if you are using the lower-end models (single-band wireless routers) for your internet subscription below than 100Mbps, you will still receive firmware updates from ASUS.  the sure thing is you will be notified if your wireless router model has reached its EOL status. We hope the above article helped you to install Merlin Firmware on Asus RT AC86u and to tweak your internet connection with an ease.