OpenWrt support for Asus RT-AX53U

neil1 · 2022-08-11T14:19:57.683Z

I also ordered one.

nemoforum · 2022-08-12T20:13:17.968Z

From my observations, it looks stable.
I've got around 400 Mbps down and around 600 Mbps up, tested with the OnePlus 9 Pro and Intel AX200NGW (with Manjaro).

neil1 · 2022-08-13T17:22:22.128Z

I got my RT-AX53U. So much better compared to mi ax 1800.

v2zEPhNxdm · 2022-08-14T04:53:23.873Z

I see only snapshot is available for RT-AX53U

Are we expecting stable 22.03?

Or unknown ?

frollic · 2022-08-14T06:56:08.079Z

Doubtful, unless it's also in the recent RCs.

nemoforum · 2022-08-14T12:01:08.360Z

LAN <-> Wi-Fi (5GHz) with Intel AX200NGW (on Manjaro Linux):

photo_2022-08-14_14-57-38748×767 129 KB

It seems NAT performance is a bottleneck (see my previous post, those tests have been made WAN <-> WiFi). I hope this PR will help somehow.

neil1 · 2022-08-14T18:08:21.367Z

speed test asus RT-AX53U as access point.
between desktop PC gigabit lan
and laptop 5ghz wifi6

Screenshot 2022-08-14 203041792×166 4.09 KB

CPU usage during download and upload

Screenshot 2022-08-14 203437584×520 29 KB

Screenshot 2022-08-14 2035371410×882 55.4 KB

lukasz92 · 2022-08-15T08:32:05.873Z

Will not. On the page you sent, you can read "Routing and NAT performance is identical."

DrSamJames · 2022-08-15T12:31:20.895Z

Hi

I'm trying to install OpenVPN on my RT-AX53U but I'm having a problem with the kmod-tun package, I'm getting the error:

The installed version of package kernel is not compatible, require 5.10.136-1-96a14cb2… while 5.10.135-1-ebf0db9c… is installed.

Any ideas what I can do?

Thanks

Sam

tlc718 · 2022-08-15T13:26:06.416Z

I received the router today. As I don't have the USB2TTL dongle with me, I started to look if ssh can be enabled.
Surprisingly, I found this option in the router's Administration menu:

IM.GE - Free Image Hosting - Upload Image & Share

ax53u_ssh

Image ax53u_ssh hosted in IM.GE - Free Image Hosting - Upload Image & Share

I could log in via ssh using the admin account:

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ax53u_ssh2

Image ax53u_ssh2 hosted in IM.GE - Free Image Hosting - Upload Image & Share

DrSamJames · 2022-08-15T14:41:21.325Z

Hi

I downloaded the lastest snapshoot and that got it working. I should have read the notes on this page:

OpenWrt Wiki – 5 Feb 17

Development builds / snapshots

Development builds / snapshots The development branch can contain experimental code that is under active development and should not be used for production environments. Snapshot images may support additional hardware; however, it is experimental,...

Sam

tlc718 · 2022-08-15T17:13:08.172Z

Hi,

Can you please describe very briefly what is the TFTP procedure for this router?
I tried so far both server and client mode, without being able to trigger the tftp transfer.

Here is what I did so far:

set router LAN IP: 192.168.1.1
set laptop IP (running win 11) to 192.168.1.2
downloaded tftpd64 and configured to listen to the appropriate interface (the laptop's ethernet 192.168.1.2)
in tftpd64 I have exposed the directory containing file openwrt-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin
turned off/on router with ethernet cable connected to LAN port 1 (tried also LAN 3)
waited for the system to boot (takes about 30-40 seconds until it loads the OS)
nothing happens in this time
I have also tried turning on the router with the Reset button pressed - same result, nothing happens
I have tried also to use the tftp client command tftp -i 192.168.1.1 PUT openwrt-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin

Thanks!

darca · 2022-08-15T20:30:41.417Z

Before this you need to

set up the usb-to-serial connected to the router board as instructed on the wiki
plug the usb-to-serial to your pc and open a serial emulator terminal

tlc718:

set router LAN IP: 192.168.1.1

set laptop IP (running win 11) to 192.168.1.2

downloaded tftpd64 and configured to listen to the appropriate interface (the laptop's ethernet 192.168.1.2)

in tftpd64 I have exposed the directory containing file openwrt-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin

turned off/on router with ethernet cable connected to LAN port 1 (tried also LAN 3)

at this point you should see data coming off the previously set terminal, you must interrupt u-boot in order to flash the openwrt factory image

the whole process (with example of what you should see on the console) is documented here

https://openwrt.org/toh/asus/rt-ax53u#oem_installation_using_the_tftp_method

tlc718 · 2022-08-15T20:46:52.222Z

Thank you, @darca, it's very clear now.
I was under the impression that the tftp transfer can be done without the usb-to-ttl dongle.
In fact, it was pretty obvious that the only way the Uboot menu described above "2. Upgrade firmware; 0 - TFTP client (Default)" could be shown, is via a serial terminal connected to the COM port of the dongle.

Has anyone succeded uploading the openwrt binary using the mtd-write command ?

darca · 2022-08-15T21:10:09.991Z

DrSamJames:

The installed version of package kernel is not compatible

you need to upgrade to the latest snapshots
if the version of the kernel changes on the snapshot, the other official packages will be updated to the compatibility with the new kernel, and if you stay on the older one you'll get this message since package and kernel are not compatible

the upgrade process is easy, it even keeps your configuration, you can do it through luci
only thing to keep in mind is that any "custom" package you have installed after the initial flash, will need to be manually reinstalled after the snapshot update. this includes luci itself (as it's not bundled with snapshot releases)

darca · 2022-08-15T21:13:25.603Z

ssh is not sufficient unfortunately. there are two options to flash firmware without usb-to-serial adapter from OEM firmware:

asus own utility for restoring the firmware (not working)
OEM web interface flash (not working)

the second one, might be interesting to "hack" since asus uploaded the sourcecode and build tools for the OEM firmware
we just need someone with the time to

find the firmware check on the oem web ui
remove it
make a custom build that we can use as a stepping stone to flash openwrt without any hardware tinkering

nemoforum · 2022-08-16T08:54:45.304Z

darca:

asus own utility for restoring the firmware (not working)

Actually, this utility acts as a TFTP client, and the router as a TFTP server (when powered on while holding the reset button).
I was able to flash OpenWRT in this mode, however if failed boot, see . It looks like the image should be built differently for the restoration flash method.

vvoland · 2022-08-17T19:59:26.811Z

Flashing with mtd-write via ssh also works. Just need to flash factory image to "Kernel" partition instead of "linux".

This is what I did:

wget https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ramips/mt7621/openwrt-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin
mtd-write -i openwrt-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin -d Kernel

LarsNorgaard · 2022-08-17T21:53:21.630Z

This works without usb to serial adapter directly from ssh or?

vvoland · 2022-08-17T22:16:33.216Z

Yes, you don't need to do anything physically with the router. Just enable ssh in stock fw settings and then login with the same credentials that you login to the web ui.