Following instructions are provided without any warranty, and may even get you in trouble legally. The instructions are provided for testing, and should be use with care. We (including commentators) are not responsible for any damage to your device(s).
This may enable additional channels and power (in most cases don't) on ASUS Merlin provided routers.
The nvram settings have been tested on a ASUS RT-AX58U, they may work on other models as well (ASUS RT-AC78U).
Please use nvram dump
and adjust when needed, as they may differ on your device!
Credits to the commentators below, and members on the SNBForums posting instructions. Please post your findings, and help others when needed. :)
See https://www.htpcguides.com/enable-ssh-asus-routers-without-ssh-keys/ for instructions.
nvram dump > dump.txt
NOTE: You need to copy the dump.txt (or output by
nvram dump
to somewhere else), as they will be lost on reboot
Make sure
Enable JFFS custom scripts and configs
, is enabled in System settings. See https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng/wiki/User-scripts for details.
Make sure to also run the following commands:
nvram set jffs2_scripts="1"
nvram commit
Create the /jffs/scripts/wl
file, and paste the nvram
overwrites into this file (see given example file).
Create/adjust /jffs/scripts/init-start
:
#!/bin/sh
[ -x /jffs/scripts/wl ] && /jffs/scripts/wl &
# [ -x /jffs/addons/AdGuardHome.d/AdGuardHome.sh ] && /jffs/addons/AdGuardHome.d/AdGuardHome.sh init-start & # place before addons
Create/adjust /jffs/scripts/services-start
:
#!/bin/sh
/jffs/scripts/wl >/dev/null 2>&1 & # wl
# /jffs/scripts/scmerlin startup & # scMerlin
Create/adjust /jffs/scripts/service-event
:
#!/bin/sh
if echo "$2" | /bin/grep -q "wireless"; then { /jffs/scripts/wl service_event "$@" & }; fi # wl
Create/adjust /jffs/scripts/service-event-end
:
#!/bin/sh
if echo "$2" | /bin/grep -q "wireless"; then { /jffs/scripts/wl service_event "$@" & }; fi # wl
Make sure the scripts are executable:
chmod a+rx /jffs/scripts/*
You need to reboot the router to apply changes:
reboot
To make the changes persistent, make sure to add them to the jffs/scripts/wl
script.
Ok adding on to what I have learned from fooling around a bit.
My AX88U shipped with "DE" country. This limited transmission power to 12, i.e.:
After copying the example script and rebooting the router:
So the Tx power has increased by a bit over double. I can also see from numerous WiFi apps and also the Asus Site Survey/WiFi Radar that my transmission power has increased massively. Note that I have not copied any of the "Risky" transmission lines into my start script. All I have in my start script is what I have in the reply above.
2.4Ghz
5Ghz
I am pretty satisfied with this. It would have been nice to use Channel 14, but I can concur and confirm with others. Setting the channel to 14 will generally reset my router to "DE" region again and put the Tx power back to 12 from 26. This is generally good enough for me.
Hopefully there's no health risks from setting the Tx power so high. I sit about 1.2m from my router. Though I plan to move it into another room when I move my study area. Hence part of the reason why I started investigating this in the first place.