Change country to unlock channels, increase TX-power. (Use at your own risk)

README.md

Disclaimer

Following instructions are provided without any warranty, and may even get you in trouble legally. The instructions are provided for testing, learning, preventing e-waste, and should be use with care. We (including contributers + commentators) are not responsible for any damage to your device(s) or any legal issues.

Getting Started

Instructions have been moved to https://github.com/francoism90/asus-router. :)

AiMesh Node Discovery Failure Due to Region-Lock Differences (RT-AC68U & RT-AC66U B1) – NVRAM Overrides Not Syncing

Hello everyone,

I am running into a highly specific AiMesh pairing issue involving regional variants of the ASUS RT-AC68U and RT-AC66U B1 (which share identical internal hardware chipsets). I have three distinct profiles of these routers based on their regional factory configurations:

• UN_66U: RT-AC66U B1 (Purchased new, fully unlocked, all regions selectable by default).

• EU_66U: RT-AC66U B1 (Purchased used, factory region-locked to EU).

• US_68U: RT-AC68U (Purchased used, factory region-locked to US).

My target environment/preferred operating region is US.
Firmware on all Routers is ASUS Merlin 386.14_2
Baseline Testing Scenarios

Before attempting any modifications, I ran several control tests to see how the stock regional locks behave when pairing:

• Scenario A (Fails): UN_66U (Main) + EU_66U (Node) -> Result: EU_66U is completely undetectable during the AiMesh search.
• Scenario B (Works): EU_66U (Main) + UN_66U (Node) -> Result: Successfully pairs. The unlocked node adapts down to the master's locked EU region regulations.
• Scenario C (Works): US_68U (Main) + UN_66U (Node) -> Result: Successfully pairs. The unlocked node adapts to the master's locked US region regulations.

The Current Problem & GitHub Mod Attempt
Because my target layout requires using the US_68U as the Main Router and the EU_66U as an AiMesh Node, I had to address the region mismatch preventing discovery in Scenario A.

Following a known GitHub guide for cross-region pairing, I executed a script modification on the EU_66U node, replacing the default #a configuration string with "US" to spoof/force the US region profile on the hardware level.

To prep the modified EU_66U for seamless adoption by the US_68U main router, I issued the following parameters over SSH to clear network barriers:
nvram set sw_mode=5 nvram set re_mode=0 nvram commit reboot

Current State: Following the reboot, the EU_66U behaves as expected superficially. I can access its local GUI via its bypass mode (re_mode=0), and the interface explicitly confirms it is operating in AiMesh Node Mode with its region successfully reporting as US.

The Issue:
Despite both routers now showing US regulatory profiles, when I initiate an AiMesh Node search from the US_68U (Main), the EU_66U is still not detected.

WPS is active on the main router, and I have verified there are no raw IP or subnet conflicts blocking them. It seems there is an underlying architectural variable or encrypted pairing handshake token that still sees the underlying factory EU identity of the node and rejects it.

Has anyone successfully completed a cross-region mesh pairing using NVRAM modifications on these Broadcom platforms? Which specific hidden NVRAM keys do I need to explicitly clear or mirror to make the US master accept this modified EU node?

Any insights or troubleshooting steps would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

@khawajamechatronics
Thanks for the detailed description.
Maybe I have not yet fully understood: So, your remaining issue is that the "EU_66U: RT-AC66U B1" is still somehow in EU country mode? Despite you set it manually to "US"? And thus it is not seen/detected by your main router "UN_66U (Main) "?