Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 426 Location: Fountain of Youth
Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 0:55 Post subject: $25 Asus TM-AC1900 (RT-AC68) [TMO]
Quote:
T-Mobile customers will be able to get their hands on one of these routers for free starting today. Simply call up the customer care line and order your own CellSpot. You do have to give T-Mobile a $25 refundable deposit, but that is nothing compared to the $150+ I spent on my Asus router.
So before a bunch of people spend money on this, one person had best test this. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
Caution certainly appropriate. Will point out that in the past the WRT54G-TM version, the T-Mobile version, was one of the BEST WRT-54G versions available and took DD-WRT no problems. Had more memory, etc., than the non-TM versions. _________________ Jim
Netgear R7000
Kong's 24800M OC to 1200,800
Previously:
Asus RT-N66U
Linksys E3000
Linksys WRT54GS Version 2.1
Buffalo WHR-HP-G54
Linksys WRT54G Version 1.1
Can this thread be temporarily sticky? I'd love to hear of success stories from the brave folks that have bought one from T-Mobile.
Total side question, does anyone know exactly what is T-Mobile crap is on the router? My understanding is that it has custom firmware that just prioritizes voice. Anyone have concerns about privacy?
I got mine in the mail today. I did not need to supply a deposit, however my coworker also picked one up and he did have to pay a deposit. So there is criteria that allows you to pick up this router for free with no deposit, what that is I do not know.
I would love to hear more about getting DD-WRT to function, however I don't think I'm qualified enough to lead the way.
The stock firmware it came with is 3.0.0.4.376_2827, and looking on the RT-AC68U firmware, they are on 3.0.0.4.376_1663. There is currently no download for the stock firmware for the TM-AC1900 (that I can find), so I'm not sure I want to goof around with it yet. Unless there was a way to extract a copy of the stock firmware from the device. _________________ Chris
Asus TM-AC1900
Asus RT-N16 (AP Bridges)
Linksys E1000 (AP Bridges)
Is the webgui Asus or TMobile? That might tell something. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
There was a whole different thread about this earlier this week where we discussed it. Mine was shipped today so when I have it in hand i will le you know what is possible with this unit. FYI it was free till yesterday. It is now 25 bucks. _________________ EA-6900
Asus 68U
Joined: 29 Jul 2014 Posts: 12 Location: Seattle, USA
Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 1:24 Post subject:
When I saw this topic in the forum I was super excited! An AC router for only $25!!
But on reading the first post, it's only for T-Mobile users. That's an awesome deal if you're a T-Mobile subscriber though (which I'm not). Bummer. _________________ Router: Linksys E1200 v2
Firmware: DD-WRT v24-sp2 (06/07/14) K26/r22000++ vpnkong
I just got mine this evening. I'm unusually paranoid about privacy and security, so I configured it and did the best I could to check it out before connecting it to the Internet. What I noticed:
1) The IP was 192.168.2X.X (I think it was 192.168.26.1, but not sure, as I promptly changed it)
2) There was no option to turn on, or off, automatic updates. I configured it manually as an AP, and didn't give it any DNS servers. Regardless, a few minutes after being online, it mysteriously rebooted. After checking the firmware, I see it updated itself.
3) There was apparently a way to turn off WPS. Unlike some older Linksys routers, the setting seems to work.
I don't trust any large company, including T-Mobile, with my privacy. I can't wait to get Open Source firmware on this thing. Over at this thread: http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=19550
It seems somebody was successful in changing the firmware.
Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 426 Location: Fountain of Youth
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 2:31 Post subject:
@cdmarshall: we look forward to you publishing your results. If the install is successful, may I suggest posting the following?
1) FTP Link to the firmware version
2) Test measurements in 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands
3) Any other test metrics / measurements
4) USB 3.0 speed measurement
5) Optware (OTRW) compatibility
6) NVRAM available immediately after install
7) Installation procedure
It is simply VOIP calling. the T-Mobile phone firmware includes a VOIP client that connects to T-Mobiles (Level-3 actually) VOIp gateways. Sprint also has this and has for many years. T-Mobile phones will do it on any wi-fi connection. You do however have to set the address on your account for each phone as the big issues with VOIP is 911 (emergency services)
Please feel free to PM me if you with to talk further about how the TMobile and Sprint Cell VoIP works. AS I am intimately familiar with both ; ) _________________ EA-6900
Asus 68U
