Question for network gurus

[G G]

Okay, got the gist of how this works. When you flash the merlin firmware onto the router, it doesn't change the look and feel of the original firmware. It still looks and acts like the original Asus firmware, it just has more settings.

The way the policy based routing works is this: You turn it on, the default devices that have no policy set goes through the WAN and not the tunnel. In order for this to work you have to set static IPs on the devices connected to the router because that's the way you tell it which devices to run through the tunnel. I already set all my devices with static local IPs anyway so I didn't have to do it. You can set a device to either go through the tunnel or the WAN, but if you don't set a device it goes through the WAN. I will probably only run the Fire Sticks through the tunnel and leave everything else on the WAN. I am leaving shortly for the day and I will be able to see if the camera will be available.

[Weelok]

Originally Posted by G G

Okay, got the gist of how this works. When you flash the merlin firmware onto the router, it doesn't change the look and feel of the original firmware. It still looks and acts like the original Asus firmware, it just has more settings.

The way the policy based routing works is this: You turn it on, the default devices that have no policy set goes through the WAN and not the tunnel. In order for this to work you have to set static IPs on the devices connected to the router because that's the way you tell it which devices to run through the tunnel. I already set all my devices with static local IPs anyway so I didn't have to do it. You can set a device to either go through the tunnel or the WAN, but if you don't set a device it goes through the WAN. I will probably only run the Fire Sticks through the tunnel and leave everything else on the WAN. I am leaving shortly for the day and I will be able to see if the camera will be available.

That sounds like the right answer!!! Simple fix and pretty powerful firmware!!!

[G G]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

Just remember this: the more complex the setup, the much more difficult it is to debug

I hear ya. I have ran dd-wrt on a linksys router before. I can say though that running Merlin on the Asus is nowhere near as overwhelming as dd-wrt. It almost seems like dd-wrt has TOO much stuff. Merlin on Asus is great and pretty easy to understand.

Originally Posted by Weelok

That sounds like the right answer!!! Simple fix and pretty powerful firmware!!!

I can report that it's the perfect solution and it works like a charm. I was able to bring up the cameras from outside the network like it's supposed to be.

I can also say that my wifi calling works better since I bought the Asus, but it didn't come right out of the box that way.

I have used an AT&T microcell for several years and it always worked great. I was running a Linksys router until I bought the Asus. I have known for a long time that I was double NATed, but the microcell works fine as long as you do a couple port forwards. When AT&T got wifi calling enabled I tried it since I could get rid of the microcell if it would work. I have tried it several times it always dropped calls and would go in an out.

Flash forward to now, when I configured the Asus, it flashes a message telling you that certain things won't work right cause you are double NATted. So I called the phone company and told them to bridge my modem. Once the modem was bridged and I am no longer double NATed, the wifi calling so far has been working perfect. So i am of the opinion that in my set-up wifi calling is confounded by double NAT.

So far I am loving this Asus RT-AC87U and wished I had bought one sooner. I have had no problems with Linksys and always liked them as well. But this Asus is very powerful in the settings you are able to do, and the wireless is awesome as well. On the 5 ghz band it works a pretty good distance too. On my old Linksys the 5 ghz band would only work about 15 feet and drop out after that. Unless something crazy happens I have probably found a new router brand to stick with for awhile.

Thanks for the ideas and help. Without reading your replies I might not have searched as hard for an answer to find the Merlin and policy based routing feature.