ASUS RT-N16

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bgn (N300)
Multi-Functional Gigabit Wireless N Router
Asus RT-N16a.jpg
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3rd Party Firmware
dd-wrt
OpenWrt
Tomato any flavor
Gargoyle
Status Unknown
Platform
Brand • Model • Rev
ASUS RT-N16
FCC ID
IC ID
Type
wireless router
CPU1
Broadcom BCM4718A1
CPU1 Type
MIPS 74Kc
CPU1 Speed
480 MHz
Flash1 Chip
Macronix MX29GL256EHTI2I-90Q
Flash1 Size
32 MiB33,554,432 B <br />262,144 Kib <br />32,768 KiB <br />256 Mib <br />0.0313 GiB <br />
RAM1 Size
128 MiB134,217,728 B <br />1,048,576 Kib <br />131,072 KiB <br />1,024 Mib <br />0.125 GiB <br />
RAM1 Chip
Samsung K4N51163QZ-HC25 x 2
nvram Size
32K
ETH chip1
Broadcom BCM4718A1
Switch
Broadcom BCM53115S
Ethernet Port Count
1-1GbE-WAN
4-1GbE-LAN
Wired Standard
IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab
Port-based vlan
802.1q vlan

802dot11 OUI: 00:26:18 (-, 1 W), 20:CF:30 (4 E, 4 W), 48:5B:39 (1 E, 1 W)
Ethernet OUI: 00:26:18 (-, 1 W), 20:CF:30 (4 E, 4 W), 48:5B:39 (1 E, 1 W)

boot_wait
On
Stock bootloader
CFE 1.0.37 BCM947XX
Stock FW OS
Linux 2.6.22
Expansion IF types
USB 2.0
USB ports
2
USB Hub Compatible
Untested
Power
12 VDC, 1.25 A
Connector type
barrel
Serial Port (UART)
yes, internal, 4-pin header, populated, 3.3V TTL, J2
JTAG Port
yes, 12-pin header, unpopulated, J1

Additional chips
2.4GHz RF Power Amplifier Module;SiGE;SE2528L;;2;

Other

Default SSID: ASUS (100 addl. devices)
Default IP address: 192.168.1.1
the IP 192.168.1.1 is used by 1323 additional devices
of which 173 are ASUS devices
Default login user: admin
Default login password: admin
admin:admin credentials used by 1340 additional devices
of which 206 are ASUS devices

Manuf/OEM/ODM
Arcadyan WG7127 F22-LF-ASU
3rd Party Firmware Support
DD-WRT • (List)
, HGG (Hugo Gomes) (Merlin Fork)
, JBF (John Bacho) (Merlin Fork)
, LEDE Project (obsolete, OpenWrt) • (List)
, Oleg-ng (wl500g) • (List)
, OpenWrt • (List | Dev | DLs)
, TomatoUSB • (List | DLs)
, TomatoUSB RAF (Victek) • (List | DLs)
, FreshTomato • (List | DLs)
Retail
Availability End of Life
FCC approval date 27 April 2009
UPC 610839056583
(UPC DB, On eBay)
ASIN B00387G6R8 Flag of the United States.svg
Country of manuf China
Physical
LEDs/Color
Blue
Dimensions
216 x 161.9 x 40.5 mm
Radio 1
Chip1
Broadcom BCM4718A1
Wireless interface OUI
00:26:18, 20:CF:30, 48:5B:39
Antenna Connector Type
U.FL, RP-SMA
MIMO status
2x3:2
Wireless Standard
IEEE 802.11b/g/n
802.11n
up to 300 Mbps
802.11g
up to 54 Mbps
802.11b
up to 11 Mbps
WiFi Operating Frequency
2.4 GHz
Radio cor_rev
17
Radio Capabilities
ap sta wet led wme pio 802.11d 802.11h rm cqa mbss16 afterburner ampdu amsdurx amsdutx acktiming rxchain_p wrsave radio_pwrsave

For a list of all currently documented Broadcom chipsets with specifications, see Broadcom.

For a list of all currently documented ASUS device with specifications, see ASUS.

• 300 Mbps - 2SS 2.4GHz 802.11n (40MHz chan.) = N300 class

Links of Interest

Wikis

Reviews

While the N16 is default clocked at 480MHz, the CPU is 533MHz capable.

wl500g.info

DD-WRT

linksysinfo

Flashing

Flashing DD-WRT

Asus RT-N16

Supported by dd-wrt as of = v24 sp2 - build 13297

  1. Download the firmware located here: dd-wrt.v24-14929_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_RT-N16.trx
  2. Do a factory reset in the Asus GUI. Let the router reboot. Disconnect all cables (WAN, USB, etc.) and plug the Ethernet cable from your PC into the LAN1 port on the router.
  3. Using Internet Explorer (IMPORTANT), Flash the downloaded firmware file through the router's GUI at http://192.168.1.1/. This process takes about 60 seconds. Asus factory default username/password is admin/admin.
    1. ALTERNATE - I was unable to get the initial firmware flashed on a stock router containing the latest RN-16 firmware. Alternatively you can use the ASUS Firmware Restoration Utility (included on router CD or downloadable from [1]) to flash the initial firmware. Install the application, load up the initial firmware, then unplug the router, and replug it in with the black RESTORE button depressed. The power light should now be blinking slowly, meaning the router is in restore mode and ready for the new firmware. Upload and wait for router reset. This was the only method that allowed me overwrite stock firmware. Follow remainder of instructions normally. -ApatheticNow
  4. After the reboot from flashing, wait for the device to show the password change screen for DD-WRT. Enter root as the user and anything for the password as you will do the user/pass procedure again after the final flash.
  5. Do a Factory Reset to clear the NVRAM. This is located under Administration -> Factory Defaults in the DD-WRT Web-GUI, or open up a telnet session to your router and type erase nvram followed by the command reboot (This is the preferred method). You will be presented with the password change screen again after this step is complete.
  6. Download and flash the full featured Firmware dd-wrt.v24-14929_NEWD-2_K2.6_big.bin under Administration -> Firmware Upgrade.
    1. NOTE : in the Firmware Upgrade Tab where it says "After flashing, reset to" choose "Reset to Default settings".
    2. NOTE : For the final flash (Upgrade), it is wise to walk away for ~5 minutes while the Mega Firmware is flashing. This ensures all NVRAM variables are successfully loaded by the Kernel before the user configures.
  7. Check for recommended builds.
  8. Enjoy DD-WRT on the RT-N16!
  9. Think about donating to DD-WRT.

Flashing OpenWrt

On the OpenWrt ToH (techdata entry)
On the OpenWrt Wiki
OpenWrt Target: bcm47xx
OpenWrt Subtarget: mips74k
OpenWrt Package architecture: mipsel_74kc
Support started version: 14.07
Current supported version: 23.05.5

Please insert instructions here

Flashing Tomato

by Rasky

Preparation:
  1. Use a wired connection only. (disable wireless to be in the safe side)
  2. Make sure you disable firewall in Windows.
  3. Disable the virus guard.
Let's Begin!
  1. Download and install Asus Firmware Restoration Utility. (Can be downloaded Here)
  2. Download and extract the K26-MIPSR2 Tomato USB Firmware. Extras or VPN version is up to you. With this router you might as well just go with the VPN version. (Get them Here)
  3. Connect your computer's using network cable to one of the LAN ports of the Asus router. Manually set your computer IP address (in the TCP/IP properties of the LAN connection) to 192.168.1.2, network mask 255.255.255.0.
  4. Plug in the router while holding the reset button on the back of the router. Keep the reset button pressed until Power LED starts blinking slowly. This puts the router in recovery mode, which is necessary to flash using the Asus Firmware Restoration utility. If you try using the restoration utility and the router is not in recovery mode or is not connected it will say, "No wireless device in recovery mode is found".
  5. Run Firmware Restoration Utility which you installed in step 1. In Firmware Restoration browse for the firmware image you extracted in step 2 and click Upload. (Note: It's likely that the Asus Utility will hang due to the fact that it attempts to verify the successful flash but it won't be able to because the firmware is not Asus firmware. Mine hung at 33% and timed out. Everything still worked out fine though.)
  6. After the upload is complete open your browser, go to the router by typing 192.168.1.1, when prompted for a username and password enter "admin" for both. Go to Administration > Configuration > Restore Default Configuration, select "Erase all data in NVRAM memory (thorough)" and click OK. To insure that the processor has time to complete addressing all NVRAM variables it's best to wait about 5 minutes before making any changes.

You are now ready to start using your Asus router with Tomato.

IMPORTANT:
  1. Don't forget to change the password from the default one. (Administration > Admin Access > Password)
  2. Wireless is enabled by default with no security enabled. Be sure to update this before people start jumping on your network. (Basic > Network > Wireless)

Upgrading

Upgrading DD-WRT

  1. Download the firmware
  2. Do a factory reset in the GUI. Let the router reboot.
  3. Flash the downloaded firmware file through the router's GUI at http://192.168.1.1/
  4. After flashed, wait for the device to show the password change screen for DD-WRT.
  5. Do a Factory Reset to clear the NVRAM.

Reverting

Reverting to OEM Firmware from DD-WRT

  1. Download the latest ASUS firmware from asus's site.
  2. Rename the asus file from .trx to .bin
  3. go into the DD-WRT firmware upgrade page, set it to reset defaults, and select the ASUS firmware you renamed.
  4. After the flash finishes, and you see the ASUS GUI, do a Factory Reset to clear the NVRAM.
  5. Try to enjoy ASUS's firmware, and keep missing DD-WRT. (you can just flash back to dd-wrt if you ever want)

DD-WRT Recovery Mode

This router does have a recovery mode if ever needed for flashing, and to access it, press the reset button, then plug in power, and tftp the firmware you want to flash. Dont forget to do a Factory Reset in the GUI before and after every flash to make sure you dont have any nvram problems or conflicts.

Special thanks to Eko for making this possible!

JTAG-Serial Info

JTAG

JTAG Pinouts

 nTRST | 1o o2 | GND   | 6o | GND
   TDI | 3o o4 | GND   | 5o | ->
   TDO | 5o o6 | GND   | 4o | ->
   TMS | 7o o8 | GND   | 3o | ->
   TCK | 9o o10| GND   | 2o | ->
 nSRST |11o o12| N/C   | 1o | +VCC
 CPU JTAG [J1]          [J5]  Switch
 BCM4718                     BCM53115

Using Universal JTAG Adapter 

 white | 1o o2 | black
   red | 3o o4 | GND
  blue | 5o o6 | GND
 green | 7o o8 | GND
yellow | 9o o10| GND
orange |11o o12| N/C
  • /byte_mode switch required

DD-WRT JTAG Recovery

  1. Backup CFE x2 (Compare the files, they must match exactly or there is something wrong with your JTAG setup)
  2. Erase Wholeflash x2
  3. Flash CFE
  4. Unplug Power
  5. Unplug JTAG Cable

TFTP:

  1. Set Rig ip static 192.168.1.10
  2. Plug network cable from rig to port 1
  3. Get TFTP ready, server ip - 192.168.1.1, Password - blank, file - dd-wrt.v24-13527_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_RT-N16.trx
  4. Plug in power
  5. As soon as windows says "connected" hit upgrade. May have to use a network hub to make sure windows is always connected.
  6. Hard Reset 30\30\30

Serial

Serial Pinouts
 F | VCC | 1o | R
 R |  RX | 2o | E
 O |  TX | 3o | A
 N | GND | 4o | R
 T |      [J2]

DD-WRT Serial Recovery

Modified Redhawk0 instructions

  1. Print out these instructions for Off-Line use
  2. Connect PC to router with a network cable
  3. Configure PC with a static IP of 192.168.1.10
  4. Connect Serial cable
  5. Start one of the programs from above
  6. Get TFTP ready with file selected
  7. Use dd-wrt.v24-13527_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_RT-N16.trx
  8. Connect power to the router
  9. start a rapid fire Cntl-C as you plug the router to power
  10. type "nvram erase" w/o quotes, hit enter
  11. type "flash -noheader : flash1.trx" w/o quotes, this starts the tftp daemon, hit enter
  12. but have TFTP ready
  13. Click go or start on TFTP
  14. give it 5 minutes after it finishes
  15. then power cycle....Hard reset or 30/30/30...then config
  16. when it stops spitting out txt....hit the enter key...you should get a login prompt...at that point, power cycle it, hard reset...then config
  17. you'll see it boot up


USB Info

DD-WRT USB

  • The USB port is where you can connect an external USB hard drive or flash drive. Which can do a multitude of things. You can use in as a NAS, storage for a FTP server, use Optware to run external programs like torrent software, samba for sharing files to network, share a USB printer with network... The list of possibilities is long, it just takes a little research.
  • ProFTPd, samba, dlna, raid support is included in most the newer builds of dd-wrt. Check the features chart to be sure.

Tomato USB

Most newer Tomato forks comes with file sharing, ftp server and media server built in.

Tutorial: How to set up NAS and Optware on Tomato FOR TOTAL NOOBS


vlan Info

DD-WRT vlan Info

Per fggs, Reference: Routers that will and won't support VLAN

Confirmed working on an Asus RT-N16 using 14929 K2.6 NEWD-2, I had to add the commands.. 

insmod switch-core
insmod switch-robo

and save as startup, after which 

ls /proc/switch

Showed up, also as jumran mentioned, the webgui works thereafter the ins~ commands are saved to startup.

Edit: almost forgot... 

1 2 3 4 | Case labels
4 3 2 1 | NVRAM ports

Pictures

DarkShadow's RT-N16

  • Asus RT-N16

  • Asus RT-N16

  • Asus RT-N16

  • Asus RT-N16

  • Asus RT-N16

  • Asus RT-N16

FCCID MSQRTN16

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

  • Asus RT-N16 FCC

Notes

DD-WRT Notes

Build 15407 and later

The devs of dd-wrt have removed the loading of file system drivers from the startup of the firmware.

They are now loaded on demand with automount. Well, this presents a problem for those of us with
USB HDD that automount doesn't detect. In order to load the file system drivers at startup you need
to add the following to save startup in the commands tab.

For K2.6 builds only that have the modules already in place 

insmod /lib/modules/2.6.24.111/kernel/fs/mbcache.ko
insmod /lib/modules/2.6.24.111/kernel/fs/ext2/ext2.ko
insmod /lib/modules/2.6.24.111/kernel/fs/jbd/jbd.ko
insmod /lib/modules/2.6.24.111/kernel/fs/ext3/ext3.ko

This loads the ext2 and ext3 file system drivers.

The mtd flash partitions

The factory firmware and the dd-wrt firmware use different partition schemes.

ASUS has 4 partitions: 

0x00000000-0x00040000 : "boot"
0x00040000-0x01fe0000 : "linux"
0x001dff88-0x01fe0000 : "rootfs"
0x01fe0000-0x02000000 : "nvram"

dd-wrt has 5 : 

0x00000000-0x00040000 : "cfe"
0x00040000-0x01fe0000 : "linux"
0x00187000-0x00720000 : "rootfs"
mtd: partition "rootfs" doesn't start on an erase block boundary – force read-only
0x01fe0000-0x02000000 : "nvram"
0x00720000-0x01fe0000 : "ddwrt"

likely the "linux" partition is not dd-wrt at all, but a remnant of the ASUS fw, as rootfs

overlaps with it. in either case, the asus "boot" is binary identical to dd-wrt "cfe"

what does a functioning OpenWRT partition scheme look like?

Default vlans 

nvram show | grep vlan.ports
vlan0ports=1 2 3 4 5*     <-- Eko says it causes no problems
vlan1ports=4 3 2 1 8*     <-- natted LAN
vlan2ports=0 8            <-- WAN

For newer 802.11n routers the variable vlan1ports equals to the natted LAN side while, vlan2ports refers

to the WAN side. Was told by Eko not to worry about vlan0ports, that it didn't cause any problems.

Overclocking

By factory default the cpu is clocked at 480MHz and the Ram at 240MHz.

Overclocking at CPU 532MHz / Ram 266 MHz can be achieved with these commands:
nvram set clkfreq=532,266
nvram commit
reboot

Note: some users have had overheating issues, so adding a fan may be a good idea if you want to try the overclocking.
Note: other instability issues may also arise from overclocking. Overclocking is NOT a good idea.
Note: See also Overclocking BCM 47xx CPU's for more info.

UPnP fix with swap on

If using SVN13450 (Eko Big) which still has swap enable option, you can

manually enable UPnP with these commands in your start-up script:
nvram set wan0_primary=1
nvram commit

Current Known DD-WRT Issues and Bugs

  • UPNP is currently not working for the RT-N16, so for now leave the feature disabled unless you want a full CPU Load. Fixed with SVN trac Changeset #13527
  • Access Restriction with MAC-Filter doesn't work on Asus RT-N16. trac Ticket #1319(as of 12/18/09)
  • On this router reset button will only bring you to recovery mode. If you wish to restore defaults, use wps button while plugging power in. Post By Eko

Personal Experiences

Dark_Shadow (This information was gathered when support was in its infancy, it's long outdated):

My current USBHDD, dd-wrt's automount doesn't mount. In TomatoUSB it automounts fine.

I have a HDD comming for another USBHDD enclosure. It's a Antec MX-1, we'll see how that one fairs.

Currently have 2x Western Digital My Book Essential 2TB.

It detected and automounted the drive, but only the first partition.

Seems way to complicated to get the other partitions mounted.

Using My compiled(This was ages ago and I no longer have the buildand no longer compile) TomatoUSB build 54

seems everything works so far (currentlty using Shibby builds). It also has a superior wireless signal.

Things I've tried thus far: (RT-N16)

Firmware itself - Works
Wireless radio - Works
USB support - Works
File sharing - Works
Media Server - Works
My custom firewall - Works
Automatic script execution - Works
Swap - Works
Custom Theme/Skin for GUI - Works

FernSpider:

With recommended DD-WRT build (14929M) on Asus RT-N16's I experienced the following issues:

  • httpd daemon crashes (100% CPU) when https WAN management option is enabled. This problem has also been reported here and here and a ticket was raised here. However, even though the ticket was closed because the bug was deemed to have been "fixed", no details are given and it is not clear that it has actually been fixed. As the crash may take days to happen it is difficult to diagnose the problem and therefore devise a workaround.
  • Access Restrictions do not work with unbridged virtual wireless interfaces. The problem appears to be due to a bug in the "Add Bridge" GUI code which adds a rule to the iptables FORWARD chain before the lan2wan chain reference which ACCEPT's all packets originating from the new bridge. As a consequence the access restrictions which apply to traffic on this bridge are rendered ineffective. This problem can be fixed via a firewall script which searches for firewall rules targeting packets originating from the added bridges and moving them further down the FORWARD chain.

Features that work well for me:

Wireless Radio
Custom Firewall
Multiple WLAN's
Separate WLAN's
jffs

Hardware Modification

See also

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