I have been using the ASUS RT-ACRH17 for almost 2 years now, and I have been using the official ASUS firmware. Although it is stable, it lacks many desired features such as SS/V2. Recently, I came across a firmware for the RT-ACRH17 on the Enshan forum that has all the features I want, so I decided to give it a try.

The difference between the official ASUS firmware and the Merlin firmware is that they have almost the same interface. The official ASUS firmware is open source, and the Merlin firmware has made some optimizations and feature upgrades based on it, making it more user-friendly. - Information from the internet

To download the Merlin firmware for the RT-ACRH17, you can visit the following source: 全球首发！原创高通梅林 RT-ACRH17 发布！内置 Fullcone 和 软件中心. If you don't have a Baidu Netdisk membership, you can also download it from the following links:

• Link 1
• Link 2

To upgrade the firmware, simply extract the downloaded file, and you will get the file "RT-ACRH17_3.0.0.4_982_Merlin_v1.3.2.trx". Then, go to the ASUS router's web management interface, navigate to Advanced Settings > System Management > Firmware Upgrade, and select the new firmware file "RT-ACRH17_3.0.0.4_982_Merlin_v1.3.2.trx" to upload and upgrade, as shown in the image above.

Please ensure that the router remains powered on during the upgrade process, which usually takes about 3 minutes. After the upgrade, the account, password, and configuration information of the router will not change. For better compatibility, you can also choose to restore the factory settings after the upgrade.

This firmware provides some features that are not available in the official firmware, such as SSR, DNS acceleration, and Baidu Netdisk download. Personally, I feel that the operation of the web console is smoother than before. As for signal strength and stability, I will need to observe it for a while.

If the upgrade fails, ASUS provides tools and firmware downloads for the RT-ACRH17. If you encounter any issues, you can download the ASUS Firmware Restoration tool from the official website https://www.asus.com.cn/Networking/RT-ACRH17/HelpDesk_Download/ for recovery. However, I have not tried it myself, so please refer to the official instructions and search online for specific usage methods.

To summarize:

• Download the firmware and upgrade it directly in the router's backend.
• After the upgrade, you can choose to restore the factory settings according to your needs.
• If the upgrade fails, you can use the official ASUS Firmware Restoration tool for recovery.
• The RT-ACRH17 firmware provides more features and smoother backend operation after upgrading to the Merlin firmware.
• The Merlin firmware is not officially supported for the RT-ACRH17, and the mentioned firmware is compiled and modified by users.

• Link to purchase the RT-ACRH17: https://item.jd.com/5186619.html