How to install FreshTomato on an Asus RT-N12 D1
You want to install the wonderful firmware FreshTomato on an Asus RT-N12*? No problem at all. But here again the hint that this is a router where the KRACK problem is not solved in FreshTomato. So if you want to use excessive WLAN, choose a router from the ARM family.
First of all download the Asus Tool for Routers. Important for Mac users: it only runs on Windows. So you either have a second computer at hand or you have virtualized Windows or Bootcamp.
The second thing to do is to find the right version of FreshTomato from the wide range of downloads. We chose FreshTomato because the router has no USB ports and we also wanted VPN functionality. But you could also chose the Max version. Important is, that the file is under 8 MB which is the flash capacity of this router. That the firmware should be for RT-N5* doesn't surprise us, they are compatible with each other.
Now it's time for the actual flashing, which is basically the same as installing the Asus firmware. But now select the FreshTomato variant in the Asus Recovery Tool, but don't click on upload yet! We assume that you have connected the router to your computer with a cable.
Now disconnect the router from the power supply and press the reset button with a pen. Keep it pressed and turn it on again. After about 15-20 seconds the first LED goes off and then starts flashing slowly. This means that the router is now in recovery mode and works together with the already prepared tool. Another advantage: if a flash should go wrong, an Asus router can usually still be saved with this procedure.
Now press the Upload button in the Asus Recovery Tool and wait until the process is finished. If the upload does not start immediately after one second, the tool will not find the router. In this case you should give your computer a fixed IP or you have to use Windows in VirtualBox, set the network interface to "bridged".
After the Flash you can now log in to FreshTomato under 192.168.1.1 (root/admin). To be on the safe side, go to the menu item Adminstration > Configuration and delete the NVRAM so that there are no old settings. To be on the safe side you can also do a 30/30/30 reset (keep the reset button pressed, switch off the router after 30 seconds, switch it on again after another 30 seconds. The button remains pressed all the time).
With this model there is another special feature: FreshTomato lists the Ethernet ports in the wrong order. However, this can be easily adjusted by setting the right check mark under Basic > Network.
Now you have a router with FreshTomato, a really good and fast firmware. Have fun using it!