Router Update

In case anyone is actually interested in reading about my new cooling system on my router I thought I’d post an update.

It’s been running for a couple days now and things seem to have improved.  The stability of my wired connections has improved quite a bit.  I used to have significant hiccups when browsing or watching Netflix and while things are definitely a bit herky-jerky they don’t cause timeouts all the time like they used to.

Also, I haven’t had the problem with the router rejecting new wifi connections like it used to.  That is probably the best thing about the whole project.  I was thoroughly annoyed about having to go and restart the router every other day or so when it decided to stop letting wifi devices connect.

Lastly, I think that Netgear wants you to mod your router.  Seriously.  Check out the cool tabs they put on the rubber feet so they can be reattached after you take out the screws.  Companies that don’t want you to mod their stuff use glue, not fancy tabs .

Turbo-Cooling My Router

I’ve hated my router for some time now.  It’s really spotty, even with my wired connections.  It’s worst habit has been that is won’t let wireless devices connect, sometimes, just at random intervals it seems…  Anyhow, I hate it, I want to replace it-but my geek pride prevents me from buying anything that doesn’t have USB ports, and is Open-Source compatible-all of which seem to run around a hundred bucks.

I ran across a post where a guy modified some RAM heatsinks and put them on the ICs on the router board because he was having problems similar to mine.  He said it helped, I was inspired, geeky-fun-time ensued.

I started by pulling my router apart and checking for the telltale discoloring of overheating ICs:

It was pretty clear that the IC on the left had been getting really hot, and the other one, at least a little bit.  I had an old 40mm fan left over from a motherboard I salvaged it from and decided it needed to go on the board but I knew it was not going to fit in the case…

So I set up to cut a hole in the top of the case for the heatsink and fan to stick out of.  Hoping I wouldn’t screw up and leave my router all ugly.

I laid out the heatsink, and started drilling holes…  I used a sanding bit in my drill press and a couple of chisels to get it cleaned up as best I could.

Of course, then I realized I needed a way to power the fan…  It runs on 12V, same as the router, so I figured the best way was to just jack into the power as it came in from the wall-wart:

Then I needed to make a heatsink for the smaller IC.  I had another one lying in a defunct case from a PC I had stripped down a few weeks earlier.  So I saved it from the recycle bin and got out the roto-zip with the cutting wheel and chopped out a 1cm square.  I had to chop about 2/3 of the fins off.  Then I sanded off the rough spots and mounted it up:

The larger one had this crappy adhesive pad on the bottom, so I just went with that.  The smaller one I stuck on with a glob of Artic Silver thermal compound.

Then it was just a matter of putting it all back together:

I don’t have any hard data as to whether or not it’s making a difference, especially considering that I just finished up a few minutes ago.  I think it looks cool and I’m quite pleased with myself for completing it.  It seems like it should make a difference, especially in terms of stability.  I know heat is a major enemy of ICs, especially when they run nearly 24/7.

I love projects I can conceive of and execute within a couple hours.  I really like that the fan is quiet enough that I don’t really notice it over my computer.  I’ll post an update later when I have some more data as to whether or not I noticed a difference.