The Netgear WGR614 saga continues. I discovered yesterday that the router’s power adapter was putting out 16 volts; it’s only supposed to put out 12 volts. A ha! The source of my troubles? Heat seems to be the major issue: when it gets hot, it stops working correctly. Of course, being driven at 16v instead of 12v would make it run too hot.
I stopped by Radio Shack and picked up a new 12v power adapter. When I plugged in the power adapter, the router started right up and felt cool. It routed at full speed (I ran speed tests) and was giving no trouble. Of course, the real test wouldn’t come until the router had been running for a few hours.
In the evening, I went to play some Team Fortress. By now, the router was feeling warm. Hmmm. And sure enough, it started dropping connections. Damn.
I now have two choices. Either, I can crack that router’s case open to keep it cool, or I can replace it. The Linksys WRT54GL is looking pretty good — especially if I flash it with Tomato firmware.