Linksys WRT54G Power issues Have you ever had this?

I have two Linksys WRT54G V1.? wireless routers that are designed to run
on 5V DC. A few weeks ago both routers, located at different locations 1/2
km apart failed. Upon further investigation I've determinded that the power
supplies both failed at the same time, however there was still enough power
to keep the lights up and running but the routers would not complete their
diagnostic test and just left the diagnostic light on.

I grabber a 5v power supply from on of our other Linksys routers and
both "wrecked" routers started functioning normally, SO I found some 5V DC
power supplies from other sources, tested them with a meter and then plugged
them into the routers. THEY DON'T WORK. What is so unique about the Linksys
5V powersupply? I ended up trying three different styles of power including
taking 5V DC from a USB port.

IDEAS, COMMENTS.

HotRod wrote:
> I have two Linksys WRT54G V1.? wireless routers that are designed to run
> on 5V DC. A few weeks ago both routers, located at different locations 1/2
> km apart failed. Upon further investigation I've determinded that the power
> supplies both failed at the same time, however there was still enough power
> to keep the lights up and running but the routers would not complete their
> diagnostic test and just left the diagnostic light on.
>
> I grabber a 5v power supply from on of our other Linksys routers and
> both "wrecked" routers started functioning normally, SO I found some 5V DC
> power supplies from other sources, tested them with a meter and then plugged
> them into the routers. THEY DON'T WORK. What is so unique about the Linksys
> 5V powersupply? I ended up trying three different styles of power including
> taking 5V DC from a USB port.
>
> IDEAS, COMMENTS.
>
>

There are two parts to the power adapter rating: The voltage and the
current. What is the current output rating of the other adapters that
don't? It could be that the routers take 1-2 Amps and the generic
adapters are capable of less than that. A USB port can only source
500mA per hub which unlikely to be able to power an entire router.

Bryant Smith wrote:
> HotRod wrote:
>> I have two Linksys WRT54G V1.? wireless routers that are
>> designed to run on 5V DC. A few weeks ago both routers, located at
>> different locations 1/2 km apart failed. Upon further investigation
>> I've determinded that the power supplies both failed at the same
>> time, however there was still enough power to keep the lights up and
>> running but the routers would not complete their diagnostic test and
>> just left the diagnostic light on. I grabber a 5v power supply from on of
>> our other Linksys routers
>> and both "wrecked" routers started functioning normally, SO I found
>> some 5V DC power supplies from other sources, tested them with a
>> meter and then plugged them into the routers. THEY DON'T WORK. What
>> is so unique about the Linksys 5V powersupply? I ended up trying
>> three different styles of power including taking 5V DC from a USB
>> port. IDEAS, COMMENTS.
>>
>>
>
> There are two parts to the power adapter rating: The voltage and the
> current. What is the current output rating of the other adapters that
> don't? It could be that the routers take 1-2 Amps and the generic
> adapters are capable of less than that. A USB port can only source
> 500mA per hub which unlikely to be able to power an entire router.

The older ones (my v2 was 1000 ma), but the newer ones are 500 ma.. And
won't run the older ones (same problem for me too).. However, the newer N
(probably pre-n but not called that) have 1000 ma adapters again, and when I
used that one on my v2 (that wouldn't work with the 500ma), worked fine...

HotRod wrote:
> I have two Linksys WRT54G V1.? wireless routers that are designed to run
> on 5V DC. A few weeks ago both routers, located at different locations 1/2
> km apart failed. Upon further investigation I've determinded that the power
> supplies both failed at the same time, however there was still enough power
> to keep the lights up and running but the routers would not complete their
> diagnostic test and just left the diagnostic light on.
>
> I grabber a 5v power supply from on of our other Linksys routers and
> both "wrecked" routers started functioning normally, SO I found some 5V DC
> power supplies from other sources, tested them with a meter and then plugged
> them into the routers. THEY DON'T WORK. What is so unique about the Linksys
> 5V powersupply? I ended up trying three different styles of power including
> taking 5V DC from a USB port.
>
> IDEAS, COMMENTS.
>
>
Hi,
Compatible Polarity, Voltage, Current rating?

On Wed, 4 Oct 2006 14:00:48 -0400, "HotRod" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> I have two Linksys WRT54G V1.?

Snip....snip...

Bryant got it right.
You have to look for the same specification, and in top of it, the
power supply should be a "switched" power supply.

Specs: Model: 12100SA
Input: 240v 110 mA
Output: 12VDC 1000 mA

Regards
Helmut

On Wed, 4 Oct 2006 14:00:48 -0400, "HotRod" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> I have two Linksys WRT54G V1.?

snip.... snip....

Sorry, just in case you're in the USA, please select the input voltage
according to your local currency.

Regards
Helmut

"HotRod" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

> I have two Linksys WRT54G V1.? wireless routers that are designed to run
>on 5V DC.

Actually, the WRT54G/GS will run on anything between 3.7VDC and about
18VDC. The internal switching regulator has a very wide input voltage
range. For my WRT54G v1.1:
Volts Amps
15 0.25
12 0.3
5 0.8
4 1.0


>A few weeks ago both routers, located at different locations 1/2
>km apart failed. Upon further investigation I've determinded that the power
>supplies both failed at the same time, however there was still enough power
>to keep the lights up and running but the routers would not complete their
>diagnostic test and just left the diagnostic light on.

Yep. The original v1.x WRT54G routers used 5V 2A(?) power supplies.
They were junk. I've lost 2 or 3 of them at various locations. Later
revisions use 12V 1A power supplies which had a better survival
record.

> I grabber a 5v power supply from on of our other Linksys routers and
>both "wrecked" routers started functioning normally, SO I found some 5V DC
>power supplies from other sources, tested them with a meter and then plugged
>them into the routers. THEY DON'T WORK.

I'll assume that "they don't work" means that the lights don't turn
on.

Careful. Just because they say 5V doesn't mean that they will work.
You need to verify that it has the proper connector. If the hole in
the power supply connector is too large, it won't make a connection.
Same with current rating. If it draws 0.8A at 5VDC, then methinks the
minimum rated current should be 1.5A. Any less and it will probably
get quite warm.

Of course, it has to be 5VDC, not AC and should be a positive center
pin, not a negative. Use a digital volts guesser if you're not sure.
If you plugged in an AC or reverse polarized adapter, you probably
fried the internal protection diode. It's a fairly easy replacement.

>What is so unique about the Linksys
>5V powersupply? I ended up trying three different styles of power including
>taking 5V DC from a USB port.

5V from a USB port is current limited to 1A total. You might be able
to run the WRT54G from a USB port, but I suspect the initial inrush
current (charging the cazapitors) might cause the USB overcurrent
protection to cause the port to shut down.

>IDEAS, COMMENTS.

Beware the ideas of March.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On the early WRT54G's you can only power them with the proper polarity, if
it's reversed the will not light up at all. I believe that I need to find a
power supply with a little more amprage as the two I've been trying are only
300ma and 500ma, when I get my hands on one that is 1-2 amps I'll give it a
try.

OK thats it I've decided to dive right over the cliff and take this "Work
Around" to the extreme. This is what I'm going to try using two Linksys
WRT54G routers that aren't working right now and an old PC.

I will be pulling the 5V DC from the PC tower, and hooking it into pins 4,5
and 7,8 on my ethernet card in order to facilitate my own version of POE
"Power over Ethernet". IF this goes right I'll have the PC power the Router
which works great because I only need the router powered up when the
computer is on anyway.

I'll post back if I fry something or if it goes OK. f it works others could
pull from the 12V side of the tower to power their owen routers. Actually it
might make sense for me to add a switch right away to select between 5V and
12V just in case I change my router.


YES I KNOW I'm NUTS

"HotRod" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>OK thats it I've decided to dive right over the cliff and take this "Work
>Around" to the extreme. This is what I'm going to try using two Linksys
>WRT54G routers that aren't working right now and an old PC.

Oh-oh. Welcome to Learn By Destroying(tm).

>I will be pulling the 5V DC from the PC tower, and hooking it into pins 4,5
>and 7,8 on my ethernet card in order to facilitate my own version of POE
>"Power over Ethernet". IF this goes right I'll have the PC power the Router
>which works great because I only need the router powered up when the
>computer is on anyway.

Use the 12V instead of the 5V. My guess(tm) is that you're going to
run a fairly long length of CAT5 between your PC source of power and
that WRT54G. You'll have less voltage loss in the CAT5 if you use the
higher 12v voltage. See:
| http://groups.google.com/group/alt.i...22ff4585ef4381
for a sample cable loss calculation.

Also, be sure to add some filtering at the WRT54G. There's a
non-trivial amount of high frequency crud coming out of the typical PC
that nearby AM/FM/SSB/TV/whatever receivers will not appreciate.

>I'll post back if I fry something or if it goes OK. f it works others could
>pull from the 12V side of the tower to power their owen routers. Actually it
>might make sense for me to add a switch right away to select between 5V and
>12V just in case I change my router.

Don't bother with the switch. However, a fuse would be nice.

>YES I KNOW I'm NUTS

Not really. It will work. I made a few metal brackets for the back
of PC's with a cheapo power connector and fuse for the purpose. It's
quite useful in cramped relay racks and cabinets full of odd boxes.
Mostly, I use them to power USB hubs.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558