TheSternMystic Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 So I bought this WRT310N a couple years ago. It's always been flaky, but I paid too much for it and I can't bring myself to get something different. It has always flaked out during periods of high load - torrenting and multiple simultaneous users always brought the wireless network to a standstill and caused dropped connections. Various manufacturer and 3rd party firmwares made no difference. Probably overheating, amirite? I always meant to do something about it, but I have a habit of living in a dream world when I "mean to do things", so I never did. My goal this year has been to . or get off the pot. After acquiring a free backup router in case of failure, I ripped the the WRT310N open. One tiny little heatsink on the switch, nothing on the CPU or wireless radio. Touching the heatsink was painful it was so hot, and the CPU was just as gnarly. The wireless radio chip was just warm. I chopped up an old Northbridge heatsink I had kicking around, and stuck them on the switch/CPU chips with some random Coolermaster paste and a little drop of superglue in the corners. I left the cover off, with a 80mm fan was used to blow air over the bare board. After a month of uptime and rock solid stability, I considered it a complete win. Then I hacked up the case to make the cooling solution permanent. Pressure fit a quiet 40mm fan, soldered it to the board, and opened up holes for the heatsinks to poke through. Heatsinks are stay cool to the touch (They'd get quite warm without active airflow!). It ain't pretty, but it works. I love it. I'm so stoked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imm0rt41 Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 My grandfather had a similar router that was really flaky on him. It currently only flashes lights at me, but if I can fix that I will try a mod similar to this to see if I can fix it permanently. Nice work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathmineral Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 Nice job. I've had several routers and modems in the past that gave me overheating problems but instead of investing more time or effort I always replaced them, after seeing this it's a lot more appealing to try and do what you did since I have plenty of spare parts lying around to do it with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boinker Posted June 26, 2011 Posted June 26, 2011 That looks good. Nice mod I half expected an 80mm tornado in there with a bunch of enzotec mosfet coolers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanTheGamer11 Posted June 26, 2011 Posted June 26, 2011 I'm guessing that even just removing the cover helps? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrewr05 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 I love mods like this, function over form I always say! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AddictedGamer93 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Hmm. I have the same router sitting unused on a shelf beside my printer. It has always been quite problematic. I knew it got really hot for a router, but who knew it got that hot. Nice work too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishop245 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Very nice not sure if mine over heats but it is under a bed in another room and I am hard wired to it on the main computer only the laptop get wireless access so I cant really say if I would have those kind of problems Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazwegion Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Nice work TheSternMystic, I did something similar with an old 28,800Bps dial up modem that used to get really hot ended up kitting it out with an 80mm exhaust fan I'm guessing that even just removing the cover helps? Yup... that's what I've done with the modem/router we use to access 3G wireless internet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanTheGamer11 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Nice work TheSternMystic, I did something similar with an old 28,800Bps dial up modem that used to get really hot ended up kitting it out with an 80mm exhaust fan Yup... that's what I've done with the modem/router we use to access 3G wireless internet Lol that is soo neat! I wonder if you can get away with a naked router? I had problems with my router but it turns out that the auto channel change was the problem... now its stable Even the dude who came to check the line( its -15db when it should be 0-5db....) said that the older modems and routers are better! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmb938 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 I have the same router it does get quite hot but doesn't fail surprisingly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazwegion Posted June 28, 2011 Posted June 28, 2011 Lol that is soo neat! I wonder if you can get away with a naked router? What like a wall mounted PC type of thing? the idea certainly has merit! With summer on it's way I may need to modify it further along the lines of TheSternMystic's project Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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