Netgear owners, a little help please!

Associate
Joined
29 Dec 2003
Posts
2,039
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
I've recently purchased a 2nd hand DG834GT and after a while the router gets really hot and will eventually slow to a crawl (it won't drop sync but the broadband speed and router web interface will slowdown). Now I've done a bit of digging and apparently the capacitors used inside Netgear products are generally rubbish (Teapo branded) and can cause problems.

During my troubleshooting I decided to stick a multi meter on the PSU to check the voltage, low and behold it's putting out 16.7V! Way above the 12V it's rated for. No problem I thought, I've got another 12V 1A Netgear PSU from a DG834N - I tested that before I even plugged it in to the router and that one is putting out 16.8V. What I wanted to ask is can some other members on here with a Netgear 12V 1A PSU and a Multi meter check what their PSU is putting out please? Surely it can't be coincidence that two of them have the same fault?

Last but not least, would putting nearly 17V in to a device rated for 12V cause issues? I'm not that clued up with electronics but common sense tells me it would :)

Cheers!

Ninja Edit: Yes, I've made sure my multi meter is OK! Tested it on a Sony 12V 3A PSU and it shows 12.1V.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Apr 2009
Posts
3,159
hmm it might step it down to 12v in the router. Also remeber they may of got 12v when under load where resistance/load will drop it down. Ive just measured the connections on a open netgear switch which uses the same 12v psu and it runs near enough at 12v on load.
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Jun 2005
Posts
2,605
I can borrow a multimeter, but not used one before.

Out of interest, for my own curiosity, where do you place the two probes?

Just some random suggestions, have you opened the router to check capacitors? The screws are under the rubber feet the slide off on hinges.

Also people recommended running router in a vertical position by fitting the two support feet. But that still doesn't correct the issue of more volts being feed to the device in the first place.
 
Associate
Joined
24 Apr 2009
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1,942
Location
Aberdeen, Scotland
I bought mine afew weeks after launch i.e. it's an original run every day for what, 5 years?, vertically with the feet on. There was a couple months when I lay it down just to see when people started talking about heat but not a peep. Almost every DGN owner who had heat problems solved them by using the feet, because you simply can't pack a router in such a small case with out airflow top to bottom. I think there's a reason netgear always show them mounted vertically these days, everything they make is :)

I think you've just been really unlucky.
 
Associate
Joined
25 Jun 2009
Posts
1,260
Location
Guernsey
I'd hazard a guess that the PSUs are unregulated and designed to deliver a minimum of 12V under load, so it will be a bit higher when measured open circuit.
 
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