Linksys WRT54G Power issues Have you ever had this?

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...

Hi, Compatible Polarity, Voltage, Current rating?

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

snip.... snip....

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

Regards Helmut

"HotRod" hath wroth:

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

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'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.

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.

Beware the ideas of March.

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" hath wroth:

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

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: |

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.

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

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.

Thanks Jeff, however for the time being I'm going toonly run a few feet of Cat5 cable. The biggest problem I have at home and work is way to many things to plub in around my PC's Right now at work I have all of these on there own plug right next to my desk.

1) Notebook 2) Two LCD screens 3) PDA 4) Cell phone dock 5) Radio 6) Bluetooth headset 7) Finger print reader 8) 2 Routers 9) USB Hub 10) external DVD Burner 11) Computer 12) Speakers 13) Heated Chair

Probably something I'm missing, but I'm sure if everyone would use a common power voltage you could make a single plug that would power 4 or 5 low voltage items.

Bochert had something like what you want. A common power supply would go from 117VAC to a 48VDC bus. Sitting on the bus would be multiple individual switching regulators to go down to 12V, 9V, 5V, and 3V DC. Very expensive but also very handy.

I have an "octupus" with a bunch of power plugs going to a 0.093 Molex

2 pin connector for 12VDC. That takes care of everything that runs on 12VDC (DSL modem, router, wireless, switch). The 12V comes from a big gel cell battery and a float charger. Very handy when the power dies.

"Very handy when the power dies"

I'm not sure I want things to work when the power dies. The way my office is setup now everything on the south side of the building was wired new and still has power when the rest of the building goes black. This sucks since

95% of the employees are on the North side and get to hang out at the water cooler or go home. ME I get to keep working.

My ver. 1.0 WRT54G with 5v 2A p/s has been going for at least 3 years (it was unused for a couple of years because I thought it was toast, but it worked fine after a full reset and is now operating as an Access Point).

Perce

Nah! You're supposed to use Anderson PowerPole connectors. Get with the program.

"Perce" (aka Alan NV8A)

"Percival P. Cassidy" hath wroth:

Sure. All I have to do is replace about 100+ assorted power cables, pigtails, panel connetors, and power jacks.

Molex connectors are cheap, survive tripping over the power cord, impossible to plug in backwards, and can be found at Radio Shock in an emergency. I also bought the overpriced crimping, insertion, and removeal tools, and I'm not buying yet another set. The few Anderson Power Pole pigtails and power adapters that I own evaporated after Field Day.

Here's a rant on the subject:

Just don't ask how much current I run through the Molex connectors.

"Percival P. Cassidy" hath wroth:

I'm fairly sure that the failures I've seen are the result of AC power glitches. Two recent failures were at local businesses immediately following a power glitch. The third was dragged in later by a friend that might have been caused by the same glitch. Strangely, I've seen other 5VDC wall warts die that were attached to other hardware (Netgear switches, no-name hubs, fax-modem switch, Digi serial mux, etc). Most are switching supplies. The higher voltage wall warts seem to survive much better, but that's based on a very limited sampling. I did to an autopsy on one of the 5V 2.5A Netgear supplied switchers and found the active devices to be blown, and not the usual defective low-ESR electrolytic cazapitor failures. After a few creative substitutions, accompanied by and some smog and sparks, I got the clue and gave up trying to fix it.

Congrats on yours working, but I suggest you buy a spare in preparation for its inevitable demise. However, I'm not sure whether the V1.0 WRT54G can handle the wide range of power supply voltages.

you're going to substitute, start with a variable voltage power supply and measure the current consumption. If the supply current goes DOWN with increasing voltage, the switcher is working. If it tries to go up, pull the plug and give up immediately.

One of the power supplies was even plugged into an APC power protector and buckup unit. It should have been fine "SHOULD"

When the power supply to my router went bad I cut the cord off the wall wart and connected it to my 12 volt bus on my bench power supply. I meant to connect it to the 5 volt but it worked fine on 12. Will all the linksys equipment operate off of 12VDC like this.

snipped-for-privacy@YAHOO.COM hath wroth:

The WRT54G/GS and BEFW11S4 will work on anything between 3.7V and

18VDC. 12V or 13.6VDC is fine. There may be other models that also have wide range switchers inside, but I haven't tested them.

BEFSR41 v4 running just fine on 3.5VDC.

WRT54G v1.0 and 1.1 came with 5V power supplies, but later hardware revisions arrived with 12V 1A supplies. I know for sure that v1.1 will run off 12V but I haven't tested v1.0. Per my previous warning, try v1.0 with an adjustable power supply first. If the current decreases with increasing voltage, it's working. If the current tries to increase when the voltage is increasing, pull the plug and run it on the original 5VDC.