12v fan on 5v supply?

Hi all.

I know this is an old thread but just a few comments:

1) Yes, for some daft reason Netgear don't use the normal pin configuration on their fan headers, thus necessitating dropping pins out of the fan's line socket and rearranging them, its not difficult to do but is annoying, get it wrong and you may not only damage the fan but the switch too. Most fan manufacturers use red for +ve, black for -ve and yellow for speed sensing.

2) The voltage at the header varies for fan speed control, using the wrong fan may mean that the voltage supplied for low speed may fail to turn the fan at all and hence trigger a fan failure alarm.

3) The comment regarding a supplier offering expensive fan options - if it is the supplier offering Sunon Maglev fans, then these are enterprise grade fans intended for many years of running 24 hours per day, I had some Compaq & HP servers using similar fans and they were still working perfectly after more than a decade of service.  They may be overkill for amateur use but there is no doubt that they represent quality.  In my experience cheap unbranded ones or those with poor quality badges suggesting they are rebadged unbranded ones that just about manage to work through their warranty period aren't worth the hassle.  Certainly many on that well known auction site seem to rely on the fact that even if a product fails under warranty you won't bother with the hassle of returning it (if the seller still exists that is).