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Forum Discussion
R9000-Defective 2.4ghz chipset
Hi There, It would appear that my 2.4ghz radio/chipset is dead on my R9000. It happened right after flashing to the latest firmware file. I know this router is 3+ years old, but is there any...
Might anyone know the best way to utilize putty and the R9000's serial connection to 100% rule a hardware failure vs. simply software?
Might include soldering a JTAG connection to the motherboard and connecting up a USB to serial adapter.
Something you might find more information on over in the DD-WRT forums.
- The R9000 already has the serial headers on it and I already have the router open and have already putty'd into it.... But I digress, this clearly isn't the place to be asking. I was hoping an actual Netgear support person roams these forums.... Can anyone point me to the right person?
Ok, I was wrong, 5ghz died and not 2.4....
The puzzle deepens and starts making more sense...I think I know where this is all going south...
The R7800 has passive antenna's which means the PCB has dedicated hardware&s directly on the main mobo for BOTH radios...
The R9000, meanwhile, has active antenna's and no amps on the main mobo. There's no physical space left on this mobo to put the array of filters & amps on the main mobo, as they did on the 2.4ghz radio on the bottom section. So, Netgear off-loaded it to the antenna's in order to save space. That means that two connectors per each antenna must have DC power going on it in addition to the actual 2.4 & 5ghz signal.
All 4 antennas appear to get all their power through the tiny u.fl connector. there is no other wiring, otherwise. I am wondering if this is the poor design point of the whole thing?!!!!
Somehow it must be what causes the 5ghz to fail...I had the LED's all off from day one on the router- so, the extra power the antenna leds would pull, should not be the issue...there must be something else that's going on with the amps "pulling" too much power, but I am now much more convinced it's the active antenna design that is contributing to the failure.
CONDUCTORS tend to INCREASE their resistance with an increase in temperature. We all know this router runs warm and GIANT heatsinks were put in place...So, the heat inside raises the wire temperature which in turn will increase resistance in the wires which will cause the amps to go low- if the voltage stays constant. Low power conditions on chips is what kills chips.
The real kicker is that two sets of the 2.4ghz wires (4 wires) run, squeezed, between the heatsinks. those wires must be heating the surrounding 5ghz wires that go to the two left antenna's (when looking from the front side of the assembled router), AND those are the longest run wires for 5ghz to boot which further contributes to IR losses....
I guess the real learning lesson here is to avoid ANY router that uses active antenna's that rely on the tiny u.fl connector to get their power for the active components in the amps.
If anyone else has other insights, let me know. I am open.