DGND3700 Power Usage Stats

[mookiedog]

I got a DGND3700 in an attempt to go a bit "greener" on the home network. It replaced an old Westell DSL modem (7W), a Linksys RSV4000 router (7W), and a Buffalo wireless access point (3W) for a total of 17W.

The power readings for my DGND3700 are:

10.6W: ADSL active, 2.4G radio on, 5G radio on, 2 gigE ports active
9.8W: ADSL active, 2.4G radio off, 5G radio on, 2 gigE ports active
9.4W: ADSL active, 2.4G radio on, 5G radio off, 2 gigE ports active
8.6W: ADSL active, 2.4G radio off, 5G radio off, 2 gigE ports active

Doing the math says:

The new router saves me 6.4W from my old setup. Coincidentally, that is the amount of power that my home server takes.

My last step is to connect the router to my home-made UPS so that I can have total wireless network access even during a power failure.

[theTechman05]

Could we fancy the 3800 having a battery on the bottom or at least something to connect a race car power pack to.

I was still facifying somehow having solar to my router but never came to thought of how:((at least during the day your using 0 house voltage:D).

[mookiedog]

I have already done something along those lines:

I built a home-made power supply that has AC mains input, batter backup, and solar panel input for when the sun shines. The supply puts out regulated 12V to the DGND3700, and 5V for my server (a SheevaPlug). The 35AH battery backup means that during a power failure, I should have wireless networking and server access for somewhere between 12 and 24 hours, depending on how low I want to let the backup battery go.

I have a writeup on the project here: http://www.randomexploits.com/projects/sheevaplug/power-supply-v2-page1.htm

My last step is to measure physical dimensions of the DC power connector for the DGND3700 and then make a power cable for it. For now, it is running off the AC adapter that came with it. But I've only had the router for 1 day now. One of the reasons I got that router was because it was an all-in-one ADSL/router/wireless that ran on 12V. The power measurements show that it is reasonably power efficient at doing all three of those jobs, as compared to my old setup.

[Mars Mug]

Remember that if the router (or any other device) is in a room that is being heated by a control system e.g. typical UK central heating systems, then the radiated heat from the device is not wasted energy. For example if I use my desktop PC in a small bedroom the heat generated by the PC will warm the room enough to cause the radiator thermostat to close, but even before that happens the heat exchanged by the radiator is reduced. Basically I don’t need to turn the radiator on. In summer of course the radiated heat from the PC is unwanted and therefore waste energy.

[theTechman05]

That's another reason for keeping my old computer for backup. my new one does nothing more to purr. I got one of those 95watt quad core processors that keep my pc under 100 Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) with almost no power usage outside it. my old one was a chimney at about 80 Celsius with twice as much power usage (which is pretty messed up if it was my doing but it never crashed because of it).

I do hope to keep this when I build my next PC.

[Marto731]

To Mookie Dog,
Thanks for your wattage stats. They are informative.

Your "random exploits " weblink was not working for me.

The DC connector, or 12V jack is a standard, across all 12V devices, and
should be common.
You could cut the adaptor cable, and link to your 12V battery feed through a small circuit board. But you would need protective diodes to avoid backfeed.


Regards,
Marto,
Netgear

[mookiedog]

I got the power supply working a while back. It works great: I have a SheevaPlug linux server, a big hard laptop hard drive (lower power), and the DGND3700 wireless router wired to a a big battery. The circuit board contains a pair of "perfect diodes" (FETs emulating diode operation). There is an AVR processor on board to monitor everything and give stats and allow external control to the SheevaPlug server.

We had a couple of power failures over the last winter (no surprise, that always happens), but I had wireless networking during all of them. It was pretty amusing: no lights, but still wireless computing.

Here is a link to a webpage served by the sheevaplug located under my house. The sheevaplug talks to the power supply to get the voltage data every time you view the page:

http://mookiedog.dyndns.org/power.php

The randomexploits site seems to be down. It is served by a machine over at my friend's house. Perhaps it needs a reboot in the rear end...