My Stinking, Rotten ASUS Router Died Overnight!

[J-Mac]

ASUS RT-N16 router... State of the so-called art.  Blah!

No internet when I got up - noticed I had no lights on the router at all. Pulled the power cable and re-plugged it; lights on for a half second and then nothing. Tried all the online tips I could find: Holding WPA button while inserting power cable; holding Reset button while doing the same. Couldn't get it going at all. Apparently this has happened to some others out there. Most others were on dd-wrt F/W; I was still on the stock ASUS F/W.

New router should be delivered tomorrow. My old Linksys WRT-54G routers seemed to last forever. I used them for years and they are still in service on my kids' networks. The newer and fancier they get, the faster they die, or so it seems.   

Jim

[Shades]

Sounds like there is a problem with getting the required power to the router. Open the box and check if a capacitor (or other component) blew in the section where power is converted from AC mains to the required DC voltage (usually 5 or 12 volts).

If replacement of the broken part is possible. Done that here with PC power supplies on occasion. Used a capacitor from a broken washing machine that matched the broken capacitor from the power supply almost perfectly. Been using that power supply for 2 years now. Even used parts from broken PC power supplies to fix a micro-wave as well.

You might be lucky as well. Attempt a repair only if the device isn't under warranty anymore, of course. When it isn't repairable, you at least got the satisfaction of breaking it up...

[J-Mac]

Thanks Shades.

Blown capacitor is the most common reason. I opened the box but none are obviously blown - none are raised or blackened.

Jim

[Renegade]

No internet

-J-Mac (August 29, 2014, 12:57 AM)

C'mon J-mac! You should know better and label threads with such horrible language as NSFL!

But yeah... been there... It's a very unhappy camper situation.

[40hz]

It happens. Probabky due to heat build-up courtesy of poor case  airflow and cheap power bricks. I've had all the major brands go toast on me at one time or the other. Including their top of the line models.

Since a waranty replacement is cheaper for them than an adequate QC & test policy, "risk management" calculations rule the day for consumer electronics. As long as it only rarely catches fire they'll ship it.

Luck!

[Stoic Joker]

Sounds like there is a problem with getting the required power to the router. Open the box and check if a capacitor (or other component) blew in the section where power is converted from AC mains to the required DC voltage (usually 5 or 12 volts).

-Shades (August 29, 2014, 01:20 AM)

Working from this angle it couldn't hurt to verify the output of the "wall wart" power supply. Chances are good that it's on the edge and dieing under load.

[J-Mac]

@SJ:  I read where others have found problems like that. However I don't have the tools oreequipment to test it unfortunately.

@40hz:  I guess that's true. I've had other equipment fail over the years. But my old routers have been so reliable for so long that this one caught me by surprise.

New router should be here shortly and I'll get over it fast. 

Jim

[40hz]

this one caught me by surprise.

-J-Mac (August 29, 2014, 08:43 AM)

I know the feeling. Especially after getting careless on the one occasion where I inadvertently bricked a WRT54G when I got careless flashing it for DD-WRT. (RTFM Dude! They updated the software since last time you did it.) 

 

[superboyac]

Thanks Shades.

Blown capacitor is the most common reason. I opened the box but none are obviously blown - none are raised or blackened.

Jim

-J-Mac (August 29, 2014, 05:24 AM)

Is it the flux capacitor?

[Stoic Joker]

@SJ:  I read where others have found problems like that. However I don't have the tools oreequipment to test it unfortunately.

-J-Mac (August 29, 2014, 08:43 AM)

It doesn't take anything fancy. Just a couple of straight pins and a volt meter. Stick the pins through the wire (1 for each conductor), connect the volt meter, and see if the voltage drops off badly when you plug in the router.

You're not looking for any real specific variance, you're just trying to see if it hits close to zero under load ... Hell lacking a volt meter, you could probably just use a low voltage (like 12v) light bulb for the level of accuracy the test would require. I've had to do worse in a pinch.

[4wd]

YMMV of course, but I've found my RT-N16 to be pretty much bulletproof ... and considering the number of power brownouts/cuts that I get at home, that's impressive.  I forget exactly when I got it but it must of been powered on 24/7 for the last 4 years at least.

Given the brief description of the fault, I'd go with what SJ said and it's likely to be the external PSU.

Even if it's caused the router to brick itself, as long as it's not a hardware fault within the router the RT-N16 can be recovered pretty much 100% of the time.

[J-Mac]

YMMV of course, but I've found my RT-N16 to be pretty much bulletproof ... and considering the number of power brownouts/cuts that I get at home, that's impressive.  I forget exactly when I got it but it must of been powered on 24/7 for the last 4 years at least.

-4wd (August 30, 2014, 06:47 AM)

About the same here. Perfect until now.

Given the brief description of the fault, I'd go with what SJ said and it's likely to be the external PSU.

Quite possible. Still, outside my current capabilities.

Even if it's caused the router to brick itself, as long as it's not a hardware fault within the router the RT-N16 can be recovered pretty much 100% of the time.

Maybe later. For now, my new RT-AC66U is up & running and doing fine. Much easier setup than any other router I've owned.  Better UI on the web settings pages too.

I'll put the RT-N16 on the shelf for now and maybe take a look at the power supply in the future.

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions.   

Jim