WRT610n dropping connection thread

Question

This is the problem we see the most on different forums.
People report that using both bands with some heavy traffic make the unit to drop connections.  Yet the heat is suspected and some have managed to get rid of that problem by allowing the unit to run cooler.
If you are experiencing dropping connections, can you try to find a way to cool the unit (without voiding the warranty) and report if you still experience the problem?  Maybe a fan blowing air directly on the unit.
This is a brand new router and may have not been fully tested with large tranfer on both bands simultanously where heat is more susceptible to occur with the CPU running non-stop.

Answer 1

I posted my experiences in a few other forums, but since this is the official Linksys forum I'll post here, too.
I got my WRT610N a few weeks ago, primarily to use the 5GHz 802.11n radio to stream 1080p HD content to an HTPC. The initial setup was easy, as I'm an IT consultant and have had my fair share of experience with consumer routers such as this.
After about two weeks of near perfect functionality, my router suddenly started dropping the wireless connection every time I tried to stream HD content or do a significant file transfer that lasted over an extended period of time. Because the HTPC was actively streaming the HD content real-time, there was constant 2-3MB/sec activity -- I was able to get halfway through a movie before I started getting incessant dropped connections. I tried upgrading to the latest Build 18 firmware, but did not see any improvement.
In a room with ambient temperatures in the high 70's, I felt the router with my hand and found that it was quite hot -- the bottom especially, was clearly hotter than it should have been. After fumbling around with different configuration settings (disabling WMM, etc.) I eventually found that completely disabling the 2.4GHz radio partially alleviated the problem. However, on a particularly hot Summer day the problem happened to me again, even with the 2.4GHz radio disabled.
I had read countless posts of people with the same problems -- despite multiple hours of telephone calls with the highest level of tech support, the Linksys people were unable to help to solve the problem. Which is pretty understandable, really, seeing that I believe this to mainly be a hardware design problem where the case simply doesn't have enough airflow to effectively cool the dual radios.
Anyways, since I'm technically inclined, I decided to fix the problem myself. I took apart the router (which voided the warranty.. don't do this!) and installed some slim-profile heat sinks on the metal shields that covered the hottest chips on the board. I also replaced the only heat sink installed at the factory with a larger one. I installed all of the heat sinks with Arctic Silver Alumina Adhesive Thermal Paste.
Additionally, I fashioned up a base stand with a quiet 120mm fan positioned directly under the router, forcing air up through the holes in the bottom of the router, around the heat sinks installed over the hot chips, and out of the top vents near the antennas. This provided decent air circulation within the unit.
Afterward, I setup a stress test to run overnight. One client connected via the 5GHz radio, and was queued to transfer around 100GB at ~10MB/sec, without stop. Another client connected via the 2.4GHz radio, and was queued to transfer 50GB. A final client connected via the GigE switch, and was queued to transfer 180GB at around ~65MB/sec.
I woke up in the morning and found that all transfers had completed successfully without a single hitch the entire night. I touched the router with my hand about an hour after the start of the test, and found that it was not hot at all -- in fact it was barely warm to the touch.
Anyways, that was last week and since then I've streamed multiple movies and done multiple file transfers without any hitches. I'm not telling people to void their warranty's, and I'm not responsible if you try this yourself and screw up your router. I'm just providing evidence that strongly supports my hypothesis that the WRT610N connection drop issues are due to overheating, and can't simply be fixed with firmware updates.
To Linksys: I suggest you look into a better method of cooling this router. On a slim device, such as the WRT610N, which can't be stood on its side for better airflow, and which runs dual wireless radios simultaneously, a single, small heat sink on one of the chips just doesn't cut it. Also, if you do a hardware revision and want to send me a new one for helping out, let me know .
Here are some pics of the base stand I made. I didn't take pics of the heat sinks and it's probably better I don't post that here anyways...
https://trihfh.s3.amazonaws.com/wrt610n/IMG_1549.JPG
https://trihfh.s3.amazonaws.com/wrt610n/IMG_1548.JPG
https://trihfh.s3.amazonaws.com/wrt610n/IMG_1547.JPG
https://trihfh.s3.amazonaws.com/wrt610n/IMG_1546.JPG
Will
Message Edited by trihfh on 09-11-2008 11:03 PM