Netgear FVS318

[mrmazda]

Searching for this model here turned up nothing, so I thought it might be worth a mention - all its caps are a brand in the bad caps thread. This 126 month old VPN router has to warm up before it will function. That should be no problem, except that my electric utility has a frustrating habit of turning off my power longer than my UPS batteries last several times in an average year, so I took it out of service several years ago. It's powered by a brick 12V 1.2A rated that shows 14.4V on my multimeter's 12V load scale. All its caps are Lelon:

 2 220uf 25V RGA 8x11
13 220uf 16V RGA 6.3x11
 3 10uf 25V SG 4.5x8

Mottled coloring in the first pic is from the way the light's coming through the trees.

Any comments?

[retiredcaps]

Re: Netgear FVS318

Well, there aren't any obvious bulging caps from the pictures, but then again the smaller caps don't usually bloat like the biggers one.

There is a possibility that your AC adapter has bulging caps inside and those caps might require some warm up time so the ESR is lowered before it works??

It is not uncommon for these AC adapters to be higher/lower than their stated voltages because AFAIK, they aren't too tightly regulated.

[Uniballer]

Re: Netgear FVS318

Many cheap wall warts read high because they don't regulate the voltage properly without a load. And it's hard to measure with the supply plugged in.

There are (at least) 3 different versions of the FVS318 hardware. The last firmware release for the V3 hardware (FVS318v3_v3.0_28.bin) is (barely) OK. I ran it for years because I needed an IPSEC VPN and it worked OK. You clearly have an earlier version than mine, because my board looks practically empty compared to yours. Mine only has 4 100uF 25V electrolytics - CapXon - yuck. I've had no trouble with the hardware, but then again I never turn it off. It's now sitting around in case I need a backup router.

If you really want to run this router then I suggest you recap the board and buy a new power supply. But if you have the money I really recommend you get something that will run DDWRT and use that instead.

[mrmazda]

Re: Netgear FVS318

Well, there aren't any obvious bulging caps from the pictures,

I saw none, but figured best include pictures anyway.

but then again the smaller caps don't usually bloat like the biggers one.

I've read that, but don't remember if I've ever seen a reason why, or how big the cans usually are before bloating might be noticeable. I've also been puzzled by getting a sense reading here that unless they are junk brands that the itty bitty caps (5x11 & under?) aren't usually part of the "recapping" process.

There is a possibility that your AC adapter has bulging caps inside and those caps might require some warm up time so the ESR is lowered before it works??

Bulgers in the wart wouldn't surprise me. What would is figuring a way to get it open without cutting or breaking it. The plastic is very rigid, so I doubt I'd ever get it open and back together again without tie wraps and/or tape and/or epoxy. It looks and feels like cutting with hacksaw would be only way to get a chance to see.

It is not uncommon for these AC adapters to be higher/lower than their stated voltages because AFAIK, they aren't too tightly regulated

Most I've ever measured are higher. Those measuring lower have usually come from things that quit working, and/or from Goodwill.

[mrmazda]

Re: Netgear FVS318

If you really want to run this router then I suggest you recap the board and buy a new power supply. But if you have the money I really recommend you get something that will run DDWRT and use that instead.

All good to know.

I bought the FVS318 in the first place for its 8 switch ports, not the VPN. I'll probably recap to have as a better spare after checking if it works right away on startup with its existing PS or the PS from the RT314 it replaced.

Wireless I still don't use. The gigabit switch at my TV has 7 of 8 ports in use. The gigabit switch at my current (wireless not enabled) router has 8 of 8 ports in use. My printer is plugged directly into the router. I have a brand new wireless router that Newegg provided as a freebie that is still in the shrink wrap. I hope by the time I actually want wireless there will be a decent selection of right-priced routers to choose from that are boxes instead of stealth fighter wannabes or art projects.

[Uniballer]

Re: Netgear FVS318

I'm not big on wireless, either. What I like about DDWRT is that it is decent routing software that breathes new life into router hardware with buggy OEM firmware (and there's plenty of that). You can turn off the wireless and it will do a good job supporting a wired network. It can even do VPNs and dynamic DNS through namecheap.com (I don't think any commercial routers can do that, yet).

At work I have a distributed stack of Cisco SGE2000P switches (24 port stackable web-managed gigabit switches with 802.3af POE). Thinking about adding an SGE2010P to the stack (same thing but with 48 ports). The POE is great because the phones and surveillance cameras run right off the switches without wall warts or POE injectors. These would be a bit loud at home, though.

At home I have a mix of NetGear GS116 and GS108 gigabit switches. They're dumb, but work fine. All mine came from ebay, and they were pretty cheap (I'm patient).

[dood]

Re: Netgear FVS318

Interesting... I've bought two of these in the last two months, but didn't think to crack them open and see what was inside. We bought them to replace our old Checkpoint VPN devices at two of our branches. They perform better than the checkpoint boxes, and the price is right.

[retiredcaps]

Re: Netgear FVS318

What would is figuring a way to get it open without cutting or breaking it.

The 12V 1.2A adapters are used in other consumer routers like a Linksys so if you don't want to fix it, there should be plenty of "free" replacements.

As for opening it up, see

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=13586

Youtube probably has a ton of videos with various techniques.

[retiredcaps]

Re: Netgear FVS318

I've also been puzzled by getting a sense reading here that unless they are junk brands that the itty bitty caps (5x11 & under?) aren't usually part of the "recapping" process.

The smaller caps don't have the vents on top, but they do bulge on the bottom when they are obviously bad. For example, take a look at any Fluke 8060A and you are highly likely to find those < 100uF caps all leaking or bulging from the bottom.

I generally will leave the smaller caps alone depending on what their function is and where they are located. If they are near heat sources where the other capacitors have bulged, then you can assume the smaller ones are also dried up and bad.

I, however, always replace the "startup cap". This is the capacitor that is usually tied to the VCC of the SMPS IC. It plays an important role in the SMPS and is always "on" so I want a quality capacitor there.

Lately, I have been experimenting with only replacing the obviously bulged caps in my own personal equipment/electronics with used Japanese capacitors like Rubycon/Nichicon/Sanyo/Panasonic from 10 year old dead motherboards. I don't have an ESR meter so I have no idea what the ESR is, but for a couple of repairs, they are working fine.

I wouldn't recommend this for everyone, but as I said, I'm experimenting on my own stuff that has little economic and personal value. Obviously, if you are a professional or charging clients $$$ for a repair, it is best to get new capacitors.

[mrmazda]

Re: Netgear FVS318

I popped the cover, plugged one ethernet cable into the LAN and powered it up. With the original PWR-002-004 12VDC 1.2A wall wart I measured 15.22V, where it remained after 20 minutes warmup time. With the identical part number 12VDC 1.2A but physically very different wall wart from the RT314 that I replaced with the FVS318 it was 14.62V.

[seanc]

Re: Netgear FVS318

I had one of these, without a power switch, I ended up throwing it away as the ADSL modem was so unstable (even after replacing the bulged caps), even with different firmware.