Netgear DG834G Capacitor Change Sees Drastic Improvements

bleckers · 27th January 2007, 7:24 PM

I would like to share with you today my experience with changing the capacitors on the Netgear DG834G router.

I was taking a look at this thread (edit: hmm trodas seems to have taken down the pics), and I got the idea that the frequent dropout and slow speed issues that I was having may have related to this.

I opened up the router (the screws are under the feet), low and behold....Teapo caps, the most notorious cap for failure without a mess, and also very very common to failure.

The other caps in the DG834Gv2 are United Chemi-Con KY, they are good, so I'll leave them be for the time being.

The replacements I have used are Samxon low ESR replacements, and these are the replacement capacitor values:

Teapo 1000uF 16V x2
Teapo 470uF 16V
Teapo 100uF 25V

Chemi-Con 470uF 6.3V x3
Chemi-Con 22uF 50V x2

You don't need to replace the Chemi-con ones are they are a great brand, but I've listed them for completeness sake.

Here are the replaced capacitors, I had to lay the 1000uF ones down, because the replacements were a bit taller:

I also put some heatsinks on the chips to keep them cool.

OK, now for results, my link speed went from 8mbps, to 10mbps, and I have yet to have a single dropout. Job well done I say

I am in the same boat as trodas from the thread I linked to when I say, why the hell would Netgear do such a thing. I guess thats the way its meant to be, technology is purposefully designed to fail, because once the warranty is up, the manufacturer couldn't care less.

bleckers · 28th January 2007, 2:37 PM

24Hrs without a dropout, still going strong, no speed or timeout issues either

Rofl_Copter · 28th January 2007, 3:02 PM

Interesting...

On another note, have you done any other mods or special things with the firmware of this router? I ask because I have the same model, except mine doesn't have any stability or speed issues

bleckers · 28th January 2007, 6:27 PM

I am still using the V3.01.25 beta firmware, as it gives me good speeds over the other firmwares. You might not be having the issues as the capacitors are probably still in working condition. Over the last few weeks the the problems gradually got worse and worse, up to the point where you couldn't even log into the router sometimes, and everything would always time out, and I don't think I ever saw the connection remain for more than 3hrs.

Porky_123 · 28th January 2007, 8:14 PM

interesting, i have a dg834g, i had problems with a previous unit and netgear shipped a replacement ot me with little worries. must be a bit of a known problem

bleckers · 28th January 2007, 8:22 PM

Sadly this was past its warranty.

Porky_123 · 28th January 2007, 8:33 PM

yea, my current unit would be outof warranty by now, if i start getting problems agan i think i shall give this a go.

TMM · 28th January 2007, 8:45 PM

Ah damn cheap caps. I replaced the entire lot in my modem which usually averages 2-3 days of connection before dropping. Had a dead mobo lying around with some rubycons, so replaced all the caps in my modem and it hasn't dropped since

MyDixiesNormous · 29th January 2007, 11:07 AM

Does the newer DG834PN have the same problems?

bleckers · 29th January 2007, 2:25 PM

You would have to open it up and find out for yourself, but remember that that will void your warranty. If you are having issues and are in warranty period, get in touch with netgear, and they should replace it. If you are out of warranty open, it up and check inside, and see if you have any caps from these manufacturers:

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=388

MyDixiesNormous · 29th January 2007, 3:04 PM

yeah, its the old problem of do i wait for weeks for the modem to be replaced or just fix it myself.

Selekta · 29th January 2007, 4:15 PM

I have a Dlink DI-724P+ that won't power on, could it be a similar problem? I opened the sucker up but all the caps looks fine...then again I don't really know what to look for, on motherboards you can tell if they're buldging, but you said these ones can look fine...

Mitch01 · 29th January 2007, 4:42 PM

DG834G's have dropouts and speed problems? Thats news to me!

Anyway nice mod, damn that solders clean!

wabbit · 29th January 2007, 5:50 PM

The best way to identify faulty caps is with an ESR meter.
The good new is that DSE has dropped the price of the kit from $80 to $25 for a limited time. Visit www.dse.com.au and look for K7214.
Cheers
Rob

ener · 29th January 2007, 6:36 PM

i have a dg834 v.2
i get dropouts every so often, but it doesnt bother me much
when i get some more soldiering exp. under my belt i might attempet this
what were the values of the old cap?

27th January 2007, 7:24 PM	#1
bleckers Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 222	Netgear DG834G Capacitor Change Sees Drastic Improvements I would like to share with you today my experience with changing the capacitors on the Netgear DG834G router. I was taking a look at this thread (edit: hmm trodas seems to have taken down the pics), and I got the idea that the frequent dropout and slow speed issues that I was having may have related to this. I opened up the router (the screws are under the feet), low and behold....Teapo caps, the most notorious cap for failure without a mess, and also very very common to failure. The other caps in the DG834Gv2 are United Chemi-Con KY, they are good, so I'll leave them be for the time being. The replacements I have used are Samxon low ESR replacements, and these are the replacement capacitor values: Teapo 1000uF 16V x2 Teapo 470uF 16V Teapo 100uF 25V Chemi-Con 470uF 6.3V x3 Chemi-Con 22uF 50V x2 You don't need to replace the Chemi-con ones are they are a great brand, but I've listed them for completeness sake. Here are the replaced capacitors, I had to lay the 1000uF ones down, because the replacements were a bit taller: I also put some heatsinks on the chips to keep them cool. OK, now for results, my link speed went from 8mbps, to 10mbps, and I have yet to have a single dropout. Job well done I say I am in the same boat as trodas from the thread I linked to when I say, why the hell would Netgear do such a thing. I guess thats the way its meant to be, technology is purposefully designed to fail, because once the warranty is up, the manufacturer couldn't care less. Last edited by bleckers; 29th January 2007 at 11:34 PM.

28th January 2007, 2:37 PM	#2
bleckers Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 222	24Hrs without a dropout, still going strong, no speed or timeout issues either __________________ "Science is interesting, if you don't agree you can fuck off." Last edited by bleckers; 28th January 2007 at 2:40 PM.

28th January 2007, 6:27 PM	#4
bleckers Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 222	I am still using the V3.01.25 beta firmware, as it gives me good speeds over the other firmwares. You might not be having the issues as the capacitors are probably still in working condition. Over the last few weeks the the problems gradually got worse and worse, up to the point where you couldn't even log into the router sometimes, and everything would always time out, and I don't think I ever saw the connection remain for more than 3hrs. __________________ "Science is interesting, if you don't agree you can fuck off." Last edited by bleckers; 29th January 2007 at 11:20 PM.

28th January 2007, 8:14 PM	#5
Porky_123 Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,910	interesting, i have a dg834g, i had problems with a previous unit and netgear shipped a replacement ot me with little worries. must be a bit of a known problem __________________ Sucessful Trades: Ukei, Santa, Packatrob1982 x lots, Syslink, chookyinoz, ViPeR-7, moggity, Reaper, Nguny005, 'Nakedchef, Finnigan, Mang, KatatonicKwan, infiltraitor and lots more i've forgotten

28th January 2007, 8:22 PM	#6
bleckers Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 222	Sadly this was past its warranty. __________________ "Science is interesting, if you don't agree you can fuck off."

28th January 2007, 3:02 PM	#3
Rofl_Copter (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Victoria (3106) Posts: 274	Interesting... On another note, have you done any other mods or special things with the firmware of this router? I ask because I have the same model, except mine doesn't have any stability or speed issues

28th January 2007, 8:33 PM	#7
Porky_123 Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,910	yea, my current unit would be outof warranty by now, if i start getting problems agan i think i shall give this a go. __________________ Sucessful Trades: Ukei, Santa, Packatrob1982 x lots, Syslink, chookyinoz, ViPeR-7, moggity, Reaper, Nguny005, 'Nakedchef, Finnigan, Mang, KatatonicKwan, infiltraitor and lots more i've forgotten

28th January 2007, 8:45 PM	#8
TMM Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Vic Posts: 7,265	Ah damn cheap caps. I replaced the entire lot in my modem which usually averages 2-3 days of connection before dropping. Had a dead mobo lying around with some rubycons, so replaced all the caps in my modem and it hasn't dropped since __________________ "Everytime I open one of stablez' threads I don't realise who's created it until i'm halfway through reading it and I'm ready to shoot myself in the face."-[KEi]SoVeReIgN

29th January 2007, 2:25 PM	#10
bleckers Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 222	You would have to open it up and find out for yourself, but remember that that will void your warranty. If you are having issues and are in warranty period, get in touch with netgear, and they should replace it. If you are out of warranty open, it up and check inside, and see if you have any caps from these manufacturers: http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=388 __________________ "Science is interesting, if you don't agree you can fuck off."

29th January 2007, 4:15 PM	#12
Selekta (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,184	I have a Dlink DI-724P+ that won't power on, could it be a similar problem? I opened the sucker up but all the caps looks fine...then again I don't really know what to look for, on motherboards you can tell if they're buldging, but you said these ones can look fine...

29th January 2007, 4:42 PM	#13
Mitch01 Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sydney Posts: 23,384	DG834G's have dropouts and speed problems? Thats news to me! Anyway nice mod, damn that solders clean! __________________ "I think in this world, if you can do something you love as a job and it doesn't feel like a job that is one of the greatest gifts you can have" - Hugh Jackman 2009

29th January 2007, 5:50 PM	#14
wabbit Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 408	The best way to identify faulty caps is with an ESR meter. The good new is that DSE has dropped the price of the kit from $80 to $25 for a limited time. Visit www.dse.com.au and look for K7214. Cheers Rob __________________ I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.