Just a quick post, how I fit a Netgear R7000 (running DD-WRT build) into an Orbit irrigation box, and upgraded its cooling capacity along the way. The R7000 will not fit inside the Orbit box while still in its own case, and it runs a bit hot for my liking anyway.
The router CPU runs 20 degrees C cooler, and the wireless chipsets run 10 degrees C cooler as configured in the pictures. I expect this to lengthen its life, and probably make it more stable (even though I have not seen any stability issues anyway).
The heatsink and heatsink base plate (for the CPU heatsink) were thermal epoxied on to the board cans that house the chips. The cans pop open, and have very thick (several mm) thermal pads. I replaced these thermal pads with some small copper sheet cutouts, held in place with thermal epoxy. Finally, the cans were thermal expoxied shut, with the underside of the can lids also epoxied to the copper sheet cutouts I had built up. This provides excellent heat transfer, and also makes sure that the heatsinks, if bumped, can't pull the cans apart. The CPU baseplate I cut from a piece of aluminum stock, drilled, and tapped to line up with some holes on a surplus heatsink I had sitting around.
The antennas can be pulled out of their plastic sleeves, as seen in the pictures. They are just simple dipoles. I taped them down in the Orbit case using some fiberglass tape. The large CPU heatsink might block the signal (especially at 5Ghz), but in my case, the install is at the edge of the house, so it serves to reflect signal back towards the rest of the house just fine.
The USBIP services on the DD-WRT work fine with this router. I was able successfully test binding the USB ports to the service, and then connecting to it with a workstation. I tested a few simple USB devices I had sitting around, like the RFXCom interface, and it worked just fine. One could use this feature to host such simple interfaces for HS remotely if desired. I used the Windows side drivers from here (warning, they are unsigned, and compiled by someone I do not know, so you might want to compile your own). http://sourceforge.net/p/usbip/discu...read/86c5e473/ The officially signed driver and USBIP tool do not work, but the one I linked does (as would presumably one you compile yourself with needed fixes).
I am using this box as an additional network access point, and a mini remote linux box for testing various concepts out within the home. There is plenty of space behind the mid-plane mounting board, as well as the full depth of the box cover to mount other goodies.
Theses pictures are just a final fit together before really assembling it in the closet where it lives. Of course I will put the rest of the screws in and use some thermal grease in the final seating of the CPU heatsink. These boxes are cheap and are good for housing RF based devices since they can pass the RF. They fit well in bedroom closets above the door where there is often nothing else in the way.
The router CPU runs 20 degrees C cooler, and the wireless chipsets run 10 degrees C cooler as configured in the pictures. I expect this to lengthen its life, and probably make it more stable (even though I have not seen any stability issues anyway).
The heatsink and heatsink base plate (for the CPU heatsink) were thermal epoxied on to the board cans that house the chips. The cans pop open, and have very thick (several mm) thermal pads. I replaced these thermal pads with some small copper sheet cutouts, held in place with thermal epoxy. Finally, the cans were thermal expoxied shut, with the underside of the can lids also epoxied to the copper sheet cutouts I had built up. This provides excellent heat transfer, and also makes sure that the heatsinks, if bumped, can't pull the cans apart. The CPU baseplate I cut from a piece of aluminum stock, drilled, and tapped to line up with some holes on a surplus heatsink I had sitting around.
The antennas can be pulled out of their plastic sleeves, as seen in the pictures. They are just simple dipoles. I taped them down in the Orbit case using some fiberglass tape. The large CPU heatsink might block the signal (especially at 5Ghz), but in my case, the install is at the edge of the house, so it serves to reflect signal back towards the rest of the house just fine.
The USBIP services on the DD-WRT work fine with this router. I was able successfully test binding the USB ports to the service, and then connecting to it with a workstation. I tested a few simple USB devices I had sitting around, like the RFXCom interface, and it worked just fine. One could use this feature to host such simple interfaces for HS remotely if desired. I used the Windows side drivers from here (warning, they are unsigned, and compiled by someone I do not know, so you might want to compile your own). http://sourceforge.net/p/usbip/discu...read/86c5e473/ The officially signed driver and USBIP tool do not work, but the one I linked does (as would presumably one you compile yourself with needed fixes).
I am using this box as an additional network access point, and a mini remote linux box for testing various concepts out within the home. There is plenty of space behind the mid-plane mounting board, as well as the full depth of the box cover to mount other goodies.
Theses pictures are just a final fit together before really assembling it in the closet where it lives. Of course I will put the rest of the screws in and use some thermal grease in the final seating of the CPU heatsink. These boxes are cheap and are good for housing RF based devices since they can pass the RF. They fit well in bedroom closets above the door where there is often nothing else in the way.
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