MY Outdoor/Waterproof Linksys WRT54G Routers **PICS** (no longer waterproof)

[Exahertz]

I’m making two outdoor wireless long range wifi stations. I took apart two Linksys WRT54G routers and stuck them inside a liquid tight enclosure. Check out my design.




Everything is sealed, including the feedthroughs using high quality o-ring seal design. The RJ45 feedthrough is packed with white di-electric grease to keep water out. Every edge of the feedthroughs were sealed with silicone. There is an ultra bright Red LED on the sides of the boxes that indicates traffic (and ultimently system power too) on the wirelses interface.



There is one high quality ball bearing fan and one large desiccant (silic gel) bag inside to help keep the air moving around inside of the box and turn any droplets of water that might accumulate into vapor that will then be absorbed by the silic gel. the silic gel can be seen glued to the inside of the face covers (big white bags)



These routers will run at around 80-100mw output power. And will be mounted to a pole that is always in direct sunlight.

Do you think they might overheat on a hot sunny day?
It can sometimes get up to 120f here.
or do you think these routers pretty rugged?


I should have the antennas monday, and ill have them set up next week. I cant wait!!!

[DaMulta]

I wonder if you filled them up with oil then cooled them down in the dirt if it would stop them from overheating if they did.

Kidda like this

[road-runner]

Definitely going to get hot in that box, how hot I dont know. I guess you will find out if they quit working. Nice job...

[Exahertz]

I wonder if you filled them up with oil then cooled them down in the dirt if it would stop them from overheating if they did.

Kidda like this

That is some serious elaborate thinking. i dont think they are sealed to the extent of being filled with oil for any extended period of time.

they are submergable in a bath tub but i did notice a drop or two after i opended them up. but rain has no chance of getting in!

also i might add, one of these is going to be on the roof of my house.

[hecktic]

throw a high powered DELTA fan in there... hey its outside right so who cares for the noise as long as your house windows absorb it hehe

whats the purpose of an outdoor router anyways?

[ZOMGVTEK]

Hmmm...

I saw similar setups without fans on roofs in AZ on the dd-wrt forum, never heard of problems. Im sure they will get hot... But it should be fine. Just dont overclock them. And you could always underclock in dd-wrt.. lol. thats crazy though.

[rogard]

attach heatsinks to the main ICs and make sure its not in direct sunlight and it sohuld be fine.

[xytrius]

I think that it will overheat. My router is always warm.

How about a heatpipe cooler? You could run the heatpipes into the box through holes with the cooling fins outside the box. You could then seal the area where the pipes enter the box.

[stocius]

pretty sweet...yeah they'll overheat unless you take proper precautions

[nn_step]

I'd suggest modding in a heatsink and attach the heatsink to the bottom of the router, such that the ground could be used to cool the system.
Also did you remember to ground the equipment for lighting strikes?

[ARC1450]

I'd just put an exhaust on the boxes. You can bend the exhaust so that it points to the ground, and put a good fan in the box blowing the exhaust out. That'll keep humidity out, and should keep the heat down to a decent level.

[Exahertz]

I'd just put an exhaust on the boxes. You can bend the exhaust so that it points to the ground, and put a good fan in the box blowing the exhaust out. That'll keep humidity out, and should keep the heat down to a decent level.

you're saying to just use one fan to exhaust with no intake? i dont see that creating any flow...

i dont like hearing that this router will overheat, but i guess it will.
im not too sure if the humidity will affect much, so maybe some airflow wouldnt hurt.

i can cut two holes in the bottom and move that fan to exaust and the other hole as the intake, both would have some type of mesh filter to keep bugs out of corse.

[nn_step]

you're saying to just use one fan to exhaust with no intake? i dont see that creating any flow...

i dont like hearing that this router will overheat, but i guess it will.
im not too sure if the humidity will affect much, so maybe some airflow wouldnt hurt.

i can cut two holes in the bottom and move that fan to exaust and the other hole as the intake, both would have some type of mesh filter to keep bugs out of corse.

you do realize you don't need to make holes to conduct heat away right?
just use metal to conduct the heat way.
Heck you can even use metal spikes to drop the heat into the dirt...

[ARC1450]

It creates negative pressure in the box. I can tell you right now, the box isn't perfectly sealed (since you can get water into it), so you'll get airflow, even if it's crappy. The thing to remember is that hot air expands, so when that box is hot and in the sun, the air in it will take up more volume than the air around it. Venting and having an exhaust will naturally create something resembling air flow that can keep it cool.

And of course, as mentioned, you can drop metal rods to the ground to try and dissipate the heat, with the added benefit of the boxes being grounded in the case of lightning (even though they're plastic, they can still hold a static charge).

Just something I'd do IMHO. Then again, though, I wouldn't put a wireless router outside. :P

[Exahertz]

Ok, so i fugure that a little moisture wont do nearly as much damage as a lot of heat could. so i moved the fans and cut some more holes. but i lost my water tight seal in doing so



as you can see everything is filtered. i have a mesh filter on the top of the intake pipe and a screen under the fan





the flow is setup so that no rain drops cant make their way into the enclosure, they would have to travel up the pipe and through the filter in order to make it in. and any rain that gets near the fan should be blown away. plus no bugs can make it through the screen filter.



I may put a small and cheap inline temperature switch set at around 100F. just so the fan doesnt run all of the time and so the inside of the box stays heated by the router and cant get cold enough to create condensation...

oh and btw the poles are grounded with 6awg ground wire incase of lightning strikes

[hecktic]

again, whats the purpose of an outdoor router?

[Exahertz]

again, whats the purpose of an outdoor router?

I'm Attempting to have the lowest signal loss due to cabling and the highest signal output to the antenna.

These routers will be mounted to a pole with a parabolic antenna above them. I need a long range (2 - 3 mile) connection.

[hecktic]

I'm Attempting to have the lowest signal loss due to cabling and the highest signal output to the antenna.

These routers will be mounted to a pole with a parabolic antenna above them. I need a long range (2 - 3 mile) connection.

ahh interesting...

[Entity_Razer]

Why not buy a decent high power antenna? it'll be watertight also if you get one for outdoor usage, and we tested one ourselves here near us, gets a 1Km range by default in the city with it being mounted inside,so thats a good .... 0.8 miles or so. nowhere near your 3miles needed/wanted but getting 3 miles on a normal lowpower router is gonna be a PAIN, you either need to use amps, which create more heat, more power usage, or get yourself some decent kit.

[bobbobson]

Sounds good. How a bout sealing it AROUND the heat sink ? So the heatsink is outside of the enclosure but touching the vital IC's. Then you can put a delta on it or have it Rain Cooled

[Exahertz]

Why not buy a decent high power antenna? it'll be watertight also if you get one for outdoor usage, and we tested one ourselves here near us, gets a 1Km range by default in the city with it being mounted inside,so thats a good .... 0.8 miles or so. nowhere near your 3miles needed/wanted but getting 3 miles on a normal lowpower router is gonna be a PAIN, you either need to use amps, which create more heat, more power usage, or get yourself some decent kit.

Would a decent active antenna be bi-directional? i am only trying to minimize cable length to improve my distance. i hope this works.

check out one of the stations:

[G H Z]

If you need it to be fairly immune to water yet still breath I'd consider some form of conformal coating on the board.

[Exahertz]

If you need it to be fairly immune to water yet still breath I'd consider some form of conformal coating on the board.

my father and i also had that idea. the only issue i see is that the coating might insulate the board which could increase the temperatures in the board.

it might not be that bad though,and i can always add some small heat sinks ware needed. what would you suggest using? would a laquor clear coat work?

[WesM63]

This is cool and all, but why reinvent the wheel? Plenty of these boxes online that work perfectly. My parents have one on their tv antenna. 8months and not one downtime.

[Exahertz]

This is cool and all, but why reinvent the wheel? Plenty of these boxes online that work perfectly. My parents have one on their tv antenna. 8months and not one downtime.

do they have an actual router up there or a bi-directional amp?

because i was thinking of buying a 1watt bi-directional amp that i can put up on the poll and just putting these routers down in the shade under something so they dont get wet. but im still trying to keep cable length down