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Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) hardware1 Profile Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless Router These routers will be going cheap, I picked one up for $40 after $30 rebate! They had some problems with the firmware and may or may not have fixed them, so they might not be selling so good. Hardware info: # Atheros AR2312 "All in one Wireless CPU" runs at 180Mhz! # Jtag 20 pins (all connections go to processor, not verified) # RP-SMA antenna connector ? # 16 Megs of RAM # 4 Megs of Flash ? # FCC-ID PY3WGR614v3 # Power supply reg chip (buck converter) TI 5001C out= 3.47V # Wall Wart Supply 12V 1A center pin (+) Since this is a special wireless chip, wireless drivers may be a problem for hacking, but this can make a great robotics CPU due to the serial port. No hidden screws, remove 4 on bottom and it falls apart. Power input Cap is 100uf @ 25V ! In the picture you can see what looks like a jtag port, 14 pins just about center picture, serial port (5V levels) to the right, power regulator upper left corner, same style antenna connector as the Belkin F5D7230 I listed here, very few chips on this board. Pic of circuit board in high res: http://www.linux-hacker.net/misc/wgr614v3.jpg Possible source of more info: http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/NetgearWGR614 03-06-2004 11:04:42

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) hardware1 Profile WARNING: Reversing power pins on this box may ruin the regulation electronics! Use this information at your own risk! It can run up to 20V ! I ran it at 20V for about a hour. It can still operate and start up properly with wireless at 10V but any lower and wireless doesn't come up but it will boot at 5V, any lower and the 3.5V inside drops off. Solar, car battery is possible with this box as long as you don't go under 10V, I think the belkin power supply design wins this test. Measured currents are (about 3W) 5V @ .5A, 8V @ .35A, 10V @ .31A, 12V @.27A, 20V @ .17A So the power supply they give you is way over rated. The pins on the serial connector (12 pins off to the right in the picture) look like pin 9 is serial out, pin 3 is serial in, 1 and 2 are 3.5V, 10 and 12 are Gnd, the rest are open N/C. Pin 9 sends out what looks like serial data at start up, pin 3 is the only other one connected to something so a good guess is that it is the serial input. It's all 3V logic levels, you need a RS-232 level converter. 03-06-2004 14:50:40

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) shavenwarthog Profile Amazon has the WGT624 for $50 shipped -- http://www.bensbargains.net/ktalk/1079953875,11202,.shtml Does anyone know if the 624, like the 614, is hackable? hmm: alas, it looks like the 624 sucks. Check this thread http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,9293682~mode=flat - shaven 03-22-2004 14:41:28

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) Linuxguru Profile | Email I got my hands on a Netgear WGR614 v4. However, unlike the earlier versions, this one is based on a Marvell Semiconductors 88W8510 802.11g baseband chip (with an ARM9 core) and an 88E6060 fast ethernet MAC/switch. The earlier Atheros chipset was based on a MIPS core, but this one is based on an ARM. It looks like there were firmware issues with the earlier v1, v2 & v3 versions. Most of those issues are apparently not present in the v4, with the Marvell chipset. Regarding hackability, the JTAG header is missing, but an unpopulated 4-pin header is present near the baseband chip. Flash ROM is a single 2 Mbyte (?) AM29LV8008t TSOP and DRAM consists of two v54C316162 1M x 16 EDO RAM (total of 4 MBytes). Nothing much else except the voltage regulators, LEDs and RF section (shielded with a soldered metal shield). External antenna is not socketed, but comes with a braided coax lead that is soldered to the PCB. 04-05-2004 11:35:38

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) Linuxguru Profile | Email An obvious configuration for deploying this unit (or any other similar unit) is as follows: Use a surplus Ku band ellipsoid dish (like the Echostar, Primestar or similar), which is available for as little as $20 or less, depending on where you look. This gives about 20-25 dB of gain. Use Trevor Marshall's Biquad antenna feed (at the feedhorn), for a further 11 dB. Mount the router in a weather-proof enclosure at the feedhorn itself, to avoid feed losses. Run ethernet and 12v upto the router on long cables (power over ethernet would be great). Similar setup at the other end of a point-to-point link, giving a further 30-35 dB path gain, for a total of 60-70 dB. If you have a clear line-of-sight, with good alignment you should be able to get a range of 50 miles or more. 54 MBPS bog-standard IP over 50 miles is nothing to sneeze at! In the Bay Area, it should get you from Palo Alto Hills to Mount Diablo without much effort. This can open up internet access in rural, hilly and wilderness areas at the fraction of the cost of terrestrial cable. Think Rockies, Montana, High Sierra... 04-05-2004 21:35:55

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) carnivorx Profile I really have no experience with this kind of thing, but the… **braided coax lead** Would this mean I can just cut the wire that is going to the current antenna and solder that wire to the pin in the middle of the coax cable? If not, can you explain how to do this? Your help would be greatly appreciated… -carn- 06-05-2004 13:31:58

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) Linuxguru Profile | Email No, if you attempt to splice the two coax cables together there will be an impedance mismatch at the splice. This will cause reflections, standing waves and signal loss. For best results, you should get a longer length of coax similar to the one used in the WGR614 to connect to the antenna, desolder the existing coax from the PCB and solder the new coax in its place. The length of the new coax should be as short as possible to avoid signal losses. The other end of the new coax should connect to the feedhorn of the dish antenna. If you haven't worked with microwave electronics before, I'd suggest avoiding this kind of hack. The quality of the RF shielding, the solder joints, the feedhorn construction, etc., are very critical to the success of the hack. I haven't actually tried the hack myself; I just googled around and found some links to people who have tried similar things with their WiFi APs and routers. 06-06-2004 08:04:33

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) carnivorx Profile Thank you for responding, I did post on that site as well hoping for a response...You have both helped out greatly. I am still a little confused though, if I de-solder the current cable from the chip and solder on a new cable (assuming I use the correct grade of cable). I can solder that onto the male connector? After that would not be afected...? The length of the new coax should be as short as possible to avoid signal losses. The other end of the new coax should connect to the feedhorn of the dish antenna. <--probably meaning the female to female after the acutal male connector I attach to the unit (WGR614)? For best results, you should get a longer length of coax similar to the one used in the WGR614 to connect to the antenna, desolder the existing coax from the PCB and solder the new coax in its place. The length of the new coax should be as short as possible to avoid signal losses. The other end of the new coax should connect to the feedhorn of the dish antenna. I usually have my brother do this stuff for me, but he hurt his back...so no quick stuff done . I can have him pick out all the stuff I need. I just need to know if my theory is correct. TIA again and thank you for your quick response! It is greatly apprectiated... Cx 06-06-2004 20:55:41

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) Linuxguru Profile | Email Here are some links that describe the construction of the biquad feedhorn (at the dish): http://www.trevorMarshall.com/biquad.htm http://www.weijand.nl/wifi/ http://martybugs.net/wireless/biquad/ The feedhorn has a female N-type threaded connector on it. The feedhorn is connected to the access point/router using low-loss coax (RG-402 or similar). The coax will have a male N-type connector on the end that connects to the feedhorn. The other end connects to the access point/router, either by directly soldering the coax onto the PCB, or by using another N-type connector pair (male on the coax, female on the router). The female connector on the router is connected to the PCB with a sort length of coax which is soldered to the PCB. 06-07-2004 01:24:48

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 1 times) carnivorx Profile I have already built an anntena out of 14gauge wire and pvc pipe that gives me 30db max gain...I put a coaxal connection on it. Thank you for the links though OMNI directional We also have a tower on the outside of our house that we use to use for cb equiptment, so it will be going up there. Thats why I need to know that stuff . (distance) Thanks, Carn 06-07-2004 06:33:43

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) carnivorx Profile I went at doing this mod and I have a question, Did I solder this properly? www.firestormwd.com/router/wgr614sp.jpg I soldered the wire to all three points on the board. I grounded the coax shielding to the chassie. www.firestormwd.com/router <--rest of the pics thanks, carn 06-23-2004 16:27:10

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) Linuxguru Profile | Email At first glance, the solder joint that connects the coax centre conductor to the PCB looks too big and has far too much solder. It will most probably have a short to ground and adjacent conductors. It should only connect to the trace that emerges from the shielded RF section, nothing else. Check the resistance between the centre conductor and ground - it should be fairly high, not close to a zero ohms. If it's low, the joint is bad. Also, the connection of the coax braid should be made to the PCB ground close to the connection of the centre conductor. You don't need to connect it to the chassis. You're using a threaded N-connector and thick coax, which should be OK since it's only a very short drop, but it's likely that you will be losing a few dB on this section. 06-23-2004 20:04:19

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) carnivorx Profile It will most probably have a short to ground and adjacent conductors. It should only connect to the trace that emerges from the shielded RF section, nothing else. It does only connect to that... You're using a threaded N-connector and thick coax, which should be OK since it's only a very short drop, but it's likely that you will be losing a few dB on this section. What kind of coax cable was used originally? I noticed it didnt have a ground. **what kind would you suggest**? Check the resistance between the centre conductor and ground - it should be fairly high, not close to a zero ohms. If it's low, the joint is bad. The ground being the wire I have running to the chassis...The conductor would be the main cable running from the source to the coax f connector pin? Sorry for the lack of knowledge on this And... Thanks for your help Carn 06-23-2004 21:11:25

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) Vegetable_Joe Profile Hi, I have one of these routers that failed its firmware upgrade. The problem is that it is more than a year old so it is out of warranty. I was hoping (I am a software developer by trade but am interested in electronics) I could gather enough knowledge here to re-flash the eeprom. Any chance people can point me in the direction (being that I am a noob to electronics) of some good information that can help me towards me towards understanding what you guys are posting so that I can work towards flashing it? It is looks to me as though there may be enough info here to put together a serial interface to the unit for communicating and that is what I want to make happen. Thanks! 12-30-2004 20:57:15

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) hugemikeyd Profile I got a WGR614v4 bundled with my new laptop. This thing is SO unstable in G mode is barely usable. So i hooked up my Linksys B router for now and i want to play with this thing. I got it all open and i can confirm what Linuxguru has said about the Marvel Chipset. What was not mentioned was the fact that there is a 16 pin connector underneath the MAC address sticker. Here is the FCC Info with pictures of the inside and outside as well as test information: \https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/oet/forms/reports/Search_Form.hts?mode=Edit&form=Exhibits&application_id=451857&fcc_id=PY3WGR614V4 Here is a link to the Marvell site which briefly describes what this unit is based upon (Marvell Libretas 802.11g): http://www.marvell.com/products/wireless/libertas/88W8510.jsp 01-25-2005 21:10:33

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) hugemikeyd Profile sorry its not a 16 ping connector its a 20-pin connector... Also i think the serial interface is a J303 (4pin) 01-25-2005 21:31:58

RE:Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless b/g Router (modified 0 times) Rfkiki Profile Hello , See the link http://www.linux-hacker.net/misc/wgr614v3.jpg The connector is IPX connector ,so the wifi antenna with IPX connector Thanks ! See you later from Rfsupplier.com 05-23-2011 03:30:13

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