Any chances a router will work properly with incorrect input power? Wants to talk

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sram

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 30, 2007
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My friend gave me his ASUS AC3200 router to configure it for him because he recently moved to another area. He has some version of tomato firmware loaded into it. I took it home to play with it but I couldn't get it to connect to the internet. I asked him if anything changed or if he dropped it or anything. To my surprise, he told me that he gave me the router with a different power adapter!!! This is because he lost the original while moving his stuff. I told him this is it then and it is bad, you can't just change the adapter because you need to have the same voltage. I checked the input power for the router and it was 19 volts and 2.3 Amps. This means the voltage needs to be at least 19 volts and the current 2.3 Amps or more I guess. However, the output power of the adapter was 12 volts and 1.5 Amps. I'm surprised it even switched on ! It actually switched on and its web interface was accessible and its LAN ports behaved normally. I was able to navigate the web interface, change the settings and save it, but like I said it didn't connect to the internet.

I just wanted to share this story. Bad power can cause all sorts of funny problems, and higher voltage can fry your equipment and turns it into a brick. But, could it be that --for this case--it just didn't connect as the only symptom to bad power?

Also, can less power cause the device to malfunction?

I'm wandering if I should let him buy another power adapter from ebay but I'm afraid the router will still not work. What do you think?
 
that much of a difference, yeah maybe. i too am surprised that it fires up. you could try clearing the settings, there should be a button on the back to hold for 30sec and try again.
 
Funny story. I got a router from somewhere from someone for the cost of shipping because it was just sitting and not selling. Came with a branded power adapter (netgear) same as the router. I checked the voltage to make sure it was the same because mismatched voltage can kill stuff. Everything worked fine until I did a speed test and then the router would just reboot. It didn't matter what browser, wired or wireless, it would just reboot when hit too hard. I finally researched the specs and while power input was 12v, it required 4.5a vs the 1.5a adapter he sent me. I used another higher amp adapter I had to test the router and all was good. The seller thought he had the original adapter and sent it to me, but apparently it was a 48v poe adapter from something else he had already sold to someone else. :ROFLMAO:
 
You definitely need voltage closer to what it’s designed for. A little high or low can work.

Tangentially, I plugged a Adtran Router in our DC Charter gave me, not thinking to check plugged it in.
Yeaaaa, it didn’t have 120/240 support. It made all kinds of noises, followed by the magic smoke and sparks when it got 240 vs 120.

Charter wanted me to plug it back in for testing before dispatch. Had to emphasize just how ruined that thing was and no way we were doing that lol.
 
sram said:
the input power for the router and it was 19 volts and 2.3 Amps
Click to expand...
Pretty much any old laptop power brick should work. You already have a connector you know works on the router. Should be cake to splice it onto the larger power brick, if you have one, as long as the polarity of the connector that's working right now is observed and preserved for the new adapter. If you don't know what I mean, or don't want to do that, a new adapter is $17, looks like.

Yeah, running things at a significantly lower voltage than they're designed for can also make things hotter than they're designed to be if the design of the power circuitry tries to compensate by increasing the current, and is able to do so. It may work in a pinch, but if it asks for 19V, try and get it 19V. I would not assume you could safely go higher than that, contrary to what's been stated in the thread. Maybe a volt or two.
 
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