Router temperatures

[Cornel]

Transmission (wired Raspberry Pi) is failing on one of my AC86U as soon as the router CPU temperature exceeds 88C while download speed is around14MB/s. My workaround is limitting download speed to 2.5MB/s. I ran a test by blowing air from a portable fan to the back of the router and although the drop in temperature is only a few degrees, Transmission just doesn't fail anymore. The router is idling at 85C in hot summer weather, however fans are on order and should arrive soon.

My point is that, although these temperatures have been advised as normal for this router, it just doesn't perform as expected.

 

[L&LD]

A part of the 'temperature' problem is that the probes used aren't very accurate. Even desktop CPUs can have a 10C range and be working as intended (between cores, for example). The issue isn't that it throttles/crashes at low temperatures, it is that the temperatures reported are not accurate, not what the cores are actually at, or both (and more variables).

If a specific router needs to run cooler, then it needs it.

I have customers with RT-AC3100's that are running at an indicated 94C and clients that have RT-AC68U's that run at an indicated 96C for months at a time without any issues or visible symptoms. I have no customers with temperature problems on RT-AC86U's. At least, not one with problems that manifest as actual symptoms.

 

[explorer200]

A part of the 'temperature' problem is that the probes used aren't very accurate. Even desktop CPUs can have a 10C range and be working as intended (between cores, for example). The issue isn't that it throttles/crashes at low temperatures, it is that the temperatures reported are not accurate, not what the cores are actually at, or both (and more variables).

If a specific router needs to run cooler, then it needs it.

I have customers with RT-AC3100's that are running at an indicated 94C and clients that have RT-AC68U's that run at an indicated 96C for months at a time without any issues or visible symptoms. I have no customers with temperature problems on RT-AC86U's. At least, not one with problems that manifest as actual symptoms.

Mine was running in the high 90's

I put two fans on it and now it runs in the low 40's... much much much better

 

[L&LD]

Maybe a single fan is sufficient?

 

[explorer200]

They are cheap. Just get 2

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/4000826555790.html

 

[pinkfloyd1173]

Just got this RT-AX86U yesterday, damm it runs hot!!!! I put a small fan behind it and it brought the temps down.

1st pic no fan.
2 pic with fan.

Just seen the post above mine, those seem like a good idea, might try it out, but will use some velcro in stead of the screws??

 

[Tech9]

damm it runs hot!!!!

No. 148F is about 64C. This is not hot for a router. The folks with AC86U are seeing 90C and above, that's 194F. You don't need a fan.

 

[Lee MacMillan]

Just got this RT-AX86U yesterday, damm it runs hot!!!! I put a small fan behind it and it brought the temps down.

1st pic no fan.
2 pic with fan.

Just seen the post above mine, those seem like a good idea, might try it out, but will use some velcro in stead of the screws??

Mine runs 68C-72C depending on the ambient temp. I'm not worried at all.

 

[DirtyFlash]

Maybe a single fan is sufficient?

I posted further up thread my personal experiences testing the cooling results of using one vs two fans. I have an AC1900P router and found one fan is sufficient and very effective if mounted on the the right side vents. One 40 mm USB fan dropped the CPU temperature 27C and the radios 11C. I did test it with an additional fan on the left vents, just didn't make too much of difference to bother running a second fan.

 

[Tech9]

I posted further up thread my personal experiences testing the cooling results of using one vs two fans.

Yes, the router is passively cooled. Just a little forced air flow improves the cooling efficiency dramatically. The fan doesn't have to be attached to the router at all. 120mm slow rotating and totally silent fan behind the router is good enough to drop the temp 20C or more.

 

[amplatfus]

Hi,

In order to have visibility on historical data of temperatures, using MariaDB, PHP, webserver over Entware, I created a chart. Data are automatically refreshed.

In my case is useful but I am only at the beginning, it is only a draft.

Edit: include legend

BR,
amplatfus

 

[Lynx]

Some of the posts on this thread are really quite funny. 3D printing fans, sticking fans onto the back, creating historical charts, etc. So it seems like there might be a temperature issue for some of the earlier models, but for models like the RT-AX86u isn't all of this just a little OTT? My router seems to cruise along at 70-75C or so, but I don't mind. Has anyone tried for fun running CPU's at 100%, blowing a hairdryer at the router, or running it in an oven at low temperature, to see whether the temp spikes make any difference on more recent models?

 

[Hazel]

Some of the posts on this thread are really quite funny. 3D printing fans, sticking fans onto the back, creating historical charts, etc. So it seems like there might be a temperature issue for some of the earlier models, but for models like the RT-AX86u isn't all of this just a little OTT? My router seems to cruise along at 70-75C or so, but I don't mind. Has anyone tried for fun running CPU's at 100%, blowing a hairdryer at the router, or running it in an oven at low temperature, to see whether the temp spikes make any difference on more recent models?

There are certain series of the RT-AC86U seriously flawed, when ASUS decided to cut back on parts used. I have one myself, so to make sure that the temperature controlled cpu throttling doesn't kick in, I have to actively cool it. These issues became apparent only with the introduction of 384.x, if I recall correctly. Before I never had issues. As far as the other models concerns, I honestly believe that the RT-AC86U is the main reason for this threads' reason for existence. I have no issues and never had with my RT-AC68U which was my main router for use and now still serves perfectly as an ethernet backhaul AIMesh node.

Besides that the fact you'll always have people that feel the need to downgrade even if they see an increase of just 5 degrees Celcius, without being able to properly point out the underlying cause, which could even be 'just' environmental. The temperature controlled CPU throttle will only kick in if you exceed 102 or 103 degrees Celcius, I can't recall exactly, but it wil show up in your logs. Until then, nothing to worry about... And yes, these are high temperatures, but you weren't planning to put your bare finger on your quad core CPU in your PC or gaming console either at a high CPU load either, were you?

 

[Lynx]

I gather from reading through this thread that there may be a serious problem with certain models. Although I poked fun at copper plate mod and 3D printed fan mount, I think it is pretty cool to see creative solutions being adopted, and it seems like they are working. I remember the days of applying thermal heat sink compound to an AMD XP 1800+ CPU core with a plastic card. I had a huge heatsink and delta fan that sounded very loud!

 

[Paliv]

I gather from reading through this thread that there may be a serious problem with certain models. Although I poked fun at copper plate mod and 3D printed fan mount, I think it is pretty cool to see creative solutions being adopted, and it seems like they are working. I remember the days of applying thermal heat sink compound to an AMD XP 1800+ CPU core with a plastic card. I had a huge heatsink and delta fan that sounded very loud!

Those chips ran stupid hot! I had one die on me from overheating, and lack of experience managing the heat.

 

[heysoundude]

I think it is pretty cool to see creative solutions being adopted, and it seems like they are working.

They are, and it is pretty cool. It's why a good number of us are here I'm sure - like those people who make performance enhancements to their cars, outdoing someone else in a friendly competition for bragging rights, it's a sport or game to make life (more) fun.
what's the most fun to me is seeing some of these things adopted/implemented by the manufacturer in subsequent models/updates, elevating the "state-of-the-art"

 

[gerardr]

I find that I get a temperature drop just by adding some adhesive rubber feet below the existing router feet. This allows the air to flow a little easier without blocking any vents.

 

[ArchDevil]

I live in an high temperatures area at summer so my AC86U easily was running at 97-103c constantly.
What i did is i bought a cheap 120mm AliExpress 5V USB Fan, just pointed it blowing air at the back at the router.
now i get 72-74c at 27-28c ambient temperatures with 17 devices connected.
I think this is the simplest solution for that overheating issue.

 

[Tomo]

Update data from my previous situation, this morning i update from 384.17 to the latest 386.3.2 and now as expected the cpu temp incrased till 69°/70°C from 65°C with a ambient temp of 27°/28°C , my mix copper and thermal pad still working good !!

 

[ArchDevil]

Update data from my previous situation, this morning i update from 384.17 to the latest 386.3.2 and now as expected the cpu temp incrased till 69°/70°C from 65°C with a ambient temp of 27°/28°C , my mix copper and thermal pad still working good !!

That's is very good without any fan.
What kind of copper and thermalpad thickness did you use?
Will this 1.5mm Copper do the trick?
I have some Arctic 1.5mm pads laying around..
I might try do the same since my AC86U is out of warranty.
What size of copper did you use?