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Netgear CG814WG v2 cable modem blinking lights.

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David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
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I have a Netgear CG814WG v2 cable modem. The internet went out this morning
and I checked the lights on the modem. The power light comes on, then the
connected ports light up, then all the lights on the modem go on, then they
all go off. This cycle repeats continuously. I held down the reset button
for 10 seconds but that didn't clear up the problem. I thought it was weird
that even though I was holding down the reset button, the lights continued
to cycle on and off just like before.

In my efforts to narrow down the problem, I have the following question.
Shouldn't the lights remain steady even if there is nothing hooked up to the
ethernet ports on the modem? I called the cable company and the tech agreed
with me and said he never heard of that happening before (all the lights
cycling through an on/off pattern). I left it powered off for a few hours
and powered it back on, same thing.

Thanks for your reply.
 
W

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm reminded of the old riddle "What time is it when a clock strikes 13?" --
"Time to get a new clock."

In general, none of the router output lights should be illuminated unless the
output is actually connected to computer. The symptoms you describe suggest a
bad router.
 
H

hr(bob) [email protected]

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm reminded of the old riddle "What time is it when a clock strikes 13?"--
"Time to get a new clock."

In general, none of the router output lights should be illuminated unlessthe
output is actually connected to computer. The symptoms you describe suggest a
bad router.

You power cycled it, that's about the most you can so, take it back to
your cable company and get a replacement. If necessary, demonstrate
to them that it's dead at their office. Mention that you have been
without service for X days and want a refund on the internet portion
of your cable bill.
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Liebermann said:
Kinda sounds like continuous reboot or a diagnostic display.

Unplug the coax cable to the CATV network, and try powering on again.
If the flashing lights symptoms are identical, it POSSIBLY means that
you've lost the connection to the CMTS (cable modem termination
system).


Dunno. Maybe it's in the manual:
<http://documentation.netgear.com/cg814wgv3/enu/202-10297-01/pdfs/FullManual.pdf>
or a bit of Googling:


I've seen that, but on an Arris VoIP cable modem. One of the phone
ports had a cable installed that was chewed by a rat and shorted. To
indicate that something was wrong, the front panel lights produced a
light show of diagnostic flashing lights that were eventually decoded
by extensive Googling. I never did find any documentation on what the
flashing lights meant and had to rely on anecdotal guesswork. This
may be more of the same. Unplug everything except the coax cable and
try again.

You might also try asking in the support forum for your cable internet
service provider.

--
Jeff Liebermann [email protected]
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Hi Jeff and everyone else who posted before,

The first thing I tested was the power supply. It read a steady 5 volts dc.
I tried every type of reset. It didn't help. It is now more than 12 hours
since the problem happened. Then it dawned on me, what does the output
sticker on the power supply say? Really? *12* volts dc? I couldn't find
another 12V 1A wall adapter in my box of power adapters. But I do have a 12V
portable jump start car battery with a built in air compressor AND a dc
output jack. I rummaged through my stuff again and found a car cigarette
lighter (do we still call them cigarette lighters?) attachment with a
standard small plug on the other end. I hooked it all up and now it's
working again. My next question is until I find a suitable AC adapter
replacement, can I just keep this 3-in-1 jump starter plugged into the AC
all the time to keep it charged? This is what it looks like though I got it
from Costco many years ago
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-jump-start-air-compressor-8884.html

Thanks for your reply.
 
H

hr(bob) [email protected]

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi Jeff and everyone else who posted before,

The first thing I tested was the power supply. It read a steady 5 volts dc.
I tried every type of reset. It didn't help. It is now more than 12 hours
since the problem happened. Then it dawned on me, what does the output
sticker on the power supply say? Really? *12* volts dc? I couldn't find
another 12V 1A wall adapter in my box of power adapters. But I do have a 12V
portable jump start car battery with a built in air compressor AND a dc
output jack. I rummaged through my stuff again and found a car cigarette
lighter (do we still call them cigarette lighters?) attachment with a
standard small plug on the other end. I hooked it all up and now it's
working again. My next question is until I find a suitable AC adapter
replacement, can I just keep this 3-in-1 jump starter plugged into the AC
all the time to keep it charged? This is what it looks like though I got it
from Costco many years agohttp://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-jump-start-air-compressor-8884.html

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you have two 5V adapters, you might be able to put the two outputs
in series to get 10V. That might be enuf to power the electronics,
they are somewhat tolerant of lower input voltages. Can't hurt to try
since you already know 5V didn't harm anything.
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
hr(bob) [email protected] said:
If you have two 5V adapters, you might be able to put the two outputs
in series to get 10V. That might be enuf to power the electronics,
they are somewhat tolerant of lower input voltages. Can't hurt to try
since you already know 5V didn't harm anything.

Interesting suggestion. I think I will try popping the case open on the
original one and see if there are some dried out caps. Any suggestions on
how to get a screwdriver into the seam of the case and prying it open
without destroying the whole thing? On the other hand, I just found this on
eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-110V-220...=US_Server_Power_Supplies&hash=item20c500acca

Thanks for your reply.
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff said:
Did you test it with a load? Open circuit testing doesn't show much.
Extra credit for using an oscilloscope to check for noise and hash on
the output.

I've had some problems with Netgear rebranded power supplies:
<http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/repair/slides/Netgear DSA-12R-12.html>
Caveat emptor.

The replacement supply you found on eBay is 5VDC 1A which won't work.
The correct adapter is 12VDC 1.5A.

Hi Jeff,

Wow. I must have that 5 volt number stuck in my head. Thanks for pointing
that out. Must be the stress from not having internet for more than half a
day!

You can dock me points for not using a scope and then more points, make that
dollars, when I almost ordered the wrong power supply. Why would I need to
test it with a load when it's already less than half the voltage it's
supposed to be? This was one of those situations where I did a quick memory
scan of everything I had ever fixed. Replacing a power adapter that had a
low output (not including ones that were totally dead) wasn't on the list.
Anyway, I found an online video on how to crack these things open. A small
butter knife and a rubber mallet to strike the knife along the seam of the
case popped it right open. It took only a few minutes to find the bad cap.
470uf @ 25 volts. I had a 35 volt one in my box and it just barely fit into
the case. I powered it up and it works fine now.

Thanks for your reply.
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff said:
In this case, there's no need for the load test. However, I've seen
power supplies that appear to produce the rated voltage, that produce
something quite different if loaded with a resistor. This is
especially true if the output filter caps are only partially
defective.


I use a putty knife. Squeezing the case in a padded bench vise also
works.


Congrats. I have a capacitor ESR tester to check the other caps.
<http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/repair/bad-caps.jpg>
That's about a 3 month collection of bad caps. While many are visibly
defective due to a bulging top, many were not and only the ESR tester
showed a problem.

3 months of bad caps or one, ok maybe two, old Mitsubishi TV's. (-;

The ESR meter is what I used to find the culprit. The other caps seemed to
be in the normal range.

Thanks for your reply.
 
H

hr(bob) [email protected]

Jan 1, 1970
0
   Flatbed scanners use a 12V 1.25 or 1.5 A power supply, and are often
floating around in piles of electonic junk.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

This whole interchnge of e-mails just shows how importannt little
things turn out to be<g>.
 
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