looking for a low power modem and router

[Xringer]

Originally Posted by Bmello

@Xringer

I have a real amateur setup Two Mitsubishi 110 panels
Xantrex 1,500 Watt Portable Powerpack and an extra 63ah Concord deep cycle battery, It's enough energy to power my small devices for several hour.
The powerpack has a built in inverter and it beeps really loud when the batteries are getting low.

I had the Morningstar charge controller you posted and sold it.
I need one that could support more than one panel.
I picked up Sunforce 30 Amp Digital Charge Controller.
I really want to see what it would cost to grid tie, and pick up a few more panels. You can purchase 200watt panels for the around the same price I paid for the 100watt panels

@Angmaar
I will surely be looking at the Tomato firmware

Thanks!

I was only trying to point out the type of controller. One that has a set of Load terminals
(that can handle your 24w load).


If I wanted to power 24w 24/7, I would likely use a single panel 80-200w
and a charge+load controller with a 115ah marine-RV battery.
I would likely have to switch it back to the grid at times,
depending on the size of the PV and the weather.
That process could be made fully automatic.

Anyways, the system should be able to run your load & simultaneously
give you battery a full charge within about 4 hours of good sun.
So, a good sized PV is required. It has to daily store enough watt-hours
to run that 24w load all night long and then some.

But whatever the size you pick, there is going to be cloudy days followed
by more cloudy days, once in a while..


Have you checked all the Low-Hanging-Fruit? There might be some other
place where you can save 24w.. CFL etc..

I pay a lot for my power, 21 cents per kWh.. 24 watts 24 hours would cost me, about
0.576 kwh x .21 = $0.12096 or $3.63 per month or $43.50 a year.

LOL! I pay over $200 a year for the town newspaper!

Really, how much do you pay a year for 24 watts?

[Bmello]

My goodness. I think I would cry if I was paying 21 cents per kwh.
I have National Grid, all told it's 14.5 cents per Kwh. So it's like 30.50 a year to run 24 watts.
I am sure come April National Grid will raise prices, just look at the price of oil and gas. It's not all about the money. I dream of living off the grid.

[Xringer]

Originally Posted by Bmello

My goodness. I think I would cry if I was paying 21 cents per kwh.
I have National Grid, all told it's 14.5 cents per Kwh. So it's like 30.50 a year to run 24 watts.
I am sure come April National Grid will raise prices, just look at the price of oil and gas. It's not all about the money. I dream of living off the grid.

Hehaha! Be careful what you wish for. We might all be off the grid before you know it.

Gasoline and heating oil at 10 or 20 bucks a gallon isn't going to work..

If our economic situation continues to worsen, only very rich people
will be able to afford electricity.

I expect to see a massive migration from the NE to the Sunbelt during my life time.
No one will want to spent their entire life savings to heat their homes,
so they will not want to live up here.. And freeze to death.

My plan is to strip the abandoned houses in my neighborhood for firewood.
My boiler can burn any fuel but nuclear..

Of course, if we get some smarter people in government, that could all be avoided..

[Clev]

On at least some models, dd-wrt also lets you underclock the CPU. Probably only worth a tiny fraction of a watt, though...

[TimJFowler]

Originally Posted by Xringer

I expect to see a massive migration from the NE to the Sunbelt during my life time.
No one will want to spent their entire life savings to heat their homes,
so they will not want to live up here.. And freeze to death.

Maybe not. One word - drought. It's pretty darn dry in the Southwest and all signs point to things getting even drier in the future.

Originally Posted by Xringer

Of course, if we get some smarter people in government, that could all be avoided..

I keep voting for the smart(er) ones, but sometimes I get outvoted.

FWIW,
Tim

[Slavic381]

You'll have to cut&paste links cause I'm not alowed to post them having less than 5 posts.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Efficient_Ethernet

I actually first found out about it from Sapido products which I found searching for a router that can use a USB wimax/clear 4G modem (or phones for that matter - go to support resources FAQ to check supported phones & modems). Interestingly a google products search that includes terms 802.3az or "Green Ethernet" finds very few other products that are compliant and Sapido being the cheapest.

The cheapest one with the lowest power supply rating is: RB-1800 @ 5V 0.6A, though You might want a more full featured products: such as RB-1232 sapido.com.tw/EN/product_router.htm or the "Network Attached storage" GR-1222 which lets You hook up a HD (and schedule donloads to it so You can turn the computer off while it's downloading), webcam ( to monitor online remotely without a comp running at the location, just the router, webcam & modem), printer etc. sapido.com.tw/EN/product_nas.htm

While those are rated at 1+A that is just the power supply, not the idle usage. The idle usage on all models might be just as low as the RB-1800 for all I know cause they all have the 802.3az certification it is just that the more full featured ones run more stuff so need higher peak power which might be worth it if You want those features.

Search for them on google products by part number and manufacturer name (sapido) to get best pricing.

OFF TOPIC:

On a sidenote, I was looking for a remote webcam setup with clear/wimax 4G connection for a boat. A setup that would not require a comp running and be solar powered.

I will probably get the RB-1232 and this camera: lonestargrp.net/shop/article_45/Wireless-IP-Camera-PAN_TILT-Cell-Phone-View.html cause it has motion detection, infra red, pan/tilt, built in web server & recording to a remote server, Supports two-way audio function.

Sapido g series NAS rauter has motion detection, but it's $200+.

Possibly I'll get "Gum USB DV Camera Video Voice Camcorder Motion Detector" BMW Spy Car Key Covert Camcorde motion Detector Camera (~$20) or even "Hidden Camera Towel Hook Motion Sensor" ($50 on ebay) and hook them up to a 5V supply, but that doesn't give me real time notification nor remote storage of the recorded video.

[Daox]

I've kind of been looking for a new router and I remembered this thread. I started poking around looking for something that would work for me and I ended up finding this product. I haven't read any reviews (except the one on newegg), but the power saving features sound really nice. As of right now newegg is selling it for $61 which seems pretty reasonable. Unfortunately it doesn't actually tell you how much power the unit draws in power saving mode or max.

LevelOne Global - WBR-6020 300Mbps Wireless Router

Wireless On/Off Button
The wireless radio is one of the most power intensive components. With a simple push of a button, you can disable the wireless radio when it’s not needed.

Low Power Wireless Mode
When there are no wireless devices connected to the WBR-6020, it will automatically only keep one antenna active in low power mode.

Active Link Detection
The WBR-6020 can tell if there is any activity on each individual LAN port. If there are only 2 active devices connected to the WBR-6020 LAN ports, then the remaining 2 LAN ports will be powered down.

Scheduled Sleep
Typically, your wireless router will only be used while you are working. You can set the times that the router will automatically sleep and wake, so that it can also rest while you are sleeping.

On top of the Power-saving features, the WBR-6020 will also use over 80% recycled packaging materials and have an Energy Efficient power adapter.

[ELGo]

I look forward to having a router and modem that idles at very low power (0.1 watt perhaps ?) but in the meantime I wonder if the better part of valor is to focus on efficient power supplies.

Insight ?

[Daox]

Pretty much everything now comes with switching mode power supplies which are really very efficient.

If your device isn't using a switching mode power supply, changing over to one could save you a couple watts of constant draw.

[Daox]

I still haven't replace my very old dlink router (not netgear), and its getting worse. I find myself resetting it at least weekly if not more often. I'll be posting what I find.

So far I've found this one. It looks to fit the bill and newegg has it for $25 shipped...

Edimax BR-6428n - 300Mbps Wireless Broadband iQ Router

The Edimax BR-6428n iQ router is designed with the latest green technology. By detecting the amount of wireless transference and supplying only the amount of power needed, this iQ router is able to ensure the highest wireless performance while saving up to 66% of the usual power consumption. Even when it is in full loading, the BR-6428n uses 50% less power compared to other non-green 300Mbps routers.

If anyone has suggestions I'm all ears!