netcomm nb5 nsanity

Well, I've been doing a bit more reading and it appears that the cause of my unstable internet connection is an overheating cpu on my modem/router. Oddly enough there is no 'warranty void if removed' stickers on the nice little phillips head screws holding the modem together so I've undone them and put the modem sans pretty white plastic casing in a position where it will get ample ambient air cooling.

Previously it has been dying within 12 hours of running continuously with fairly heavy loading, if I am able to get up tomorrow morning, turn on my monitor and still use the internet then the problem may be solved.

The cpu has no heatsink... Well, here's an opportunity to put another picture into my blog perhaps...

That little texas instruments chip pointed at in the picture is the little bastid thing. Not only does it have no heasink, the ventilation holes on the case are pretty minimal.

Fingers crossed this does the trick! If so, I think it might be worth my while figuring out how to have a heatsink on it, it's geeky cool to have open circuits (well, ok my computer's case is open too) but not so cool if there's dust everywhere in the house (well, fluff then, the cohabitant is a textile freak) and the circuit is sitting upright... Hopefully I won't need to add a heatsink or fan to the situation, time will tell.