Reducing power consumption - possible to any extent?

[chrisisbd]

I'm running asuswrt-merlin on an RT-BE92U and an RT-AC86U. I'm looking at providing power using a UPS as we do have the occasional power cut here. The RT-BE92U in particular is quite a power hungry beast. Are there any things (processes, unnecessary hardware, etc.) that one can turn off to reduce power consumption?

Obviously reducing transmit power will have some effect but are there other things I can do?

 

[Equinox]

If your UPS has a 12V DC output, you can power the router directly. It's better to avoid using the AC adapter, as the AC/DC conversion wastes energy.

 

[Tech9]

I'm looking at providing power using a UPS as we do have the occasional power cut here.

Popular affordable price 350VA or more UPS devices with ~200W max load will hold 15-20W modem and router for at least 1h, perhaps up to 2h. Good enough for occasional power cuts. I have 4x APC Back-UPS CS-series devices in use. They are very reliable, stepped approximation sinewave, have USB interface and software for adjusting sensitivity, alarms, power down PCs, statistics, etc.

BK350 - APC Back-UPS CS 350VA, 120V, 6 NEMA outlets (4 surge) | Schneider Electric USA

Schneider Electric USA. BK350 - APC Back-UPS CS 350VA, 120V, 6 NEMA outlets (4 surge).

www.se.com

 

[aaronwt]

I'm running asuswrt-merlin on an RT-BE92U and an RT-AC86U. I'm looking at providing power using a UPS as we do have the occasional power cut here. The RT-BE92U in particular is quite a power hungry beast. Are there any things (processes, unnecessary hardware, etc.) that one can turn off to reduce power consumption?

Obviously reducing transmit power will have some effect but are there other things I can do?

When I had my RT-BE92U units hooked up last week (before I replaced them), they seemed to use less than 10 watts. Much less power than I expected.

 

[chrisisbd]

Mine takes a little more than that, measuring the consumption directly, between the power supply and the router, I saw 0.95 amps which, at 12 volts, makes 11.4 watts. That makes my RT-BE92U the biggest load of the ones required to keep my internet connection working. Even my desktop computer (Esprimo Q957) takes less, it idles at about 8 watts.

Thus, if I can reduce the RT-BE92U's consumption, it will have a significant affect on how long I can keep going on battery power.

 

[degrub]

Not much you can affect. The engineers have already worked that problem. You can try turning off the radios,
Otherwise, just get a bigger/supplemental battery or dedicate one to the LAN/WAN gear if you want to be practical.