Summary
- I struggled to open the router—its hidden clips beat my pry tools and took ages.
- Inside is a tiny PC that contains an SoC, RAM, Ethernet switch, power supply, flash memory, and more.
- I used the opportunity to refresh the thermal pads to improve cooling efficiency.
I’ve always loved taking things apart, ever since I was a kid. One gadget that has always intrigued me more than it probably should is the humble Wi-Fi router. I’ve heard people say that they’re basically tiny computers, with a CPU, RAM, and even flash storage. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to take mine apart and see what was really inside.
Taking the router apart was harder than I expected
I regularly take things apart, so I thought tearing down my TP-Link Archer C6 would be a walk in the park. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. The router uses a fairly standard construction, commonly seen in other parts of the computer world, like keyboards, controllers, and mice—a couple of screws and clips on the sides hold the shell together. I assumed that once I removed the screws, unclipping the two parts of the shell with a pry tool would be straightforward.
However, this alone took me a good 30 minutes. My guitar pick–style plastic pry tools were no match for the clips holding the TP-Link router together. I initially assumed there was a hidden third screw in the center underneath the sticker, but to my surprise, there was nothing—just what I assume is a leftover pin mark from the plastic injection molding process used to make the shell.
I don’t know what kind of clips hold this router together, but NASA should contact TP-Link to see if they could collaborate on building a spaceship.
I eventually gave up on preserving the plastic edges, so I grabbed a small flat-head screwdriver and brute-forced my way in. The clips in the corners took a lot of force, but they eventually gave way. I still couldn’t figure out how to open the clasps at the front and ended up breaking most of them. Call that user error on my end.
In any case, the router was finally opened, and I was able to see what was inside.
Routers are essentially tiny PCs
When I opened the router, it was pretty much what I expected—a small PCB that looks a lot like a single-board computer. I wanted to learn what all these major parts do, so I did some research.
There are a few resistors and an inductor labeled “6R8” in the area that I presume makes up the power supply, as they’re right next to the power button and input port. The yellow and blue boxes make up the Ethernet ports (the blue is for the WAN, the yellow is for the LAN ports), and underneath them are a few large boxes. These are the isolation transformers, and their job is to electrically isolate the Ethernet ports from the rest of the router and help maintain clean and reliable signaling.
Above the transformers is where things get the most interesting. When I saw the large chip with a huge “Q” logo, I immediately knew that it had to be Qualcomm, which a quick Google search confirmed. This Qualcomm QCA8337-AL3C chip is an Ethernet switch, which makes sense considering its proximity to the Ethernet ports. The switch manages the wired ports and forwards data packets between devices, freeing up resources for the real brains of the router—the CPU.
Next to the Ethernet switch is a small Winbond chip, which seems to be a non-volatile memory chip, so it’s probably used to store firmware, configuration data, and so on.
Strangely enough, I couldn’t tell what the other large chip to the right was. It doesn’t have any markings, but since it sits below the power supply and is surrounded by a cluster of tiny capacitors, my best guess is that it handles power regulation.
The LEDs that indicate various statuses are at the front—I have to say, I didn’t expect them to have such long leads.
I also want to mention the cables that run down from the antennas. These are fairly self-explanatory—they carry the Wi-Fi signal to the external antennas. Interestingly, two of the antennas are soldered, while two use a small golden pin plug. Curiosity got the better of me, so I powered the router on and unplugged the two to see what would happen.
For a brief moment, my 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi signal only showed a 5 GHz label before the Wi-Fi stopped working altogether, so I guess the soldered wires are for the 5 GHz antennas. There’s also a fifth, internal antenna, which is the L-shaped piece of metal to the left of the large silver box.
As for that box, I initially thought it couldn’t be opened, but after looking at some pictures of the internals of my router online, I realized it can be pried open with a flat-head screwdriver and a steady hand.
As you can probably guess, this enclosure houses the two most interesting chips—the CPU, or more precisely, the SoC, and the RAM. The SoC in question is the Qualcomm QCA9563-AL3A, which handles all major tasks a router needs to perform, from routing traffic and processing Wi-Fi signals to managing firewall and security rules.
The chip next to it is the Zentel A3R1GE40JBF-8E, which serves as the system RAM. It has a whopping 1 Gbit (128 MB) of DDR2 memory, providing plenty of space for temporarily storing all the data the SoC needs to operate.
I used the opportunity to upgrade the router’s cooling
I initially assumed that the tin enclosure surrounding the SoC and RAM was for heat dissipation, but after some research, I realized I was wrong—or, more precisely, only half-right. The enclosure is grounded and fully enclosed, meaning it acts as a Faraday cage that isolates the sensitive chips from RF interference to ensure complete stability.
I saw a forum post of someone adding thermal pads to the chips inside the router to improve cooling and, consequently, stability, so I wanted to try the same. After all, it’s a CPU, and CPUs need cooling, right? I stacked a couple of thermal pads on top of the SoC and RAM, but I also added some thermal compound to the metal strips that press against the aluminum plate, creating the Faraday cage. I now know this was a rookie mistake, but fortunately, I used only a tiny amount, so it shouldn’t affect the cage’s effectiveness.
However, while this aluminum enclosure wasn’t an actual heatsink, the router did have one—on the other side of the mainboard. When I flipped it over, I saw a relatively large heatsink covering a good portion of the surface area. I hastily removed the three screws holding it in place, replaced the old thermal pads with new ones, and then carefully tightened the heatsink back down while ensuring the toothed washers were seated correctly between the screws and the heatsink.
Once the whole operation was over, I closed the router, booted it up, and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the router working.
Wi-Fi routers are one of those devices that seem simple on the surface, but inside, they hide an entire mini-computer. I’m glad I had some time to take mine apart, see it firsthand, and even make a small upgrade.
