"My router mod" or "How I plan to electrocute myself and burn down my house" Part 1

About 9 months ago, I bought a new laptop that has a built in 802.11n wireless card, and of course, being the gadget freak that I am, I decided that that meant I needed an 802.11n router to match, even though my current 802.11g router (a second-hand Netgear WPN824) was working just fine. However, I had serious misgivings about paying 150 bucks for a stinking router. So I waited around till Newegg had a killer sale. The Rosewill RNX-N4 for $80! Yes, I know it was reckless to go with a router from a company that is know for making (pretty nice, IMHO) economically priced PC cases. But the user reviews seemed decent (none of the routers I saw at the time had great ratings), and the price was right, so I jumped in.

Honestly, I have been pretty happy with my purchase. It's got the 802.11n I wanted, 4x gigabit wired ports, and more settings than you can shake a stick at (no seriously, I tried to shake a stick at all of them... just couldn't make it happen). The only problem I really have with it is that, about once every week or two, the router drops all connections and has to be reset to fix the problem. I'm not sure, but I think this is due to overheating, as the case gets pretty hot to the touch. It's not a PlayStation 3 by any means, but pretty hot.

So, I have decided to fix this problem in true nerd fashion: role up my sleeves, make a warranty-voiding modification to the router, and pray it doesn't burst into flames when I plug it back in. My proposed solution is simple: add active cooling. And while adding something sweet like a liquid, or phase change cooling system appeals to the nerd in me, a simple fan appeals to both my wallet, and my your-wife-will-kill-you survival instinct.

Wife/wallet: 1
Nerdiness: 0
Well, at least this way I will live long enough to see my mod through to completion.

Right now I am still in the planning phase. Since my idea is to solder the fan leads right on to the routers power supply, and given that I know next to nothing about electrical engineering, I have decided to consult the geniuses over at the Anandtech.com forums about what type of fan to use. Check out my post here if you're interested.

I would like to mount the fan inside the unit instead of on top of it. Check out the amazing diagram of my plan here. Three hours in Photoshop well spent!

I still need to crack open the case and check out what kind of clearance I have. Obviously, since I'm still sitting here blogging, I haven't yet disconnected the router to do that. I guess I could do that right n....