Routers, Is GoodWill a Goldmine? Or a Graveyard?

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jackerbes
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 49
Location: Ellsworth, ME USA

PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 15:03    Post subject: Routers, Is GoodWill a Goldmine? Or a Graveyard? Reply with quote
In the last few years I've gotten into the habit of dropping into the local Goodwill store and browsing the used electronics shelves once a week or so...

Yesterday I spotted a WRT54GS box with a good weight to it and a $5 price tag. I opened one end, slid the tray out and spotted the familiar Linksys logo and black and blue case and closed the box and tucked it under my arm.

So I browsed the AC/DC adapters and other stuff, grabbed a couple of other $1.00 items, and hit the road for about $10...

When I get home I take a closer look at the stuff in the Linksys box and it is all the docs and CD for the WRT54GS but the router is a BEFW11S4 V4. Bummer!

And the front half of the router's case is loose on the back half and this has been taken apart some time in the past. It still power's up and shows steady green LEDs on Power and Wireless-B though and may be working..

I have been through this before and the BEFW11S4 is one of the ones that just cannot be upgraded to DD-WRT!

So in the box I get a Linksys router that is maybe only suitable for use as a paperweight or door stop. But there is also a NetGear 12V 1A AC/DC adapter. I paid $5 for an AC adapter that will work on Linksys, Netgear, D-Link and some other routers and a router that is pretty useless.

In the last few years I have bought at least 10 routers at GoodWill and they were usually $4.00 if not in a box, and $5.00 if they were. I have no complaints at all about what I pay there and what I get for my money.

Here are some of the model names of some of the routers I have gotten for $5 or less, maybe with an AC/DC adapter or maybe not, from my local GoodWill store:

DI-604
E1000V1
E4200V2
ENHWI-N
F5D8235-4V2
F7D1301V1
F9K1002V5/N300
GT724-WG
WNR2000
WRT300NV1
WRT54G2V1 (3 of these so far)
WRT54GXV2
WRT110
WRT160NV3
WRT610NV1

And nearly every one of the powered up and worked! Many of them have been re-allocated to my family members and friends as access points and routers, client-bridges, and repeater-bridges to extend and enrich their wi-fi experiences.

And for me? It keeps an geezer that is coming up on 75 entertained and it sort of fends off neural decay... :>)

So save a router from a landfill and drop by your local GoodWill store occasionally.

And I give my sincere thanks to all the folks that have made DD-WRT what it is today!

Jack
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eeandersen
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 27 May 2017
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 15:43    Post subject: Reply with quote
AMEN.

I have learned 2 things from buying "Goodwill"

1) The box usually doesn't indicate the contents. Usually it indicates the replacement product!

2) You have to view each Goodwill purchase as part of a whole. The cost of a non-functioning purchase has to be amortized over all Goodwill purchases....

Go, Go, Goodwill!
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