Netgear CG814WG Wireless Cable Modem Gateway Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Netgear CG814WG is a DOCSIS 2.0 cable modem gateway with integrated WiFi access point. Electronically, the CG814WG is primarily a Broadcom design (cable modem and Ethernet switch ICs)

Netgear CG814WG Wireless Cable Modem Gateway Main Image

Cable service providers

Released

Unknown

Netgear CG814WG Wireless Cable Modem Gateway - Main PCB Top

Pricing - Since most (if not all) cable modem/gateways are provided to consumers by the cable service providers, there is no known market price for these devices. With that said, Netgear does have retail distribution and the only reference price available for this part is approximately $40.

Availability - North America

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of 509,680 units.

As a reminder, teardown volume production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

Netgear CG814WG Wireless Cable Modem Gateway Cost Analysis

Main Cost Drivers Representing ~75% of total materials cost

WLAN Mini PCI Card Value Line Item - IEEE802.11a/b/g

Broadcom - BCM3349KPB - Cable Modem IC - Single Chip Solution, QAMLink, DOCSIS/EuroDOCSIS 2.0, w/ 200MHz MIPS32 CPU

CYSC24-120075-P - External Power Supply - 12V, 750mA, w/ Air-Bubble Bag

Broadcom - BCM5325MA2KQM - Ethernet Switch - 5-Port, 10/100 Base-T/TX

Dynamic Electronics - 4-Layer - FR4

Micron Technology - TE28F640-J3C120 - Flash - NOR, 64Mbit, 3V, 0.18um, 120ns

ISSI - IS42S16800A-7T - SDRAM - 128Mb, 2M x 16bit x 4Banks, 3.3V, 143MHz

WLAN External Antenna - Folded

SMT Frame - Stamped/Formed Stainless Steel, w/ 1 Integral RF Coaxial F-Connector & Hex Nut

Broadcom - BCM3419KML - Tuner - Single-Chip, Low IF, Direct Conversion, DOCSIS/EuroDOCSIS 1.0/1.1/2.0, Supports 64/256/1024 QAM

LANKom Electronics - Jack - RJ45, 1 x 4 Horizontal, Black Injection Molded Plastic, w/ Metal Housing

Total BOM Cost $33.83

What Is Not Included in our Cost Analysis

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

Manufacturing Notes

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

Based on markings, the unit was likely assembled in China. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc.) were also sourced in China.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of 'finished' sub-assemblies (such as Ethernet Jacks), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Remember also that labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pincount of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The Netgear CG814WG has an overall component count of 436 (excluding box contents), of which 409 resides on the Main PCB.

Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design. The cost of manufacturing is also, to some extent, decreased in this case because of assumed labor rate applied for China.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

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Netgear CG814WG Wireless Cable Modem Gateway - Disassembly View 1