Netgear Super Hub 2 VMDG485 Wireless Router Teardown

Summary Points

• 2nd Gen Superhub (Cable Modem + Wired & Wireless Router) for Virgin Media
• DOCIS 3.0 Cable Modem
• 4 Gigabit Ethernet Ports
• 3x3 MIMO 5GHz IEEE802.11a/n & 2x2 MIMO 2.4GHz IEEE802.11b/g/n
• Texas Instruments TNETC4830ZDWGU DOCIS 3.0 Cable Modem IC
• Qualcomm Atheros AR9344 2.4/5GHz IEEE802.1a/b/g/n WLAN SoC
• Pegatron UPWL6580 mini-PCI Express 3x3 MIMO 5GHz WLAN Module (w/ Qualcomm Atheros AR9580)

Target Market

Cable Service Providers

As with other such equipment - this cable modem + router device is distributed and subsidized by cable service providers - this particular unit is for Virgin Media

Unknown

For such equipment it is hard to determine when the product was released, as these are not sold directly to consumers.

Pricing and Availability

Unknown

For subsidized cable modem+router devices, 'pricing' is always subsidized to a greater or lesser extent and can even be a money-maker in the long run, if it is 'rented' to consumers. But the bottom line is that such equipment is not 'sold' per se in a normal retail arrangement.

Netgear Super Hub 2 VMDG485 Wireless Router - Main PCB Top

This particular box seems to be offered by Virgin Media in UK, but may, in other variants, be available from other service providers throughout the world.

Volume Estimations

1,000,000 Annual Production Volume
3 Product Lifetime (Years)

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed an Annual Production Volume of 1000000 units and a Product Lifetime Volume of 3 year(s).

Teardown volume and 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 Super Hub 2 VMDG485 Wireless Router - Main PCB Bottom

Total BOM: $69.61
Top Cost Drivers below: $52.99
% of Total BOM 76%

Main Cost Drivers below

PEGATRON UPWL6580 WLAN Half Mini PCIe Module - IEEE802.11a/n, 5GHz, 3x3 MIMO, Contains Qualcomm Atheros AR9580-AR1A- (Qty: 1)
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC TNETC4830ZDWGU Cable Modem IC - DOCSIS 3.0, 8-Channel 320Mbps Downstream, 4-Channel 160Mbps Upstream- (Qty: 1)
QUALCOMM ATHEROS INC AR9344-BC2A WLAN SoC - IEEE 802.11n, 2.4/5GHz, 2x2 MIMO, w/ Integrated MIPS 74Kc Processor, & 5-Port 10/100 Ethernet Switch- (Qty: 1)
T-MAC TECHVEST PCB CO., LTD. 4-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free- (Qty: 1)
MAXLINEAR INC MXL261 Tuner / Demodulator - 2 100MHz Wideband Tuners, 4 QAM Demodulators, 4-Channel Wide IF Output, w/ Intergrated Splitter- (Qty: 1)
QUALCOMM ATHEROS INC AR8327-BL1A Ethernet Switch - 7-Port, 10/100/1000BASE-T- (Qty: 1)
BOTHHAND USA G2PM109N LF Ethernet Magnetics Module - 100/1000 BASE-T, Dual-Port- (Qty: 2)
SPANSION INC S70FL256P0XMFI00 Flash - NOR, 256Mb, 3V, 104MHz, SPI- (Qty: 1)
SK HYNIX INC H5PS5162GFR-Y5C SDRAM - DDR2, 512Mb, 1.8V, 3ns- (Qty: 2)
QUALCOMM ATHEROS INC AR8035-A Ethernet Transceiver - Single-Port, 10/100/1000 Base-T- (Qty: 1)

Netgear Super Hub 2 VMDG485 Wireless Router Cost Analysis

Not Included in 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.

We do provide an Excel tab 'Overall Costs' where a user can enter their known pre and post production costs to build a per unit cost reflective of theirs actual expenditures.

Country of Origin

For the purposes of this analysis, we are assuming the following country(ies) of origin for each level of assembly, based on a combination of 'Made In' markings, and/or assumptions based on our knowledge of such equipment.

Main PCB - China
Other - Enclosures / Final Assembly - China
WLAN Module - 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 TBD), 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.

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 Complexity

Component counts by assembly and the number of assembly are indicators of design complexity and efficiency.

Component Qty: 1165 - Main PCB
Component Qty: 218 - WLAN Module
Component Qty: 34 - Other - Enclosures / Final Assembly
Component Qty: 1417 - Grand Total

Similar devices with single band 2x2 wireless-N has around 850 components. The added component count in this box illustrates the complexity added to support dual-band (2.4/5GHz) with 3x3 MIMO on the 5GHz band.

Netgear Super Hub 2 VMDG485 Wireless Router - Disassembly View 1