Cooling Fan for Entertainment Cabinet

We've been having problems with our WiFi router overheating for well over a year.  The entertainment cabinet that I built into the side of our fireplace unit had no ventilation at all other than the shelves being open to the front of the unit.  Inside that cabinet, especially in the summer months, the temperature would probably get into the triple digits quite easily and far too often.  This consistently has caused wireless issues requiring numerous reboots and even occasional cool-down periods.  

Consequently, I highly suspect that the wireless router is now damaged and I've known for quite a few months that we are on borrowed time for this rather vital piece of hardware.  I say it is vital because Sheila needs the internet for work.  

Lately, we need to reboot far more often than ever before and our WiFi has been intermittent for many months.  I knew the solution was to purchase a new router system and to install an exhaust fan into the side of this cabinet.  

One of today's little projects (of three) was to install this new cooling fan and its thermostat.  

As always, I thought this would be a quick and easy project but my jigsaw didn't fit into the tight corners where I needed to place this fan and thermostat.  This meant that I needed to figure out how to cut the holes manually.  It still was a relatively easy job but it took a little more time and effort than I thought it would since I couldn't use the jigsaw for half the needed cuts. 

Now, when the temperature rises to a predetermined level, the quiet fan comes on automatically.  The fan pulls air in through the front of the cabinet and exhausts the hot air that is collecting in the upper section of this cabinet out the side.  It will be interesting to see how well this works.  I might add another fan in this same side of the cabinet down in one of the lower shelves if I feel it is necessary.  At the moment, I'm thinking that this one fan up at the top of all the shelves will be enough to keep my electronics, especially my WiFi router, cool enough to operate safely and normally.

The new wireless router and two extenders have already arrived.  Supposedly, this new wireless system (dual band WiFi 6) is far better and faster than the one I am replacing.  I'll need to tackle installing this new router system when Sheila isn't working since she needs internet for work.  This will be a long, tedious task since we have a lot of home automation that requires the SSID and password of the wireless router.  All of these devices will be looking for the old SSID and password.  

UPDATE:  September 14, 2024 - I've installed the new system and it is working beautifully.  The cooling fan is working very well too!  

I decided to leave the old system in place for now so I didn't need to reconfigure every home automation device we have all at once.  That task would probably eat up most of one day.  Now, I'll reconfigure devices one piece at a time at my convenience rather than doing everything at once.

I still need to relocate part of the old system as well as part of the new system.  Some metal in the house (and some old aluminum siding) is blocking signals so I should relocate some things.