3G wireless broad band extension

[davelectronic]

I was going to try and extend my 3G wireless connection on a lead, I've googled around a bit and found the longest lead to be 12 meters, Maplin uk has these and they can be daisy chained up to 60 meters in total it says.

My idea was to make my own lead up as these 12 meter leads are 30 quid each, my goal is to get the dongle in the loft hopefully, i have used extensions up to 9 meters with no problems, with a loft run from downstairs i think its going to be about at least 40 meters, i was thinking an extra power link + 5 volts at the top to avoid line drops in voltage.

My thoughts are if i use an external + 5 volts in the attack and disconnect the lines system + 5 volts then the dongle might not be seen by the pc as that usb port will draw no current, then i thought an LED on the lines internal rail might work, really just after thoughts on this idea.

Had a look round for supported devices wireless senders etc but nothing i can find fits the bill. Also read a bit about loss or poor signal over long runs, but this seems less of an issue, more the problem the computer seeing the device.

Ok thanks for reading, any thoughts ideas appreciated. (-:

 

[Arouse1973]

Have you looked at USB active repeaters. Also what about USB to Ethernet then you could run a very long cable and then convert it back to USB at the other end?
Just a thought
Adam

 

[Gryd3]

USB does have a length limitation, daisy chaining the extensions together may end up as a pricey USB power extension cord.
Likewise, making your own, you may run into issues with length. Using twisted pair will help you make a longer run, but only to a certain point.

Is this a permanent solution or is this going to be temporary?
If you plan to use it for a while, it may be best to pick up a different 3G modem... one with ethernet.

 

[davelectronic]

Thanks for the reply's sorry bit late returning but this is first time i have managed to get back online its that bad. I will look into the Ethernet idea, although there's a multitude of products out there. Might try a long run first.

 

[Gryd3]

USB repeaters mentioned above may also help with dong a longer run. I am unsure what kind of drawbacks they have.
As an alternative solution to getting a new modem, you can use an old laptop or other computer. With a bit of setup magic you can put this sacrificial computer anywhere as long as you can provide power. Plug in the 3G USB device and 'bridge' it to the other network card in the computer. This will turn your sacrificial computer into a WiFi hotspot powered by 3G, or you run a network cable to it to any other device in the house that may require internet. The sacrificial computer will relay everything from the house to 3G and vise-versa.
(With many windows machines, you can also right-click the 3G device in the 'Networking' section of the control panel and pop open the properties. There may be a sharing tab, enabling this option will automatically set various options to get you running if you are not comfortable 'bridging' connections together)

There are many, many solutions to the problem. It all depends on what you want the solution to be, and how much time or money you want to invest in it.