USB to USB wifi hotspot bridge

KSDevil

Commendable
Feb 21, 2016
2
0
1,510
I have a motor home with a roof mounted USB WIFI antenna that is connected to a computer inside.
It does not have sharing capability. (not a router or a repeater)
I would like to install a USB hotspot device on the computer inside the motor home, link the roof antenna's connection from the internet, through the computer, and access it from other WIFI devices (cell phone, wifi printer, etc).
What hardware and configuration will I need? How many WIFI devices could I connect to it?
Currently running Windows 7 but will be upgrading to Windows 10.
 
Solution
I don't know of any device that will do just what you want, maybe someone else will pipe up with a closer solution.

Until then, one option would be to implement internet connection sharing on the Windows computer the USB antenna is attached to and connect the computer to an internal wifi access point via an Ethernet cable.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-internet-connection-sharing#1TC=windows-7

A second option would be to replace the USB antenna with an outdoor Ethernet client bridge that connects to an internal access point to bring the network inside. The external AP would be POE, that is powered over the ethernet cable. Something like these. Whether these are suitable for you depends on your particular setup...
I don't know of any device that will do just what you want, maybe someone else will pipe up with a closer solution.

Until then, one option would be to implement internet connection sharing on the Windows computer the USB antenna is attached to and connect the computer to an internal wifi access point via an Ethernet cable.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-internet-connection-sharing#1TC=windows-7

A second option would be to replace the USB antenna with an outdoor Ethernet client bridge that connects to an internal access point to bring the network inside. The external AP would be POE, that is powered over the ethernet cable. Something like these. Whether these are suitable for you depends on your particular setup.

Outdoor WiFi Client Bridges

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-outdoor/
http://www.engeniustech.com/products/outdoor-access-points-client-bridges/ap-bridges-outdoor/ens202.html

One advantage of this type of product is the ability to use directional antennas that can be positioned to point at the WiFi source for the best reception.
 
Solution
I'm not sure I want to toss away my $60 BearExtender and spend twice that for a new system.
Another thought I had while pondering this was to try VirtualRouterPlus or Connectify software to interface between the outdoor antenna and the indoor WIFI dongle.
I suspect that making a simple bridge between the 2 WIFI devices in Windows might not work for my application, though I may try.
If I had the funds, I probably would have looked at Single Points wifi-in-motion.