Take The Internet With You When You Go!

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://jonwestfall.com/blog/2008/05/24/take-the-internet-with-you-when-you-go/' target='_blank'>http://jonwestfall.com/blog/2008/05...ou-when-you-go/</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;About a year ago, I switched from Direcway Broadband Satellite internet to a Sprint EVDO Rev A card for my home internet service. The choice was easy &ndash; the Sprint card was cheaper and had better speeds overall than the satellite. For awhile, I put my broadband card into a spare computer and had it share the connection via Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) in Windows XP. Then I found a router online (The WRT54G3G-ST) that would let me pop the card right into my router and avoid the ICS hassle. The best part about using a broadband card for your internet service is that when you leave, you can simply take the internet with you when you go. However unless you want to install the broadband card drivers on every laptop in the family, there is no easy way to share (Unless you think setting up an adhoc network in Vista and sharing the internet &ndash; reliably &ndash; is easy!). My Solution? A cheap and easy rig that will let you pack &ldquo;The Internet&rdquo; with you when you go!&quot;<br /><br /></em><img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1212018005.usr10.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />Jon has hacked together a pretty neat solution for using his EVDO card to provide internet access anywhere although I question his use of the Avon box.&nbsp; :)&nbsp; I'd be interested to see what happened if he tried to put that in a carry-on.<br /><br /><br /><em></em>

[Jason Dunn]

That's SO cool - awesome DIY solution for going mobile.

[gdoerr56]

You could save yourself some hardware by running the router using a 12v cigarette lighter adapter (should be available at RadioShack) since the power brick for the WRT54G3G-ST converts the AC wall power to 12 volts at 1 Amp.

[Joel Crane]

That is REALLY cool!

I'm using an EDGE/HSDPA modem here at home for internet, running ICS on a computer with XP plugged into the WAN port on my router. It works pretty well, but we are in a fringe area so no HSDPA for us! EDGE does a pretty good job though, I usually download files at around 20kbps.

That is a pretty good idea, I hate having those buggy bloated drivers on my laptop. I'd be building a nice case and leaving out the power inverter as mentioned above.

[Jon Westfall]

You could save yourself some hardware by running the router using a 12v cigarette lighter adapter (should be available at RadioShack) since the power brick for the WRT54G3G-ST converts the AC wall power to 12 volts at 1 Amp.

Yea, I thought about leaving the inverter out, but kept it in for flexibility reasons:

1. I wasn't sure if I'd have AC or DC hookups available throughout the trip, this way I didn't have to alter my wiring config too much and could support both.

2. I wanted to power more than just the router, so I needed the short power strip to give me more outlets in case I was somewhere that I only had 1 outlet to work with. That's why there are cut-outs by the outlets, to plug something in while the lid is on.

I should mention that now, after 4 days of continuous use, the system is working great. Building it is all about flexibility - many cool ways to make your own Internet in a box!