Usb Cable Powerer?

[¨TrisT¨]

Hi, I have a router that I'm trying to connect a modem to, problem is once that LTE modem starts to get traffic it draws too much power from the router, it gets disconnected, which ends up being every second or so.

I need to power that usb modem on my own, unless I wanna spend a bit on a powered usb hub I don't need and won't use (would be nice if someone could point me to something cheap as well in case this can't be done).

 

I don't know a lot about electronics, not much at all to be honest. But, I know 2 of the 4 cables inside a usb cable are 5v and ground (google taught me that one). What I don't know is how to provide the power that the device wants, and whether doing it or not might compromise the working of the whole thing (I mean if the router itself will even know if the usb is connected, given it'll be receiving no energy from those 2 cables).

 

So how should I go about this?

 

Thank you.

[Huntsman]

Does the router gets the internet connectivity through USB?

 

Assuming yes, then the easiest way I could think of is to splice the power going to the modem to a USB charger. Cut the USB cable going from modem to router at the middle but leave the 2 data wires and ground wire connected. Then connect positive and ground to the USB charger.

[¨TrisT¨]

15 minutes ago, Huntsman said:

Does the router gets the internet connectivity through USB?

 

Assuming yes, then the easiest way I could think of is to splice the power going to the modem to a USB charger. Cut the USB cable going from modem to router at the middle but leave the 2 data wires and ground wire connected. Then connect positive and ground to the USB charger.

So I leave the ground connected to the router and connect it to the charger? That's all a damn good idea bout wouldn't that last part mess anything up?

Ty.

[Huntsman]

Not if you connect to positive to the MODEM side and the voltage is 5V.

[DragonTamer1]

The data is going through the USB cable? Is there a reason you can't just use a standard cell phone wall wart?

[r4tch3t]

Look for a USB power injector cable, has USB Femal to 2 USB male, one for power, one for data.  Then you can just use any USB charger to power it

[Bigun]

A powered USB hub will work too.

[¨TrisT¨]

On 8/31/2016 at 3:43 AM, Huntsman said:

Not if you connect to positive to the MODEM side and the voltage is 5V.

Sorry for the extremely late reply, I was on holidays.

 

I'm confused,  You said: "(...) leave the 2 data wires and ground wire connected. Then connect positive and ground to the USB charger.", so do I leave it connected or not?

 

I'm assuming it'd be like this(?): 

 

Or perhaps like this(?):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please tell me which one, or neither if that's the case, this is all quite expensive and I don't wanna mess anything up.

 

On 8/31/2016 at 8:42 PM, DragonTamer1 said:

The data is going through the USB cable? Is there a reason you can't just use a standard cell phone wall wart?

Maybe I'm missing something huge here, but wouldn't that make it so I couldn't connect the modem anywhere else?

 

 

 

 

On 9/7/2016 at 8:03 AM, r4tch3t said:

Look for a USB power injector cable, has USB Femal to 2 USB male, one for power, one for data.  Then you can just use any USB charger to power it

I might end up doing that, but where I live people are fairly tech ignorant so you don't see those around. I was looking to build it, would spare me 10 bucks and a lot of the time waiting for it to arrive.

 

19 hours ago, Bigun said:

A powered USB hub will work too.

$$

[DragonTamer1]

4 hours ago, ¨TrisT¨ said:

Sorry for the extremely late reply, I was on holidays.

 

I'm confused,  You said: "(...) leave the 2 data wires and ground wire connected. Then connect positive and ground to the USB charger.", so do I leave it connected or not?

 

I'm assuming it'd be like this(?): 

 

Or perhaps like this(?):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please tell me which one, or neither if that's the case, this is all quite expensive and I don't wanna mess anything up.

 

Maybe I'm missing something huge here, but wouldn't that make it so I couldn't connect the modem anywhere else?

 

 

 

 

I might end up doing that, but where I live people are fairly tech ignorant so you don't see those around. I was looking to build it, would spare me 10 bucks and a lot of the time waiting for it to arrive.

 

$$

I didn't know if the data was being sent through USB, which is why I asked.

 

Connect the wires int this fassion:

The grounds need to be connected together to keep all the devices at the same electrical potential, however connecting all of the 5V supplies together could damage something. In this configuration the only thing that will get damaged is the $5 USB cables you will have to cut up to make the circuit. Finding a cable that can do this already would be ideal but if not you can simply cut up two USB cables and solder them together making sure you put heat shrink tubing on the exposed wires for safety reasons.

 

Edit: If the problem component is capable of getting power from any other source I would recommend either using that, or if you already are, beef it up more.

[Huntsman]

6 hours ago, ¨TrisT¨ said:

Like this. This way, ONLY the modem gets power from the charger. The ground needs to be connected to both parties as electrical reference point.

 

Be EXTREMELY careful not to cross any other wires and to insulate it well. We'd like the magic smoke to stay inside the devices

[¨TrisT¨]

1 hour ago, DragonTamer1 said:

I didn't know if the data was being sent through USB, which is why I asked.

 

Connect the wires int this fassion:

The grounds need to be connected together to keep all the devices at the same electrical potential, however connecting all of the 5V supplies together could damage something. In this configuration the only thing that will get damaged is the $5 USB cables you will have to cut up to make the circuit. Finding a cable that can do this already would be ideal but if not you can simply cut up two USB cables and solder them together making sure you put heat shrink tubing on the exposed wires for safety reasons.

 

Edit: If the problem component is capable of getting power from any other source I would recommend either using that, or if you already are, beef it up more.

 

35 minutes ago, Huntsman said:

Like this. This way, ONLY the modem gets power from the charger. The ground needs to be connected to both parties as electrical reference point.

 

Be EXTREMELY careful not to cross any other wires and to insulate it well. We'd like the magic smoke to stay inside the devices

 

Thank you both a lot,  this was very helpful!

I can't think of anything else to say, so have a very nice day!