Connect usb device over wifi

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Phazir50

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#272348 21-Jun-2020 01:16

Hi All.

I have a weather station that connects to my Mac using a USB cable. I want to move the weather station unit to another location but that is too far for using a USB cable. How can I connect to the weather station using a a pair of usb to wifi devices? The link would be like this; "weather station by usb cable to wifi device 1, wifi device 2 by usb cable to Mac". The input for the weather station software has to be by USB cable, so I cannot just use the USB sockets on my WiFi router. Effectively I want to replace the socket to socket USB cable with a wifi link that emulates a cable.

Thanks

Ge0rge

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#2509016 21-Jun-2020 05:32

While not exactly what you are after, I achieve the same thing by using a raspberry pi. I then don't need anything at the "mac" end, and can access the weather station with any device I happen to be on.

Have a look search for "weewx" - I'm on my phone or would give you a link.

sbiddle

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#2509041 21-Jun-2020 09:15

There are multiple ways of doing this so a quick Google search to understand how these work is probably the best thing.

1) USB extenders over cat5/6 - plug the weather station USB end into one adapter and the other adapter into the USB port on your PC. Use cat5/6 to extend between the two.

2) USB to Ethernet adapter - plug the weather station USB into an adapter, plug that into Ethernet and that'll be accessible from the PC via the network.

3) USB to WiFi adapter - plug the weather station USB into an adapter, plug that into Ethernet and that'll be accessible from the PC via the network.

I have zero idea about Mac support for 2 and 3 as the only units I've used were for Windows. It'll pay to research brands before purchasing.

Lias

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#2509046 21-Jun-2020 09:28

I've used these before, they work quite well, but are probably crazy pricey for what you want.

https://www.digi.com/products/networking/infrastructure-management/usb-connectivity/usb-over-ip/anywhereusb

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Phazir50

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#2509179 21-Jun-2020 14:11

Hi All.
Thanks for replies. However, the replies expect to connect the weather station unit via a USB adapter to a wifi router then to my Mac computer. Trouble is that the weather station software can only accept a USB cable input and not one via wifi. What I need is a USB to wifi adapter, at both ends, that talk to each other directly and not via any other network device. "Cable Extensios" used to market one, but its long distance throughput was lamentable or non-existent. Suggestions?
Cheers

sbiddle

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#2509185 21-Jun-2020 14:32

Phazir50: Hi All.
Thanks for replies. However, the replies expect to connect the weather station unit via a USB adapter to a wifi router then to my Mac computer. Trouble is that the weather station software can only accept a USB cable input and not one via wifi. What I need is a USB to wifi adapter, at both ends, that talk to each other directly and not via any other network device. "Cable Extensios" used to market one, but its long distance throughput was lamentable or non-existent. Suggestions?
Cheers

Incorrect. You are not "plugging your your weather station to a USB adapter to a WiFi router".

Solutions to your problem are posted above - while I haven't used the Digi hardware mentioned I'm aware of people who have used it and it works very well. I suspect the issue however it that a solution for your problem is significantly more than you're willing to pay - while a cabled solution to extend USB over cat5/6 is around $100 or so, those Digi adapters are around $500

Tinkerisk

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#2509186 21-Jun-2020 14:34

https://www.virtualhere.com/usb_client_software on MacOS (virtual USB) via Network/Wifi to a cheap RPi as an USB server https://www.virtualhere.com/usb_server_software to the Wx-station. ;-)

Do you really need the Mac AND a Raspberry Pi powered on permanently just to collect/process the Wx data? WeeWx server was already mentioned before.

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richms

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#2509215 21-Jun-2020 16:35

I have a print server that allows USB devices to show as local once the software is installed. It works for probably about 20% of things I have tried on it.

Audio doesnt work properly, serial devices are hit and miss if things work on it. Flashing an arduino over them never works, once flashed data comes thru mostly ok. Printing which is the whole thing it was sold for worked fine, but the reason to go for a USB sharing device rather than a print server was scanning. That took about 5x as long over the server than plugged in directly.

It look like one of these but came from jaycar ages ago - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000073618459.html - lists mac in the specs but that may just be for when its operating its own print queue rather than extending the USB to the computer with the driver software.

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PANiCnz

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#2509217 21-Jun-2020 16:44

Tinkerisk:

https://www.virtualhere.com/usb_client_software on MacOS (virtual USB) via Network/Wifi to a cheap RPi as an USB server https://www.virtualhere.com/usb_server_software to the Wx-station. ;-)

Do you really need the Mac AND a Raspberry Pi powered on permanently just to collect/process the Wx data? WeeWx server was already mentioned before.

I've used VirtualHere before, its a pretty solid piece of software. The cheapest option hardware-wise is one of the devices that runs VirtualHere CloudHub. The GL-MT300N is only $30 on AliExpress.

Tinkerisk

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#2509263 21-Jun-2020 17:12

PANiCnz:

Tinkerisk:

https://www.virtualhere.com/usb_client_software on MacOS (virtual USB) via Network/Wifi to a cheap RPi as an USB server https://www.virtualhere.com/usb_server_software to the Wx-station. ;-)

Do you really need the Mac AND a Raspberry Pi powered on permanently just to collect/process the Wx data? WeeWx server was already mentioned before.

I've used VirtualHere before, its a pretty solid piece of software. The cheapest option hardware-wise is one of the devices that runs VirtualHere CloudHub. The GL-MT300N is only $30 on AliExpress.

I agree and it can be used running WeeWX later on as well ;-) For me a RPi ZeroW is 11€ plus µSD card in a self-printed 3D case and a power adapter laying around. Works many ways. :-)