Netduino home hardware projects downloads community

Jump to content


The Netduino forums have been replaced by new forums at community.wildernesslabs.co. This site has been preserved for archival purposes only and the ability to make new accounts or posts has been turned off.
Photo

How do I connect Netduino+ to a pc wireless?


  • Please log in to reply
29 replies to this topic

#1 Ben Harel

Ben Harel

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 32 posts

Posted 27 February 2013 - 01:13 PM

How can I connect my Netduino+ to my computer wireless? Thank you!

(No cables between the robot and any router, unless the router is on the robot and not connecting to anything else)



#2 hanzibal

hanzibal

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1287 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 27 February 2013 - 02:21 PM

There are adapters to bridge wired ethernet and Wifi. Found this article on the subject in general:

http://howto.cnet.co...r-home-network/

 

I've got some old D-Link product at home that does this for me. Such a link would be totally transparent to your Netduino. You could of course also get a Wifi-shield to do the job but then you probably can't take advantage of the built in networking capabilities of the N2+. Instead you would need a special driver.

 

If you don't need full TCP/IP, you can use Bluetooth or a pair of serial <-> 433Mhz (315Mhz) radio tranceivers. I think there are such devices that works transparently over a regular serial line. This would probably be the simplest solution.

 

For Bluetooth you need a combination of two things - the first is a tiny USB dongle that goes into your PC and the second is a Bluetooth module that you connect to the UART of your Netduino:

http://www.ebay.com/...=item51a5ccadd8

http://www.ebay.com/...=item4ac1878b21

 

As for the 433Mhz (315Mhz) radio option, you need something like a pair of these tranceivers:

http://www.ebay.com/...=item4ab41f2491

 

EDIT: Note that Bluetooth is short range (usually some 10 metres) while 433Mhz (315Mhz) radio can reach up to 100 metres. The frequency 433Mhz is used in Europe and 315Mhz is used in the US.

 

EDIT: The Bluetooth alternative would probably also let you control the Netduino from a SmartPhone which could be really cool.



#3 baxter

baxter

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 415 posts

Posted 27 February 2013 - 06:30 PM

I find that the Edimax BR-6258n NANO works quite well for this purpose,

 

http://www.amazon.co...sl_3j9dmxb197_b

 

Here is how to set it up,

 

http://www.edimax.us...rastructure.pdf

 



#4 Ben Harel

Ben Harel

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 32 posts

Posted 28 February 2013 - 03:43 PM

There are adapters to bridge wired ethernet and Wifi. Found this article on the subject in general:

http://howto.cnet.co...r-home-network/

 

I've got some old D-Link product at home that does this for me. Such a link would be totally transparent to your Netduino. You could of course also get a Wifi-shield to do the job but then you probably can't take advantage of the built in networking capabilities of the N2+. Instead you would need a special driver.

 

If you don't need full TCP/IP, you can use Bluetooth or a pair of serial <-> 433Mhz (315Mhz) radio tranceivers. I think there are such devices that works transparently over a regular serial line. This would probably be the simplest solution.

 

For Bluetooth you need a combination of two things - the first is a tiny USB dongle that goes into your PC and the second is a Bluetooth module that you connect to the UART of your Netduino:

http://www.ebay.com/...=item51a5ccadd8

http://www.ebay.com/...=item4ac1878b21

 

As for the 433Mhz (315Mhz) radio option, you need something like a pair of these tranceivers:

http://www.ebay.com/...=item4ab41f2491

 

EDIT: Note that Bluetooth is short range (usually some 10 metres) while 433Mhz (315Mhz) radio can reach up to 100 metres. The frequency 433Mhz is used in Europe and 315Mhz is used in the US.

 

EDIT: The Bluetooth alternative would probably also let you control the Netduino from a SmartPhone which could be really cool.

 

 I thing I'll go with radio option, if the wifi wont work. Thank you!

 

 

I find that the Edimax BR-6258n NANO works quite well for this purpose,

 

http://www.amazon.co...sl_3j9dmxb197_b

 

Here is how to set it up,

 

http://www.edimax.us...rastructure.pdf

 

Thank you very much, how does it work?

I connect the netduino to it, and then what?



#5 baxter

baxter

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 415 posts

Posted 28 February 2013 - 06:50 PM

Thank you very much, how does it work?

I connect the netduino to it, and then what?

You configure the adapter according to the pdf instructions. I use a fixed IP address for the adapter outside of the router DHCP address range and also give my Netduino a fixed IP address. For example,

 

Router LAN address: 192.168.0.1 Router DHCP range: 192.168.0.100-254 Ethernet adapter address: 192.168.0.3 <-- fixed IP address Netduino address: 192.168.0.50 <-- Fixed IP address

 

(1) Setup the adapter (IP address, SSID, Wpa key) (2) let the adapter connect to the network (check by pinging it) (3) Once the adapter has established itself on the LAN, plug in the Netduino to the adapter and wait a bit. (4) Ping the Netduino IP address and it should respond if all went well.

 

If steps 1-4 completed successfully, execute arp -a and in the arp table you should see the Netduino IP address and the adapter address, but the Netduino will now be associated with the adapter MAC address. You will need to take this into consideration if you are using if you are using the actual Netduino MAC for some reason, but otherwise it is the same as if you had just connected the Netduino to the router through an ethernet connection.

 

 



#6 Ben Harel

Ben Harel

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 32 posts

Posted 28 February 2013 - 09:09 PM

You configure the adapter according to the pdf instructions. I use a fixed IP address for the adapter outside of the router DHCP address range and also give my Netduino a fixed IP address. For example,

 

Router LAN address: 192.168.0.1 Router DHCP range: 192.168.0.100-254 Ethernet adapter address: 192.168.0.3 <-- fixed IP address Netduino address: 192.168.0.50 <-- Fixed IP address

 

(1) Setup the adapter (IP address, SSID, Wpa key) (2) let the adapter connect to the network (check by pinging it) (3) Once the adapter has established itself on the LAN, plug in the Netduino to the adapter and wait a bit. (4) Ping the Netduino IP address and it should respond if all went well.

 

If steps 1-4 completed successfully, execute arp -a and in the arp table you should see the Netduino IP address and the adapter address, but the Netduino will now be associated with the adapter MAC address. You will need to take this into consideration if you are using if you are using the actual Netduino MAC for some reason, but otherwise it is the same as if you had just connected the Netduino to the router through an ethernet connection.

 

Thank you very much!

I ordered the router you suggested. You helped me a lot.



#7 hanzibal

hanzibal

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1287 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 28 February 2013 - 10:01 PM

That Edimax box seems really nice and great value for money! It is supposed to be low power so hopefully it can run on battery too.

#8 baxter

baxter

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 415 posts

Posted 28 February 2013 - 11:04 PM

Yes it does run on a battery. I have a 6600 mAh battery with two outputs, 5V @ 1A and 5V @ 2.1A and it runs just fine on the 1A output. I don't know how much current it is drawing; I guess I should measure it sometime.



#9 hanzibal

hanzibal

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1287 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 01 March 2013 - 07:51 AM

The AC adapter that comes with it is 5V 1A so actual power draw ought to be less, hopefully significantly less. It would be interesting to know so if you could find the time at some point...  :)

 

It's rather small as it is and if needed, one could rip out the PCB and use that alone for portable stuff or just to keep overall size to a minimum.



#10 baxter

baxter

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 415 posts

Posted 02 March 2013 - 08:13 PM

I just purchased a WIZ105SR serial to ethernet bridge and it draws 200 mA so the Edimax with a radio will probably draw more than this, but less than 500 mA because the Edimax can be powered from a USB port. I did a test with my battery and it maintained power to the Edimax for about 8 to 10 hrs.



#11 hanzibal

hanzibal

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1287 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 02 March 2013 - 09:41 PM

Thanks for taking the time to check. Given the 6600mAh of your battery, it seems somewhere close to 500mA assuming there's some kind of regulator in between. It's probably good enough for mobile projects depending on how many other power consumers you got.

#12 sebswed

sebswed

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 45 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 30 March 2013 - 10:14 AM

Hello Hanzibal.

You don't need a regulator to reduce the mAh. You only need a regulator if your voltage doesn't match. If you have a battery capacity of 6000mAh and your device consumes only 500mA you could theoretically run your device for 12 hours (6000mAh / 500mA).


Netduino Plus 2 (v4.2.2.2)


#13 hanzibal

hanzibal

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1287 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 30 March 2013 - 02:10 PM

Yes, I only mentioned a regulator as it would contribute to the difference between the 12 hours and the 10 that it actually ran. Naturally there a many other factors too, many of which I believe has to do with the chemical process going on in the battery.

#14 sebswed

sebswed

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 45 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 30 March 2013 - 08:59 PM

Hello Hanzibal.

 

It might have to do with the way a battery capacity is stated. Asuming the battery has not aged and has the capacity the manufacture states, the capacity is usually only acessible when discharging it with a certain load over a specified time. Peak discharges (I don't know if these occur in a wifi device), device impedance and signal strength of both transceivers might cause deviations in battery operating time but I guess I'm getting off topic now :-)


Netduino Plus 2 (v4.2.2.2)


#15 hanzibal

hanzibal

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1287 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 30 March 2013 - 10:36 PM

sebswed, you seem to know a lot more of batteries than I do so I'm sure you are correct. When reading through the post right now, I noticed that the 500mA was only a guess in the first place. Anyway, the thing runs for about 10 hours with a 6600mAh battery and that's pretty good.

#16 upstream

upstream

    New Member

  • Members
  • Pip
  • 8 posts
  • LocationBrasil

Posted 03 April 2013 - 10:32 PM

I was just looking for it for a future project.

Those Edimax  adapter are really  good solution and ready made solution. No more fight with wi-fi shield!

 

Thanks a lot!


"- Somewhere there's a bug to fix..."

#17 NooM

NooM

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 490 posts
  • LocationAustria

Posted 04 April 2013 - 05:17 AM

if it doesent have to be ethernet, id go with a bluetooth module. they are very cheap on ebay, and its serial communication. doesent need any extra code to work.

 

http://forums.netdui...ss-programming/

(i not only use them for programming, nearly all my "projects" have one now, to send data from pc to the project)

 

//edit: sadly hey doubled in price the last few weeks :(



#18 Guest_jessesteinen_*

Guest_jessesteinen_*
  • Guests

Posted 15 June 2013 - 10:40 AM

I'm picking up on of these http://www.icidu.com...outer-150n.html in a few days. Should work similarly to the Edimax but should be more easily available in Europe. Also stated to consume only 1.2W so ought to be interesting for autonomous projects.

 

Will report back once I've had a chance to play with it later next week.



#19 OzTK

OzTK

    New Member

  • Members
  • Pip
  • 1 posts

Posted 18 September 2013 - 10:53 AM

Hi jessesteinen,

 

It's been a while now and I just read your post as I was looking for a compatible/compact ethernet-wireless adapter for an autonomous project. So have you tested the Icidu model you linked? Did it work? As I'm french it's very hard here to find the Edimax model...



#20 cce1911

cce1911

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 71 posts
  • LocationGeorgia, USA

Posted 28 April 2014 - 09:07 PM

Could I use a male to male USB cable to power the Edimax BR-6258n NANO via the N+2 if I have a battery providing power to the N+2?






0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

home    hardware    projects    downloads    community    where to buy    contact Copyright © 2016 Wilderness Labs Inc.  |  Legal   |   CC BY-SA
This webpage is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.