Need help for an Android Ethernet driver

[Evan Leibovitch]

On 15 August 2012 18:23, Scott Allen <mlxxxp-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> On 15 August 2012 16:52, Evan Leibovitch <evan-ieNeDk6JonTYtjvyW6yDsg at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>


> Provided that you get a small travel router that can be USB powered and
> you're already carrying a USB power source (the cell charger you mentioned
> in another post) then I'd go the Plan B route (pun intended).
>
> You'll have to carry an Ethernet cable in either case but it
> could possibly be shorter because it doesn't have to reach all the way
> to the tablet. This, plus not needing to carry the USB to Ethernet adapter,
> might make up for some or all of the bulk of a router.
>
> Any extra bulk would probably be outweighed by the convenience of
> not having to have the tablet tethered to the wall. You'd be able to useit
> anywhere in the room and not have an awkward adapter and cable getting in
> your way, especially if you change the orientation of the tablet a lot.
>

All excellent points, along with another -- a wifi access point could be
used by more than one device at once (if the hotel gateway will allow it).
And all of the travel routers have a repeater mode that allows them to
strengthen weak signals. another frequent problem I find in hotels that
have wifi but maybe only one or two access points per floor.

The more I think about it, the less that recompiling and testing drivers,
being tethered to the wall, being scared of ROM upgrades and having to muck
with manually starting networking just seem like far more grief than the
effort is worth.

So plan B it is. I'm going to get the TP-Link
TL-WR703N<http://www.tp-link.cn/pages/product-detail.asp?d=225>,
which isn't sold retail outside China but is easily available on
eBay<http://www.ebay.ca/itm/280930036024>.
The similar WR702N<http://www.tp-link.com/lk/products/details/?categoryid=241&model=TL-WR702N>
is
globally available, but has less flash memory and can't take the OpenWRT
replacement ROM.

   - It's very small
   - Powered by a micro-USB connector, the same kind used to charge my
   phone and Nexus 7 (so no extra warts or cables to carry), consumes just .5W
   - At $23-25 (including shipping) it's almost half the price of the Asus
   or DLink units
   - It has a regular USB port and can be used as a wifi router for a USB
   3G modem (such as a Rogers Rocketstick)
   - If I'm adventurous, it's supported by the OpenWRT
program<http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr703n>,
   which offers a replacement ROM that turns it into a full little Linux
   system<http://embeddedtimes.blogspot.ca/2011/09/tp-link-tl-wr703n-tiny-linux-capable.html>(complete
with Samba for sharing files on a USB key). Very Raspberry
   Pi-ish. (Who knows? with this setup I might just be able to get it to
   function as a Ethernet to USB adapter ANYWAY ;-) )

Thanks for the input, everyone.

- Evan
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