Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:52 Post subject: smallest 4G/DDWRT/WIFIClient device - drone project
Dear,
I got a very interesting project in my mind using my cheap WIFI drone and converting it to a 3G/4G drone.
The drones controls and camera is already accessible using an Android/IOS App. It is working like this:
- Phone linkes to the DroneSSID
- App opens a UDP/TCP link to 192.168.1.10 (on the drone) for receiving the camera images and sending the controls
Now the range is very limited because the Wifi AP in the drone is not strong. What I am thinking about is adding some hardware inside the drone that will:
- Get power from the drone battery (3.7V)
- Connect to the drone AP as a bridge (wifi)
- Connect to a 3G/4G internet connection
- Open a VPN tunnel to my home (which has a ddwrt router available)
- After that, I link my phone to my home network (or home VPN).
This will allow me to have unlimited range on the drone in first-person-view. Of course, this is easier said then done because it needs to be as light as possible.
Anyone has an idea about the smallest/lightest combo? It is not possible to see the size of a router internals in the picture. Any experience?
The smallest I found this far is
TP-Link TL-MR3020 v1.x
Which case is 74 x 67 x22 mm
Though DDWRT supported, not sure how the 4G link would work.
Another way would be raspberry pi (zero) with a stripped 4G usb dongle, but I like ddwrt because it is easy to use.
Kindest regards.
EDIT I found out this thread that wanted to use the exact same setup as I do, but not compatible. Not sure why. http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1090678
It turns out it is very hard to even find 1x 3G hardware combination that is fully compatible?