I only know enough binary to ask where the bathroom is

This is my first attempt at an illustrated guide. The pictures are a bit small this time, but I suppose that’s the type of simple mistake that you can make the first time you do a project.

This project was very simple and only took about 15 minutes total work time.

Basic Information about the project:

I’ve been trying to think of ideas to power my Fon without needing a 120vac outlet. Luckily for us, The La Fonera router is powered off of 5V. USB provides 5v. How convenient. My favorite part about this hack, is that it still allows you to power the Fon router with the provided wall adapter, this is just an added option if you don’t have an outlet handy.

Required Materials:

• Fon 2100 Router
• Spare USB wire
  
• Phillips Head Screw Driver
• Soldering Iron
• Solder
• Drill
• Wire Strippers

Step 1:

Turn the Fon over, so you are looking at the bottom. Remove the two rubber pads closest to the front. Underneath each pad is a screw. Remove the screws and slide the top off the Fon.

Step 2: Remove the cover and examine the device

Step 3: Unplug the antenna wire

This is a close up view of the wire that should be unplugged from the antenna. Be careful when unplugging, you do not want to have to re-solder this wire back to the board.

Step 4: Preparing the USB Wire

Now you’ll need to strip the outer shield from the USB wire. Inside you’ll see a lot of different colored smaller wires. Go ahead and chop everything off except for the red and black wires. Strip the red and black wires so you have plenty of surface area to solder. If you have a multimeter, now would be a good time to check the leads to make sure you’re getting power.

Step 5: Drill the case and run the wire

I forgot to take a picture of this step, but its fairly simple. Just drill a hole in the back of the La Fonera router. Once the hole is drilled, go ahead and run the USB wire through the hole to prepare for the next step.

Step 6: Solder it!

Solder the red and black USB wires to the power supply leads on the bottom side of the board, as shown in the picture above.

Step 7: Put the board back in the case….carefully.’

Carefully put the board back into the case and re-attach the antenna wire.

Step 8: Almost done…

There you go, plug it into a USB outlet and let the packets flow. I’ve noticed one issue, if anyone has any tips or advise let me know. When plugged into Windows XP, I kept getting an error regarding the USB device. I don’t think its a major issue, just windows looking for a device with no device there.

Any tips are appreciated.