Hi everyone, I read somewhere on here that a user was employing one of the portable “opal” routers to connect to the CQ but also maintain an internet connection. Does anyone know what that function may be called so when the router arrives I can set it up this way? Thanks!
I have (and recommend) these GL-iNet travel routers. They have the unique ability to both create their own WiFi network (which all routers do) as well as allow you to connect to an existing WiFI network at the same time. The fact that they allow both of these things to occur at the same time is what is fairly unique.
The router will default to a 192.168.8.1 IP address (this along with the stock username and password are printed on the bottom of the device). The easiest way to set these devices up is to simply connect a computer directly to the device and assign a manual IP address to the computer (perhaps 192.168.8.10). Once that is done you can simply use an internet browser to go to the router’s IP address (192.168.8.1).
Once you are in the router’s GUI, you can easily set up your own WiFi network which you can then use to connect to the router in the future. Personally I would continue to use the 192.168.8.X default subnet to keep everything easy.
As far as connecting to a existing WiFi network, tethering to another device or modem, etc for internet access, that is also easily accomplished through the GUI. It is all very straight forward IMHO.
Do you do all of this while at a venue as well?
I would certainly have set up (and tested) the local network & local WiFi that I want to use for my systems prior to any event/show. “Local network” meaning the network you are creating with the travel router that all of your devices will connect to - either by hardwired connections or the WiFi network you are broadcasting with the travel router.
This local network should stay the same every time you use it - meaning you only need to set it up once. Once you are on-site, really the only thing you might need to do is to log into the travel router and enter in the facility’s WiFi network information if you want to connect to it for internet access.
If you don’t need internet access, or you are using a device that you bring and have used to tether the travel router to previously (perhaps your personal cell phone for example), then you probably don’t have to log into the router at all. Just connect everything the same way it was previously and it should work without any input.
2 Likes