Emulate physical USB connection over wireless or bluetooth

Thread Starter

cork_ie

Joined Oct 8, 2011
428
I had a quick look through the forum archives and there seems to be no direct answers to my problem.
I have several usb "interfaces" that are directly plugged into a USB 2.0 port on my laptop and the associated software(s) will only run when the cables are connected. Examples are VCDS (Vagcom) for Volkswagon diagnostics, Picoscope automotive oscilloscope etc.
The issue is that these cables are basically a pain in the ass. The Picoscope is particularly fussy as it is also powered from the USB and despite using the most expensive cables available dropout still occurs. Also no two USB plugs seem to be the same fit and length is always an issue. Every laptop I have ever owned had to be eventually replaced because the USB sockets just wore out from using different plugs and being pulled and dragged.
What I would like to make or buy is a battery powered "Black box" that I can plug my USB cable into and connect between the "Black box" and a Windows 10 laptop over either over wireless or bluetooth. It is important that Windows detects a physical connection so that the device to be connected to USB. Is there such things as virtual USB ports for windows?
I understand that such a setup is possible on Android but unfortunately all my software is Windows only.
I have seen several half baked efforts on youtube etc , but no one demonstrates a fully functioning product.
Any help very gratefully received.
 

Thread Starter

cork_ie

Joined Oct 8, 2011
428
Thanks for the reply , all suggestions are welcome
I have just had a look at the XBee and reading the XBee USB adaptor on the waveshare website. I need to do a lot more reading before knowing if this could work or not. Biggest problem would be to get Windows to recognise the device as a physical connection.
 

Externet

Joined Nov 29, 2005
2,202
Is the USB port at the remote device providing 5V at its jack ?
I would then try ----> https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=usb wifi adapter

The link should be created as 'ad-hoc' I believe.

If no 5V, I believe something like this should work. (Have not tried) ----> http://www.actisys.com/Documents/Spec_BT5900US.pdf

Do you want direct internal WiFi connection from the laptop to the remote device (as a printer*) or with a nearby router involved ?

*I did make an adapter to feed the missing 5V from a B type USB jack to a WiFi dongle as the ones in the first link, to later find that that printer has no driver for my OS:(. So, from my side, the experiment was inconclusive.

Come back with findings...
 
Last edited:

Thread Starter

cork_ie

Joined Oct 8, 2011
428
Is the USB port at the remote device providing 5V at its jack ?
I would then try ----> https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=usb wifi adapter

The link should be created as 'ad-hoc' I believe.

If no 5V, I believe something like this should work. (Have not tried) ----> http://www.actisys.com/Documents/Spec_BT5900US.pdf

Do you want direct internal WiFi connection from the laptop to the remote device (as a printer*) or with a nearby router involved ?

*I did make an adapter to feed the missing 5V from a B type USB jack to a WiFi dongle as the ones in the first link, to later find that that printer has no driver for my OS:(. So, from my side, the experiment was inconclusive.

Come back with findings...
The ebay link points to a completely different item, it is a USB wireless transceiver. It is plugged into a USB port to enable the computer to connect to a wireless network.
What I am looking for is very different, I want to connect a USB device to a powered USB hub with wireless or bluetooth capabilities.The devices have no separate power source and need to be powered off the hub and connect just as they would to a standard physical USB port. I then want the hub to connect to the PC over wireless so that the PC detects the USB connected device as if it were directly connected to a physical USB port on the PC.
Such devices do exist but are not able to universally recognise just any old USB device connected to them and are mainly only capable of connecting external hard drives or printers. Medion MD 86097 is a good example , it claims to be a wireless USB HUB , in reality it will barely recognise a 250Gb HDD and that is about it.
It doesn't matter how the wireless is connected Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure makes no difference , hot spot or through a router or network is all OK . All I want is a USB 2.0 connection without being tethered to the end of a cable.
As far as I know the Bluetooth to USB printer adaptors you linked to are very specific for printers only ,could possibly be adapted if I spent 6 months writing firmware , which I have neither the skills or time to do.
 
Last edited:
Top