2010/1/21 Trevor Sheppard <[email protected]> > > > > Hi folks, > > At the moment I am using either my '3' contract mobile internet 'dongle' > type modem (a ZTE model: MF627) or my Vodafone 'light' dongle (a Huawei > model: K3565). > > I want to fit a USB 3G wireless router so I can - I hope - use my laptop > 'wirelessly' throughout the boat. > > I'm also hoping that I can connect both dongles to the same USB port at > the same time, but I am a little concerned that I might not have enough > power to drive the one in use and the *one* on standby from the same USB > connection on the router. (I'm sure I recently read somewhere that USB > ports can only supply 500ma per port - and that even this can be > marginal for some dongle/modems.)
Two USB peripherals on the same physical port? Were you planning on using some sort of Y cable? That's not going to work. Two USB dongles plugged in to a USB hub would - the hub would handle contention and 'routing' between the two dongles. 500ma is the correct number, but it would need to be a powered hub. Some USB ports on desktops / laptops can supply 500ma - some fail dismally and use a Y cable simply to double up on the power availability. It's not uncommon to see these in use on USB 2.5 HD enclosures for instance. My Sony eBook reader shipped with one for the same reason - for charging. -- David Morris blog: http://www.brassedoff.net/wp
