My team is running a scouting system on a web app that my team built (white paper some time in the far future) that has a QR code generator we scan into a google sheet that has functions, so, many, functions, But the point I’m getting to here is: to call TBA API I need internet, to message people on slack during comp I need internet, to check Statbotics or do anything with other website’s I need internet. All the data is scanned into one computer and we only need one computer connected to the internet.
Second condition: scouting has to be in the stands, were we do not have access to venue internet and cannot host our own WIFI AP because it interferes with the FMS system as it uses 802.11n WIFI standard so robots communicate to driver stations using 5GHz connections and non-field components communicate using 2.4Ghz, read more here
So it would be incredibly convenient to have internet in the stands but I cant have a phone host hotspot for several reasons, it makes an AP on 5GHz band.
I have been tethering my phone to a computer at recent competitions which gives all the benefits of a hotspot but it’s wired so no AP needed. The issue i have encountered with this is i have to leave the stands every now and then, and i need my phone when i do so to contact or be contacted.
I was looking into getting a 4G dongle to get something that could stay in the stands and have internet connection but it all of the ones i have found so far just host an AP when plugged in and then you connect to the AP which makes it non-viable for my use.
what does your team do for internet in the stands? is there a cheap way to get a phone we could tether to our main stand’s computer that We could leave there? Is there some magical device I’m unaware of that could solve my issue?
as i stated in my post i have tried tethering but it has become non-viable because I have to do other things and cant leave my phone in the stands. As I also stated in my thread i cant use a USB hotspot because it hosts an AP, is there a way to use a usb hotspot without hosting the AP?
Android phones at least (iPhones may be able to do this too but I don’t know) can share their connection over USB, no wifi required. Unfortunately, using internet in the stands is a very tricky problem where the simplest solution to is not to use internet. Cell service may not work well in the venue and you’ll have no way of knowing until it’s too late to do anything about it. This is why most scouting solutions are focused on being able to function without internet
Some hotspots lets you turn off the WiFi/AP while tethering. We use tethered phones to sync data every few matches in the stands, but our Pit uses one of these to stream matches. In the past we’ve used a mentors, but the team invested in our own phone plan and hotspot for this upcoming season. I can get some more information if you’re interested.
We’re using a web app this year and plan to run a locally hosted version that loads and stores things from TBA like match schedule so we aren’t dependent on internet.
We use 2 separate methods to get data for our scouting system.
Our laptop that manages all of our back-end data, including uploading QRs and downloading CSVs, has a motem with a T-Mobile SIM Card from our prepaid data plan. We then use a router to give data to multiple people devices in the stands.
Our viewer app is hosted on team owned android phones that have data plans. If we desperately need data, we can tether from these phones.
If you’re trying to do it the most effective way, I would go with getting a motem and router and a data plan for them since it can easily give data to multiple devices. If you’re trying to do it as cost-effective as possible, the I would suggest using your own phone or getting a phone with a data plan and transfer data through the tethered hotspot.
If the Wi-Fi is turned off, you can have one device connected through USB, or if you plug a switch into the Ethernet port you can connect an arbitrary number of devices.
Depending on your laptop you might be able to get a 5G or 4G SIM card for your laptop, I know some business class laptops like Thinkpads have SIM card ports. Also depending on your experience with computers, you might be able to swap the internal WiFi card with something like this WWAN Card. This would only work if you get the right WWAN card and your laptop supported it, this would allow it to use SIM card if it had the SIM reader.
As said before cellular coverage at venues can be poor, and this probably isn’t the best solution, I just wanted to make the suggestion.
I’ve been using a GL Inet travel router that can use USB tethering to share a mobile internet connection over a wired network. The GL Inet routers are cheap, easy to configure, and allow you to completely shut down wireless, so they are perfect for FRC competitions.
You can purchase USB modems that you can stick a SIM card in and plug into the GL Inet router.
I can even get free SIM cards linked to my cell phone’s Google Fi account through Google. The problem is I haven’t managed to find a USB modem on which I can disable the WiFi that is built into it. So at this point, I’m still tethering my phone to the router.
I’d recommend removing the need for internet from your scouting requirements. We usually attend a competition that has no cell phone signal in the stands and no WiFi.
As a result, we have designed our scouting system to be able to run without any internet connection.
When needed, we run a wired intranet in the stands with the GL Inet router, a network switch, and USB-C/ethernet dongles to connect tablets.
Scouters can disconnect from the wire except when they need to upload data.
We export our data on a USB stick and run it down to our drive team so that they can view it to plan matches.
We take a tablet with our data out onto the field for alliance selection.
There’s no need for Internet but it’s more convenient. Running down USB’s seems like a part n compared to just sending a message to someone in the pits if they internet connection
I’ll check out the webgl travel router
Our team uses a cellular data router with usb tether. I noticed this year that this is very venue dependent; some events we can get a stable connection and at other events the router doesn’t even show a connection. I’d recommend putting this with a 2.4ghz SIM card for compatibility and price reasons.
A backup if this doesn’t work is to use our phones with usb connection (Works the same as usb tethering).
If you do use any of these methods, don’t forget to turn the connection to exclusively usb tether and check with the venues information packet to see if undiscoverable wifi connections are allowed.
Venue-specific limitations are irrelevant. All wifi hotspots (regardless if “discoverable” or not) are forbidden per FIRST Event rules (E301 from the 2024 rules to be specific).
We use one phone as a sort of “antenna” via USB for our primary scouting laptop. Not only does this provide internet for the laptop, but we use it to scan QR codes from our scouting app. We use a website that scouters load on their phone before comp and doesn’t refresh, meaning that it works even without internet.
