Display MoreHi there,
I would like to start a thread that is limited to *only* what hardware has been found to work or should work to allow wireless to be added to our legacy devices.
I did a video with an explanation...
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If you don't want to read the whole thread here are some devices that work:
Vogels/Vonet wifi access point Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3dmKNFU
Amazon US - https://amzn.to/36aq04t
TP-Link Switch with Power
Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/36aqpnv
Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3h1QuLI
Power adapter to use one cable for kemper and router
Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3qsyTj4
The manual is not 100% clear so I will try to summarise my findings so far and what I have seen on this forum. I will also attempt to make it as simple as possible for those of us who are not that technically minded.
The Kemper needs to be connected to a device called a 'router' which is wifi enabled. This wifi router also needs to be able to function as an 'access point' if you want to run it stand-alone (at a gig) without another network (e.g. your home wifi network). As the manual says, this router needs to be connected via the ethernet socket on the back of the kemper. (easily bought on amazon, but see below)
The remote also needs to be connected to that socket so you have to connect the wire from the remote to a socket on the router. However, (and this is important), the remote needs to be powered. It receives its power from the kemper through the ethernet socket normally so you have to find a way to add power to the cable that goes to the remote. This can be done via a POE (power over ethernet) injector (easily bought on amazon).
So, if you do it like this you will have 2 boxes (one router and one poe injector) which both need a power supply plugged in somewhere. You will then need a short cable to go from kemper to router, then another cable from router to poe injector and then a long cable from poe injector to the remote.
If you are like me then you will want to reduce the number of cables and power supplies that you have to lug around and this is where it gets interesting.
There are such things as routers that are powered by POE, so that has the potential to lose one power supply (because the router doesn't need a power supply if it's powered from the kemper from the ethernet cable). Many of these routers are designed for home networking where things are wired into small spaces so they are probably small enough to go in the back of the kemper.
There are also routers which will do POE 'pass through'. In other words it will take the power coming in from the kemper and then pass it on to the cable going out to the remote. The first issue is that the router needs 2 ethernet sockets. Many small wifi routers powered by POE do not, but a small number do.
However, then we get into the issues of how much power and how is it delivered. In this case, there are multiple standards of how this is done (802.3af, etc.) and
I have not seen confirmation from kemper on what standard we need to follow (it says 'mode a' in the manual, but this is not quite enough information I believe).Supported are IEEE standard 802.3af-2003 as well as 802.3at-2009 mode A. There is also a lack of documentation from router companies about the detail of what they need coming and out of their power supplies.In a perfect world, we could find a device which will be powered over POE and will pass-through POE to the remote. If this was the case, then legacy owners could buy one box, with no power supply and tuck it into the back of the kemper and have it all in one with no additional power supplies etc.
So coming back to the point of this thread. Please post the products (preferably with a web link) that you have found that we can try or research to be able to achieve this goal. I will shortly add some that I have found. Please don't clutter up the thread with comments such as 'I'm confused' or 'why not android' etc. those comments can go in plenty of other threads.
Nice work Allen, that's really awesome stuff and very helpful. Is the wireless access point mandatory or could you just hook the switch up to the home network and therefore existing wifi with an ethernet cable?