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Wiring a 24x7 powered hotspot?

Matts4313

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Has anyone wired a hotspot and if so, how did you do it? So far I have just been leaving the hotspot plugged into one of the extra cables from my aftermarket Insane Audio JL3001 and it seems to keep the hotspot's internal battery slow-drip powered long enough to last a couple days before I have to recharge it with my home plug. I am looking for something more permanent though - some way of keeping the hotspot powered 24x7.

It doesnt draw a lot of electricity, I would assume about the same as a cellphone. I bought a cable that I think will allow me to tap into the AUX switch, but im not sure that would even matter? Can you tell the AUX switch to stay powered on when the car is turned off?

I guess the easier way to ask this: How do I get a 24x7 powered USB plug into my Jeep?

Thank you!

Link to the hotspot: https://www.t-mobile.com/hotspot-iot-connected-devices/inseego-5g-mifi-m2000
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Kevin_D

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sharpsicle

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I always caution wiring something like this in without some kind of voltage cutoff device between it and the truck. Reason being, little draws can deplete a battery faster than you might realize, and then one day you're stuck with a truck that won't start because the hotspot took all the juice.

They make devices that will shut off power to the accessory once the voltage reaches a certain threshold so at least you can always start up the truck. An easy example of this is the Power Magic Pro (https://www.amazon.com/BlackVue-Vehicle-Battery-Discharge-Prevention/dp/B008B8ERIO/). Yes it's designed for dashcams, but the same principle applies.

I would highly recommend doing something like this as preventative insurance. I'd rather have the hotspot cut out a little early than have a truck that won't crank. The other bonus is that with this in place, you can comfortably add other always-on devices in the future.
 

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I always caution wiring something like this in without some kind of voltage cutoff device between it and the truck. Reason being, little draws can deplete a battery faster than you might realize, and then one day you're stuck with a truck that won't start because the hotspot took all the juice.

They make devices that will shut off power to the accessory once the voltage reaches a certain threshold so at least you can always start up the truck. An easy example of this is the Power Magic Pro (https://www.amazon.com/BlackVue-Vehicle-Battery-Discharge-Prevention/dp/B008B8ERIO/). Yes it's designed for dashcams, but the same principle applies. I would highly recommend doing something like this as preventative insurance.
I just plug my AT&T hotspot into the USB port in the console. Works fine for me.
 

sharpsicle

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I just plug my AT&T hotspot into the USB port in the console. Works fine for me.
Yeah those turn off after a while, so there's no risk of draining the battery. You don't have the same risks as trying to wire something in to run all the time like OP wants to do.
 

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Matts4313

Matts4313

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I always caution wiring something like this in without some kind of voltage cutoff device between it and the truck. Reason being, little draws can deplete a battery faster than you might realize, and then one day you're stuck with a truck that won't start because the hotspot took all the juice.

They make devices that will shut off power to the accessory once the voltage reaches a certain threshold so at least you can always start up the truck. An easy example of this is the Power Magic Pro (https://www.amazon.com/BlackVue-Vehicle-Battery-Discharge-Prevention/dp/B008B8ERIO/). Yes it's designed for dashcams, but the same principle applies.

I would highly recommend doing something like this as preventative insurance. I'd rather have the hotspot cut out a little early than have a truck that won't crank. The other bonus is that with this in place, you can comfortably add other always-on devices in the future.
You might have to treat me like an idiot on this one, permission to do so, haha -

Isnt that the reason it has 2 batteries? One for accessories and one for starting the truck?
 

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You might have to treat me like an idiot on this one, permission to do so, haha -

Isnt that the reason it has 2 batteries? One for accessories and one for starting the truck?
No, it has two for ESS events. During these events, one maintains the truck's computer systems while the other starts the truck. This is to mitigate the issue of voltage drops during starting events. If ESS isn't engaged and active, they function as 1 battery.

Even though it's called an AUX battery, it isn't isolated for accessories. It's just a secondary battery in parallel with the first. The only way it gets isolated is by the ESS system, and only when it shuts your engine down at a stop light. Otherwise, it's interconnected. I can totally understand your confusion, I'm sure you're not the only one.
 
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Matts4313

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I just plug my AT&T hotspot into the USB port in the console. Works fine for me.
I tried this overnight. It was at 89% this morning using the center console. So its getting some power it seems, just not enough.
 

Kevin_D

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I tried this overnight. It was at 89% this morning using the center console. So its getting some power it seems, just not enough.
The center console USB port shuts off when the rest of the electronics go to sleep, so it would've charged for a few minutes, then not charged until you woke it up the next morning.

Kevin
 

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I just read an article about an Anker product called Power Bank. It was in connection to powering Apple devices for a mobile office. These are basically high capacity batteries the discharge through usb and recharge through USB ports, a portable charging system. You could use this in between a vehicle usb and your hotspot device. Key on vehicle usb charges portable battery, portable battery powers device. Key off, vehicle usb does nothing (charge USB port on Anker is one way), portable battery continues to power hotspot. Basically a riff on a battery backup system. As far as the hotspot is concerned is power source is always the portable charging battery.
 

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Matts4313

Matts4313

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The center console USB port shuts off when the rest of the electronics go to sleep, so it would've charged for a few minutes, then not charged until you woke it up the next morning.

Kevin
Im not sure how long the center console USB stays on, but after having only driven twice today (to work and back home), the hotspot was back up to 100% battery. So it must continue to be a hot connection for at least 30-60 minutes. It seems like the center console does a better job than the JL3001 extra USB either way.

Either way, I think it might be a 'good enough' solution. Im going to keep testing.

I just read an article about an Anker product called Power Bank. It was in connection to powering Apple devices for a mobile office. These are basically high capacity batteries the discharge through usb and recharge through USB ports, a portable charging system. You could use this in between a vehicle usb and your hotspot device. Key on vehicle usb charges portable battery, portable battery powers device. Key off, vehicle usb does nothing (charge USB port on Anker is one way), portable battery continues to power hotspot. Basically a riff on a battery backup system. As far as the hotspot is concerned is power source is always the portable charging battery.
It seems like this might be a bit of overkill as the hotspot has a battery already? Unless maybe I am misunderstanding the benefit of going this route?
 

HankB

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Im not sure how long the center console USB stays on, but after having only driven twice today (to work and back home), the hotspot was back up to 100% battery. So it must continue to be a hot connection for at least 30-60 minutes. It seems like the center console does a better job than the JL3001 extra USB either way.

Either way, I think it might be a 'good enough' solution. Im going to keep testing.



It seems like this might be a bit of overkill as the hotspot has a battery already? Unless maybe I am misunderstanding the benefit of going this route?
I don’t know the draw of the hotspot, or duration the Hotspot would need to operate. My thought was to create a power source that would avoid the risk of draining your starting battery by not directly tapping into the battery, so I added another battery in between the two.
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