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Comment by actionfromafar | Hacker News Reader

Can this be used to capture the packets of another computer?

With the RP2040 host port connected to your development host and the listed pins connected to the DUT, yes. However keep in mind that then those two computers (development host and DUT) are galvanically coupled via the shared USB GND line. There's a risk of creating ground loops. If both are connected to utility power, then they better be on the same outlet and physically close.

So running either, or both, on battery, is preferable.

The USB packets? Yes.

So it should be possible to bridge wired USB wirelessly over 802.11n (2.4 GHz) and Bluetooth BLE 5.2 with two RP2040w, or one and software on a larger computer on the other side with e.g. google/bumble

Why go through all this trouble if you already have physical access to the computer?

An example of a use I have deployed via another solution for my wife. She often works from home. She often has to markup up documents and finds it much easier to do so from paper copies. When connected to her work VPN she isn’t allowed access to the local network. We have two offices and the printer is in mine because I frequently need to use it for printing invoices. She used to have to bring her laptop into my office and connect it via usb to print or disconnect from the work VPN. I deployed a usb over network extender. Now she can print from her office without disconnecting from the VPN.

I too have this problem but I just straight up drop the routing table entries that block me from my printer.

Unfortunately my wife’s IT department locks things down enough that isn’t possible. To setup the printer she had to have the IT department remote in, whitelist the usb printer and install the drivers. Even to get that to happen required several levels of approval.

-> pc: to have wireless tablet, touchpad, joystick, etc.

pc ->: to have wireless robot control, printer, other devices which have drivers, but aren't easily programmable.

To connect a USB device over WiFi or Bluetooth with or without an adapter plugged into the computer:

  USB device <-> RP2040w  ))) wifi/bluetooth (((  RP2040w.usb0 <-> computer 
  USB device <-> RP2040w  ))) wifi/bluetooth (((  computer.software_xyz

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