Can you use the USB port of a router to charge a phone?

Can you use the USB port of a router to charge a phone?

Reply to
Steven Bornfeld
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Per Steven Bornfeld:

Try it.

Depends on:

- Whether-or-not the router designer supplied 5v to the port

- How many milli-amps the phone needs vs how many are available on the port.

I would not expect any of the above....

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

It likely depends on the router. My Cradlepoint has two usb ports. I can not only charge a phone from one of them but can also connect to the internet using USB tethering on the phone. I can probably tether two phones, but I haven't tried that.

Reply to
Charlie Hoffpauir

AFAIK all USB ports can be used that way. I've used the USB ports on my little media player, my A/V receiver (both front panel and rear panel), my Roku, the USB port on a commercial flight, the Time Warner cable box, the Uverse cable box, you name it. If it's USB, it has 5V DC @ about 500mA (off the top of my head, but I think those are the numbers), so it should work fine. Note that you asked about a phone. Tablets and other larger devices might try to draw more current than what the port can safely provide, but phones should be fine.

Reply to
Char Jackson

Since you didn't bother supplying a maker and model number, I'll simply suggest that you find the maker and model number of your router and check what the router specifications have to offer.

However, I can make a good guess(tm) that it's 5V 1A output per USB port. If the router vendor expects people to plug in self powered USB hard disk drives, it should handle at least 500 ma and preferably 1A. However, I don't think the power will charge a smartphone or tablet that requires 2A.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Are there smartphones that require 2A? I know of tablets that do, but I haven't seen smartphones that were that power hungry. Then again, my experience is mostly limited to a few Samsung Android models.

Reply to
Char Jackson

Yeah, sorta. The way they work is that if you plug in a 2A charger, it will charge at up to 2A. However, if you plug in a 1A charger, it will reduce the charge current to 1A. I've seen mumbling in the reviews about charging time, where buying a 2A charger cuts is roughly in half. However, I don't recall which phones, and am too lazy to dig it out.

Incidentally, I bought a pile of these USB ammeters, which have been very handy at checking out charging current: However, I've been too lazy to record numbers because the actual current depends on the state of charge and battery condition as well as the charger capabilities. I believe that I've seen over 1A on a (not sure) Nexus 5 smartphone but am not sure. I just tried it on a half battery Nokia something Windoze phone (running Android apps)[1]. I just measured 1.3A on a 1.5A charger: "More power in less time. Up to 35% faster charging for first 30 minutes with an empty battery."

[1]
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Its a tp-link archer c5 but none of the specs on the net show the current capacity of the two usb 2.0 ports.

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Reply to
Steven Bornfeld

The Nexus 5 wall charger says it's 1.2 Amps.

Reply to
Steven Bornfeld

Well, it says USB 2.0 which is a start. I'll assume that you can't measure the current capacity and are in pre-purchase mode.

The FCC ID is TE7C5 There's a V1 and V2 both of which appear on the same FCCID page. Plug the FCC ID into: Find the "internal photos" Argh... too small to see the USB chip numbers. Dead end.

I also tried to find an inside photo with Google image search with nothing useful found.

Here's a review that might show a photo: There's an inside photo, but not big enough to ID the chip.

If you're charging a Nexus 5, the charge current is NOT the labelled

1.2A. That's just the maximum current and usually appears only with a totally dead battery. The rest of the charge cycle is much less current. Buy one of these: and MEASURE how much current you really need. Be sure to try it with a nearly discharged battery. If it's less than 1A, it will probably work as a charger.

Under the USB 2.0 spec: Battery Charging Specification 1.2: Released in December 2010. Several changes and increasing limits including allowing 1.5 A on charging ports for unconfigured devices, allowing High Speed communication while having a current up to 1.5 A and allowing a maximum current of 5 A.

I doubt that the USB ports on the router comply with this specification and are more likely to just supply the standard 1.0A maximum. At this point, the only ways to find out is to ID the chip, or find a similar unit and measure it.

Why you would want to charge a phone from a router will remain a mystery.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

The laptop has all its ports already full, and I don't always have the wall wart USB handy, and the router USB ports will be glaringly empty and already right there.

Reply to
Steven Bornfeld

When I've plugged my Lumia err, something smartphone to the side of my computah it charges up fine. (Don't have a USB'ed router).

When I plug it into the jack formerly known as the power supply for a cigarette lighter in the car, it beeps at me and says something like "this is a low current charger. Please use a higher power one".

However, it sucessfully charges the phone when I've left the phone in standby. More importanlyu, it supplies all teh current needed when I've got the phone in GPS/map display more, which would otherwise drain the battery in an hour or two...

Reply to
danny burstein

I don't see the problem, at least with wall warts:

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Any port in a storm, or shortage.

Hotel rooms are prime candidates for a shortage of wall outlets. I've charge my phone from the back of the TV, and the USB port, which might be disk-power-enabled, on a DirecTV box.

It might just be handy, too. I have run out of ethernet, AC and USB outlets in my office. Too many Internet of Things in one room. Oh, and the tortoise is hogging two AC outlets.

I wouldn't mind having a USB cable dangling from my Asus router disk/printer port. It has two... charging might be a selling feature. And, I could share my phone storage on the network at the same time!

Reply to
dold

My Asus RT-N56U has two USB ports, and one of them is now charging my Samsung S4. Oh... I can 3G tether my phone, so maybe it does provide charging power. It sees it as a CDROM, though, so no file sharing without some further investigation. kernel: scsi 0:0:0:0: CD-ROM SAMSUNG File-Stor Gadget 0001 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 kernel: scsi 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 5

Reply to
dold

Ok, I guess it's justifiable. Still, there are better ways: Might as well get some exercise while charging.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

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