OctoPrint (and by extension OctoFarm) on a 4G modem

Get Help Networking
1

G'day,
I look after a print farm of 6 ender 3s at my college. Right now, they all have an octoprint server each, from a raspberry pi on each printer. These are all connected to a network running on a router that isn't connected to the internet (as my college internet is enterprise and I couldn't get them connected to it).

I'm looking to connect them all to a network with internet access, and eventually unify them with an OctoFarm server on the same network. However, I have to use my own network separate from my college's and the only way I've thought of achieving this is through a 4G enabled modem. I tried one that was just lying around and it didn't work (however this wasn't an octoprint issue - it's always been patchy and is almost definitely a problem with the modem itself).

Overall, my question is this:
Is it possible to run octoprint servers on a WPA2 network broadcast by a 4G modem? If so, is OctoFarm also feasible? I just want to check before I make the investment in a working 4G modem.

Hardware:
6 Ender 3s, each connected by USB to a Pi 3B+.

Cheers for reading!

2

This is a question you should probably ask each 4G modem's sales or support people.

My guess is that if the 4G modem is broadcasting a WPA2 network, then technically I'd call it a 4G router. It would probably have a web interface to configure the WiFi as the LAN side and the 4G specifics as the WAN side. As far as the RPi systems are concerned, this should look no different than connecting to the WiFi on a "normal" router.

1 Like
3

Thanks, that clears things up a fair bit! I think the modem/router difference was tripping me up. I'll still check with the manufacturer, but this is what I'm looking at right now.

4

IMO, that product should do exactly what you need.

1 Like