The TP-Link WR703N Expander is an open source hardware extension to the TP-Link WR703N. It was created by Kean Electronics (http://www.kean.com.au/) and can be purchased from Seeed Studio (http://www.seeedstudio.com/).  I won’t go into the details of what the Expander includes and what you can do with it.  This article details how I created my own enclosure for the Expander since I don’t have a 3D printer and I didn’t want to purchase the enclosure from one of the 3D printer fabrication sites.
Since the goal of the Expander project was to match the form factor of the WR703N I saw no reason why I couldn’t re-purpose one of the WR703N cases to house the Expander. Â While it is the same form factor the positioning of the usb, serial, and io ports required modification to the case. Â The only case modification I wanted to do was to the lid. Â However, the location of one of the USB A ports would require modification of the case itself which I did not want to do (outside of some internal modifications to properly fit the Expander). Â The location of the USB A port in question is near the Micro USB port of the WR703N used to power the device. Â So instead of soldering the USB header that comes with the Expander kit I jerry rigged a Micro USB header using some wire and hot glue. Â As you can see from the pictures below it turned out pretty nice and functions the same as the original header with the adapter cable I created.
Cutting the holes in the lid is a pain in the ass but using a dremel, drill, x-acto knife, plyers, and a rasp I’m able to get okay shaped right-angled holes. Â But I did go through three lids before I was comfortable with the outcome!
