Question from a wireless idiot needing more than 1 access point (i think)

[alerton]

hi, can anyone please help with ideas. where i live i can not have / get fixed line phone or internet connections so im using mobile phone and data. i have a really good mobile phone tariff that gives me unlimited calls text and data including a tethering allowance, this works fine for me on the whole.

at home i have set up a small wireless network that connects to my phone hotspot and provides access to streaming on a tv box, home automation bits, smart switchs and various tablets and things. i live alone so only having internet connection when im at home with my mobile phone was never an issue, my home router automatically connects to my mobile phone as soon as i get home, but after an attempted break in i have got myself a ip camera for security so now i need to have internet permanently at home. i dont want to spend alot on a second mobile contract as the data usage will only be small when im away from home and when i am home i have all the data i need via my mobile phone. what im looking at is getting a cheap pay as you go sim contract that will only be in use when im away from home, then using my normal phone for connection when im at home. is there a way i can get a router or whatever to automatically select / use my phone hotsopt when im home then select / use the other connection when i take my phone away with me.

 

[RealBeast]

Automatically?

No, not that I know of but you could leave your current phone as the hotspot and carry the cheaper pay as you go out with you and have it network to your hotspot when home. Not ideal but automatic and you could possibly switch the two phones and put the new one on your contract and carry the current phone on a pay as you go basis?

 

[alerton]

Automatically?

No, not that I know of but you could leave your current phone as the hotspot and carry the cheaper pay as you go out with you and have it network to your hotspot when home. Not ideal but automatic and you could possibly switch the two phones and put the new one on your contract and carry the current phone on a pay as you go basis?

thanks for the reply but i need the phone with me as it gets used for business and the number gets used quite alot. the best idea i had so far is to just set both the cheap pay as you go hotspot up with the same ssid (network name) as my existing phone, that way id just need to turn off the pay as you go hotspot each time i get home and allow my router to connect to my phone but knowing me id forget to do it and end up paying a fortune in pay as you go charges lol

 

[RealBeast]

Automatically?

No, not that I know of but you could leave your current phone as the hotspot and carry the cheaper pay as you go out with you and have it network to your hotspot when home. Not ideal but automatic and you could possibly switch the two phones and put the new one on your contract and carry the current phone on a pay as you go basis?

thanks for the reply but i need the phone with me as it gets used for business and the number gets used quite alot. the best idea i had so far is to just set both the cheap pay as you go hotspot up with the same ssid (network name) as my existing phone, that way id just need to turn off the pay as you go hotspot each time i get home and allow my router to connect to my phone but knowing me id forget to do it and end up paying a fortune in pay as you go charges lol

If they use the same passkey the link made would not be reliably to one device or the other unless only one was turned on at a time, so yeah it would be very important to turn off one or the other. You might experience some connection issues with the switch-over between phones also.

Nonetheless, that is probably your best solution with your constraints.