Question Seeking a wireless router that can use iPhone tethering for internet access ?

[NedSmelly]

I have an Asus DSL-AC68U wireless router that can use an Android mobile phone connected via USB for internet access. That way I could setup a wireless local area network to access a shared printer as well as internet use when required, for a location without hardwired broadband internet. Unfortunately this router doesn't work with the Apple iPhone's USB tethering, which is what I currently use.

Can anyone suggest a wireless router model that is iPhone USB tethering compatible?

(I don't want to have to keep popping the sim out to swap with a mobile hotspot router, such as a Netgear Nighthawk.)

Thank you

 

[lantis3]

Use iPhone as hotspot and buy a WISP router, no USB connection required.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=WISP+ROUTER

 

[NedSmelly]

Use iPhone as hotspot and buy a WISP router, no USB connection required.

Thank you! I'd never heard of WISP before. Found these routers which seems to have the features I'm looking for.
TP-Link TL-WR902AC
Asus RT-AX57 Go

 

[bill001g]

Most travel routers should do what you want. They are designed to hook to say a hotel wifi but they will connect to any wifi source. If you need them to provide wifi read the description carefully some of the very cheap unit you can only connect to via ethernet they need a extra wifi radio chip to be able to talk to the wifi source (ie the iphone) and then talk to other wifi devices.

On you original question USB tethering always was/is a tricky thing. The router many times need special driver depending on the brand of phone and you can't just install software on a router. Phones though have gotten more standard.

When I used to do this you had to load DD-WRT firmware onto a router to get a OS that had these drivers built in. ASUS was one of the better companies that had a list of phone devices they support. Asus runs the same firmware on all their routers so you should be able to find the list of supported devices. I also know the merlin firmware for asus had even a larger list of supported devices.

It has been a very long time since I looked at this topic but iphone tended to be on all the lists. BUT the iphone software also has had many updates since I last looked.

The problem is devices that have DSL modem in them are hard to find third party firmware images. If you have to buy a new router anyway you might as well just buy the travel router instead.

 

[NedSmelly]

Thanks. I've generally found iPhone wireless hotspotting to be fairly flaky with a Windows PC (random dropouts) which is why I normally tether via USB. Even that isn't straightforward, needing an ancient iTunes driver installed. It's a bit better going iPhone -> iPad, but still not 100% reliable. I'd just continue with this setup if not for the need for networked printing. (It's for a temp work space that only gets used around 2 days/week.)

Last time I tried the Asus router with a Nokia Android phone USB tether, it was pretty much plug-and-play (after adjusting the router config). But I'd prefer not to switch my daily phone to Android just for this functionality.

 

[bill001g]

So it seems they changed stuff since I lasted looked for this list. This is mostly a list of the USB modem devices that work. It also used to have a list of phones and os levels. Now it seems all android and iphones are supported at a certain router firmware level.

ASUS Router 3G/4G USB Adapter Compatibility List for ASUS wireless routers and DSL modem routers | Official Support | ASUS Global