[SOLVED] Tethering to a server

[jjgurley]

I have a small work network that runs a medical EHR app. The SQL server is on a Windows 2016 server, but my old 2008R2 server still runs DHCP, DNS, and Radius authentication for our Cisco ASA 5505 router. The app has evolved over time to lose the need for VPN tunnels, but it's still used for remote RDP access.

Our ISP has been very unreliable lately, and although tethering a cellphone to the 2008R2 server used to work to keep our app running (but without any remote access), it no longer seems to work. I don't know if the server had connectivity or not, as I wasn't on scene for the last crisis. Any guesses what went awry? The app uses https to access various external data (insurance info, drug info, etc.).

Our ISP is down right now, and tomorrow morning I need to figure out what I need to do to make the system work. Remote access is not necessary during the outages.

I wish I understood how tethering interacts with the normal networking scheme.

 

[beers]

To be honest another LTE appliance such as a Cradlepoint would be more advantageous, then you could use it as a secondary WAN on the edge of your network for all connectivity.

It's probably worth investigating another physical based connection from another provider as well.

 

[jjgurley]

I actually have a Mikotek router sitting as a backup for my Cisco. My CIsco failed a year ago (bad capacitors) and I bought it before I discovered the fix for the Cisco. I'm just a spouse of the rural doctor, and this stuff is getting more and more complicated as I recently hit 70 yrs old.

 

[bill001g]

The key question is does the mikotek router support mobile broadband. It might support a USB type modem from a cell company. Many routers from asus and tplink support these.

To some extent it depends how you made a tethered connection work in the past. The key problem is how does the software know the internet is down and it should switch to the other connection.

If you did this manually then all you need is a replacement for the tethered. You can directly attach the USB modems to the server. If you have a wifi card in the server you likely can use a hotspot feature on a phone.

The reason the Tether function may not work could be related to the cell plan you have. Some of the inexpensive prepaid ones have disabled tethered and hotspot options. Even the ones that allow it you need to read the fine print sometime it can be expensive to use that feature.

 

[jjgurley]

Our cellphone has no problem tethering to a single computer. The Mikotek is not installed yet, as I'd have to deal with teaching all the remote users how to switch to an L2TP connection instead of the Cisco software client. Fairly big deal, especially given my expertise shortage.

As I said, the tether worked a few months ago. I guess I have to witness the failure to be sure what happened.

If the tether always resulted in the same IP assignment, I could add an alternative gateway to the DHCP config. Maybe there's a way to make an assignment to a dynamic IP...

 

[jjgurley]

Maybe my wife used a charging cable when she tethered (some don't include the data wires). A different cable and mobile device are working now. Sorry for the waste of oxygen