[SOLVED] Use a phone to provide an internet connection to a router?

elderdrake

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Oct 20, 2017
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Hi everyone, my wife works from home and frequently we have internet outages and/or odd issues because the ISP basically sucks. I know how to activate a phone as a hotspot and basic tether but the issue is a bit trickier so I thought I would come to the community here for a clear answer.

Her work phone requires an ethernet connection as does her work laptop so both of these need to be plugged into whatever is providing internet access. We have a Netgear Nighthawk X4S currently tied to the ISPs modem. My question is can we connect an android Samsung Note 10 into the router and provide an internet connection for the router from it in situations where the ISP fails? Another question is is there an adapter I could also look at to do this that would go from the phone and end in a female ethernet port (or two) and provide internet access maybe that way also for her work phone and pc?
 
Solution
This is an interesting idea, not sure feasible, but I hotspotted my personal Samsung S7 phone then put my personal computer on it and my work phone, this works fine and the devices were assigned separate IPv4 ips and worked at the same time [just ran speedtests simultaneously]. So the hotspot turned the phone into a wireless gateway for cellservice. Thus, all you really need is to turn a router into a wireless repeater and then use the LAN ports for ethernet work. Which most residential grade routers can do. The phone will need to be near the router for good signal strength it but it can be done it seems.

This website should help you along though I recommend backing up the router config before you start...
Jan 2, 2020
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I'm trying to simplify the issue... am I right in saying that the requirement is to connect a wired-only PC to a wireless connection? If so then forget the phone, if it's possible to connect a wired port to your phone then it would be needlessly expensive and complicated.

You need a wifi extender but, importantly, one that has a wired network port. I have two myself, mine are Netgear EX3700 which I'd highly recommend. It's capable of either connecting via wired to your router and providing a wifi access point, or connecting via wifi to your router and providing both wifi and wired connections. I have one working in each mode, and both work very well.

When you first connect it up you get a wizard that guides you through, it will ask how you want it to operate. It needs to be placed where it will get a reliable wifi connection and is in reach of your laptop. You will also be able to choose whether it provides wifi too, both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. It's up to you, if you give either wifi network the same name and password as your main one then your devices should seamlessly switch between them, depending on which gives the best signal strength.
 
All depends on the router. There are quite a few now days that can accept a wireless modem. Asus has a large list of supported device but the largest list is dd-wrt third party firmware image.

The problem is there is a big difference using a phone and a wireless modem. There are only a small number of phone manufactures that have provided the data so drivers can be written for routers. Again you need to check the lists.

So this generally means you need to use a wireless solution. BUT the cell phone makers again make this difficult.

If you only had a single device you could use a so called extender/repeater and even then not all will work. The problem is these repeaters use a function called WDS to allow multiple mac addresses to be carried over a encrypted wifi connection. In some ways this violates the security of the wifi.

In any case the problem is many phone hotspots do not have the WDS feature enabled which means you can not use a simple repeater to solve this.

The only way you get around this is to make your connection appear to be a single device. You would want a router that has wifi as its WAN port. This is kinda rare. So you build your own. You connect a wifi bridge intot he wan port of a normal router. The key feature you need on the wifi bridge is it runs in client-bridge mode. Some repeater/extenders run that way but again you have to watch out for the WDS. Although it is designed for outdoor use ubiquiti equipment can run in client-bridge mode and most models can also provide the router function. Something like a nanoloco ac is about $50. They are a little complex to setup because they have so many features.

Maybe the simpler solution would be to get asus router that actually has support for a backup connection and a supported modem. Depending on the idiot cell companies and their rules you might be able to just swap the sim into the modem when you need it.
 
Jan 2, 2020
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Sorry, I misread the original post.

I have a 4G (LTE) router, which also has a LAN port, and it's capable of being connected to your existing modem/router and using its 4G connection as a backup. I doubt that a phone could do this.

You could use the phone's hotspot as a backup option, but you'd probably need to manually switch wifi networks on the laptop if the connection fails.

Personally, my inclination would be to stop compensating and ditch the unreliable connection altogether and switch to 4G alone - depending on whether you can get a decent mobile tariff where you live. Here in the UK for example you can now get unlimited data and calls for around £20 per month. You could either use the mobile or a dedicated 4G router - ours has a phone socket, into which I've plugged the home cordless phone base station. So our home calls go via the router and the mobile calls package. I do have loft aerials pointed right at the phone tower plugged into the router, and get around 50-60Mb down, 30Mb up, at least a mile from the tower. It was about half this when I was using the router's internal antenna, and was also more variable.

Alternatively, if your ISP's connection regularly fails then you should annoy them until it stops happening, this shouldn't be a normal situation that you have to put up with.
 

Wacabletech06

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Jul 4, 2019
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Hi everyone, my wife works from home and frequently we have internet outages and/or odd issues because the ISP basically sucks. I know how to activate a phone as a hotspot and basic tether but the issue is a bit trickier so I thought I would come to the community here for a clear answer.

Her work phone requires an ethernet connection as does her work laptop so both of these need to be plugged into whatever is providing internet access. We have a Netgear Nighthawk X4S currently tied to the ISPs modem. My question is can we connect an android Samsung Note 10 into the router and provide an internet connection for the router from it in situations where the ISP fails? Another question is is there an adapter I could also look at to do this that would go from the phone and end in a female ethernet port (or two) and provide internet access maybe that way also for her work phone and pc?


I would think you want to get a wireless bridge, set the bridge to her phone hotspot and when needed, switch the ethernet connection over to the bridge output instead of isp modem.


There are products you can buy to manage multiple isp input to a router or even system, but this sounds a tad expensive for what you really want, its more like your business needs an instant back up, to keep running type use. Doctors office that uses remote doctors, that type of thing.

The real concern is what is her actual speed on this phone, also she needs to talk to her VOIP provider/IT and make sure the phone works like she thinks it does where they do not need to be told she changed providers, ip address, and all that, usually this is all ok, but some places are a little overly secure on the WFH clients though with good reason. I work in a high military contractor area, so I run into this a lot..

My personal opinion is she'd be better to forward the work phone to her cell phone # and then just hotspot the laptop though, just my opinion. No extra cost or equipment to fail and pretty straight forward,

Now, your ISP issue, cable or dsl? The usual solution is disable all other outlets and have a new one run from the dmark [bonding point] to the modem. This eliminates most of the issues on these old house wires that are usually from the 70's or 80's when the house was build but no one ever wanted to replace them when renovating. Do not use cheap connectors, do not daisy chain [home run only] the wires, and make sure you make the connection points tight for best performance.
 
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elderdrake

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Oct 20, 2017
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Sorry for the late reply gents and I appreciate all of the informative replies!

The issue has now compounded itself as someone that we live with is not paying the internet bill in their name which could result in an interruption. We are working on a solution to this and have a fallback of simply having another provider install a new line but that leaves a gap in coverage.

To be precise can anyone point me to an inexpensive product that I can pick up that would allow me to connect my Samsung Note 10+ to it (wireless or via USB) as a tether and output an internet signal from an ethernet port that my wife can then connect to her work phone (wifi added in would be a bonus). This also provides a means to mitigate maintenance and service interruptions on the fly. I tried connecting to our Netgear Nighthawk X4S but this does not seem to support what I want and I am dusting off a TP-LINK Google On OnHub to see if that may do it by I do not have high hopes.

I just need a device that I can tether the phone to that will provide internet out on even a single ethernet port and ideally wifi as well, and not overly expensive. Thank you for all the help gentlemen.
 

elderdrake

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Oct 20, 2017
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If you have an Asus router (ASUSWRT) there is an option to use the USB port as your WAN connection, you just enable USB tethering on your phone and then pick USB as the WAN under the USB application menu on the router. This is know as a good work around on unlimited plans.
https://www.vpnuniversity.com/tutorial/how-to-share-unlimited-4g-data-with-your-router
Thank you for the reply.

I came across the same article and it is a good read. The issue is I am using a Netgear Nighthawk X4S router and I can not seem to use the phone as a tether to it unless I use my pc.

I need a product that can act as a bridge from the phone to the router which would allow ethernet out. I came across this device in a similar thread

TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router - WiFi Bridge/Range Extender/Access Point/Client Modes, Mobile in Pocket(TL-WR902AC) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_L6phEbRENTR1V

Any thoughts?
 
You need more than a bridge I suspect.

If this travel router can accept a WAN connection via wifi it will work.

Simple client-bridge mode will not work unless you only have a single device. Key here is does your phone support WDS and in addition are there are limits on the number of clients it allows to connect. To connect multiple clients with a "bridge" it must support WDS and they will still be subject to any device number limits.
 
Jan 2, 2020
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Is there a reason why the computer(s) can't connect via wifi?

It may be simpler to add wifi to the computer than to try and bridge wired-wireless.

Obviously this will work, as it's exactly what your phone's hotspot is intended for, anything else is at risk of hitting an obstacle.

I use a Netgear EX3700 to connect a wired-only device to wifi where I don't yet have a wired connection, and it works perfectly, completely seamlessly. BUT, although my internet connection is ultimately a mobile 4G/LTE connection, in my case it's provided by a proper 4G router, not a phone. As pointed out by Bill above, it's possible that the hotspot may have restrictions that a proper router does not. You never know it might just work, but you probably won't find out without buying an extender and trying it.

I did buy a TP-Link extender before the Netgear one, I returned it as it had fundamental issues with its LAN port not working. I don't know whether it was just faulty or a flawed design, but I didn't bother trying a second one, got the Netgear instead.
 

Wacabletech06

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Jul 4, 2019
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This is an interesting idea, not sure feasible, but I hotspotted my personal Samsung S7 phone then put my personal computer on it and my work phone, this works fine and the devices were assigned separate IPv4 ips and worked at the same time [just ran speedtests simultaneously]. So the hotspot turned the phone into a wireless gateway for cellservice. Thus, all you really need is to turn a router into a wireless repeater and then use the LAN ports for ethernet work. Which most residential grade routers can do. The phone will need to be near the router for good signal strength it but it can be done it seems.

This website should help you along though I recommend backing up the router config before you start.

https://kb.netgear.com/24108/How-do-I-configure-my-Nighthawk-router-as-a-wireless-repeater
 
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Solution

elderdrake

Honorable
Oct 20, 2017
31
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10,545
I appreciate all of the help gents and I think I will try Wacabletech06s idea but I think everyone has given me a lot of information. Tom Hardware is an incredible community and I am thankful for all the people that help people out here.

Take care everyone.