[SOLVED] WISP routing

[needs a new username]

I need help sharing my phone connection wirelessly to a wired network switch and a WAN at the same time. To be more specific, I want a router (or some other device?) to connect to my phone WIFI wirelessly and pass the connection to the network switch through ethernet and pass the connection to other wireless devices through WIFI.

I don't want any reduction in bandwidth like with WDS (unless I could still do ~300Mbps), and I want to relay the connection both wirelessly and through the ethernet switch at the same time which I'm not sure if WISP routers can do? I haven't purchased any routers for this purpose yet, and that is where I need help - to find a suitable device. I was wondering if I will in fact need 2 routers to achieve this? 1 that will connect to my phone in WISP mode and relay the connection to the switch and the other router, which will then share the connection in a WLAN? And maybe the WLAN device could be behind the switch also? Basically I just want to share my phone connection wirelessly to both ethernet and WIFI devices in 1 network accessible through the switch and wirelessly.

Oh and I need the router to have at least 2 external WIFI antennas so I can hide the device in my cabinet and put wired antennas outside. And I want to do this as cheap as possible, but if the cheapest solution anyone can think of is enterprise level then I would still be interested in knowing about it. And I wish to have at least ~300Mbps (or 30MBps) real world download speed available for any 1 connected device at a time or split between devices when there's more than 1 device connected, provided my phone would be able to give that speed.
I have a Cisco SG350-10 switch if that is relevant.

I suppose what I need is WISP and Wi-Fi Bridge modes combined as in this image:

Any help and knowledge would be appreciated.

 

[gggplaya]

WISP is a term that's usually associated with microwave broadband internet service providers aka fixed wireless internet service providers, what you're talking about is actually using your cellphone as a hotspot and repeating that signal with bridging in some ethernet ports.

Many routers can be set up into Repeater mode which will allow you to use the wifi switch and better antenna system for whole home wifi, also allow you to use the built in ethernet ports as well like a bridge.
You can buy the Asus AC66u to accomplish this, you can find them used for like $40: https://www.amazon.com/strengthens-Connections-High-powered-Amplification-Beam-forming/dp/B008ABOJKS

 

[kanewolf]

I would recommend you split out the functionality. A device that can receive your phone's WIFI and distribute it via ethernet is not difficult. But creating an independent WIFI source IS. If you break the two functions apart, you should be able to do it for about $100. Get a pair of Asus AC68U routers (others would work, but the AC68U are available used at good prices) . Run Merlin firmware on them. Setup one as a wireless bridge with NAT and setup the other as an access point with a wired connection back to the wireless bridge.

 

[bill001g]

Where are you getting a 300mbps signal from. Is this some kind of wifi system or do you have some mobile broadband that can run that fast. You need a very special device if it is going to connect to mobile broadband (ie cell towers).
Your phone is not likely going to have the power run as a router for other devices and get 300mbps rates. It primary function is not as a router and does not have many of the features that lets a router pass data that quickly.

You are likely better off finding a solution that does not have your phone in the path.

 

[needs a new username]

WISP is a term that's usually associated with microwave broadband internet service providers aka fixed wireless internet service providers, what you're talking about is actually using your cellphone as a hotspot and repeating that signal with bridging in some ethernet ports.

Many routers can be set up into Repeater mode which will allow you to use the wifi switch and better antenna system for whole home wifi, also allow you to use the built in ethernet ports as well like a bridge.
You can buy the Asus AC66u to accomplish this, you can find them used for like $40: https://www.amazon.com/strengthens-Connections-High-powered-Amplification-Beam-forming/dp/B008ABOJKS

Yes I'm talking about repeating or whatever it should be called, but like I said I don't want my (100-300Mbps or whatever my phone gives (or some other source)) speed/bandwidth to be reduced by 50% (closer to 10% is more acceptable), so is Repeater mode suitable?

I would recommend you split out the functionality. A device that can receive your phone's WIFI and distribute it via ethernet is not difficult. But creating an independent WIFI source IS. If you break the two functions apart, you should be able to do it for about $100. Get a pair of Asus AC68U routers (others would work, but the AC68U are available used at good prices) . Run Merlin firmware on them. Setup one as a wireless bridge with NAT and setup the other as an access point with a wired connection back to the wireless bridge.

If I do this and pass the WIFI connection to the ethernet switch, can I get around the same speed (split between devices or 1 device at a time of course) for my ethernet devices connected to the switch that I would get from connecting to the phone WIFI directly? And same question for the WLAN speed? And can I and should I connect the other router to the ethernet switch (so it takes the internet connection through the switch) to have all my devices (both ethernet and wireless) being able to communicate with each other? What kind of topology would you suggest?

Where are you getting a 300mbps signal from. Is this some kind of wifi system or do you have some mobile broadband that can run that fast. You need a very special device if it is going to connect to mobile broadband (ie cell towers).
Your phone is not likely going to have the power run as a router for other devices and get 300mbps rates. It primary function is not as a router and does not have many of the features that lets a router pass data that quickly.

You are likely better off finding a solution that does not have your phone in the path.

The phone is the only option I have to connect to the internet (getting another sim is not an option), but the speed requirement doesn't have so much to do with my current set up but the level of the equipment, because if I move to a place where I can get a landline then I don't want to get any new equipment for my LAN just to get that speed across my devices.
My phone can still do over 100Mbps until the battery runs out in charging mode lol.

 

[kanewolf]

If I do this and pass the WIFI connection to the ethernet switch, can I get around the same speed (split between devices or 1 device at a time of course) for my ethernet devices connected to the switch that I would get from connecting to the phone WIFI directly? And same question for the WLAN speed? And can I and should I connect the other router to the ethernet switch (so it takes the internet connection through the switch) to have all my devices (both ethernet and wireless) being able to communicate with each other? What kind of topology would you suggest?

Assuming you have gigabit wired connectivity to everything, then your limiting factor will be the phone. Either the connection to the ISP or the WIFI connection to your primary router. The devices I recommended are all dual band routers, so you should be able to have a 5Ghz link between the phone and the router.
That total bandwidth will be shared by all devices that are active on your network. One wired computer could get all the bandwidth. Or several devices will share the bandwidth.
WIFI performance to other clients (tablets, laptops, etc) depends on the device as well as the WIFI source. I can't make a generic statement about device performance.

 

[needs a new username]

Oh I didn't really mean device by device performance,
what I was trying to ask is if there will be significant loss of bandwidth for the same device (wired or wireless)
connecting to the phone's internet connection in the scenario (1) versus scenario (0) below:

(Assuming the phone WIFI is the bottleneck (let's say it gives the 300Mbps download speed) in scenario (0),
and that the ethernet switch and the cables are not bottlenecks in scenario (1), and that the routers are both AC68U.)


I already followed your recommendation and bought 2 used AC68U's for about 150€, but I would still like some advice on the topology.

I'm planning to use the topology of scenario (1) to have all my wired and wireless devices communicating on the same network controlled through the switch,
but I'm new to this so if you could tell me whether topology (1) seems sensible or is there some reason I should use (2) or (3) or something else?

The ethernet switch is supposed to take a printer, a NAS, a desktop PC, a laptop and maybe other wired clients,
while the second router is supposed connect at least a few laptops that will occasionally connect to the wired devices.



Also as an additional inquiry, I have wireless Klipsch Gate audio links that I would want to use in a virtual WLAN and control through the ethernet switch also,
so do you think this would be possible in topology (1) with the AC68U?

 

[kanewolf]

I would implement it as option 1 if your cabling supports it.