• Using mobile phone as backhaul for a small network

    From Henry Law@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jan 11 04:02:10 2022
    For some historical transgression I find myself organising the IT support
    for a small sporting event in a month's time. I need to establish a
    small network (two, maybe three laptops plus a small printer) with an
    internet connection; the data requirements are quite small and there's no
    need for lightning-fast responses either, so I'm planning to procure a
    PAYG phone to do the internet bit. (This is all indoors, by the way).

    The LAN is fine; I have a small switch and all the cables, and a WAP that
    I can use if I need one.

    The bit I'm not sure about is how to link the switch/router/whatever to
    the phone itself. Some piece of kit sitting on the wired network
    connects wirelessly to the phone, presumably, but what?

    Or can I link the laptops direct via WiFi to the phone, which acts as
    gateway? What to do with the printer, then, as it doesn't have built-in
    WiFi?

    --
    Henry Law n e w s @ l a w s h o u s e . o r g
    Manchester, England

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  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to Henry Law on Tue Jan 11 10:44:55 2022
    On 11/01/2022 in message <KL-dnYcMUIU_yED8nZ2dnUU7-QGdnZ2d@giganews.com>
    Henry Law wrote:

    Or can I link the laptops direct via WiFi to the phone, which acts as >gateway? What to do with the printer, then, as it doesn't have built-in >WiFi?

    I have had to use my mobile in a similar way on the process of moving.

    The 'phone has a setting called "Portable Hotspot" which once set up and
    turned on gives me Internet access via the 'phone network, it's connected
    at 74 Mb/s which is faster than my old fibre broadband! It appears on the laptop as just another WiFi Internet connection so easy to pick and
    connect to. Be aware that as it connects via your mobile network you may
    not get exactly what you would normally get in terms of facilities - i.e.
    I can't get the Plusnet news groups while connected this way as they are
    only available if you connect using Plusnet. I also discovered some odd security, the SIM is from iD Mobile, which I think used Three, and I found
    I couldn't connect to change.org as it was deemed an adult site!

    I have only used it on my laptop but going to the network and sharing
    centre (in Windows) I have the option to share it with other computers on
    the network.

    Don't know if that may be food for thought?

    --
    Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
    640k ought to be enough for anyone.
    (Bill Gates, 1981)

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  • From Philip Herlihy@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jan 11 11:46:20 2022
    In article <MPG.3c477884fbc0fb1b989992@news.eternal-september.org>, thiswillbounceback@you.com says...

    In article <xn0ncqrglh9vpsg004@news.individual.net>, jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk
    says...

    On 11/01/2022 in message <KL-dnYcMUIU_yED8nZ2dnUU7-QGdnZ2d@giganews.com> Henry Law wrote:

    Or can I link the laptops direct via WiFi to the phone, which acts as >gateway? What to do with the printer, then, as it doesn't have built-in >WiFi?

    I have had to use my mobile in a similar way on the process of moving.

    The 'phone has a setting called "Portable Hotspot" which once set up and turned on gives me Internet access via the 'phone network, it's connected at 74 Mb/s which is faster than my old fibre broadband! It appears on the laptop as just another WiFi Internet connection so easy to pick and
    connect to. Be aware that as it connects via your mobile network you may not get exactly what you would normally get in terms of facilities - i.e.
    I can't get the Plusnet news groups while connected this way as they are only available if you connect using Plusnet. I also discovered some odd security, the SIM is from iD Mobile, which I think used Three, and I found I couldn't connect to change.org as it was deemed an adult site!

    I have only used it on my laptop but going to the network and sharing centre (in Windows) I have the option to share it with other computers on the network.

    Don't know if that may be food for thought?

    That's the way to go, and if you install the printer on one of the laptops you
    can share it from there.

    Just expanding on that a little. Most (all?) 'smartphones' can be configured to share their incoming data connection to act as a "Mobile Hotspot". The laptops could connect to that, but most WAPs can also be configured to act as a "Bridge", where the WAP becomes a client of the smartphone and routes connections to devices via Ethernet. That might possibly suit you better if you can be bothered with the necessary manual study!

    Make sure the mobile you're going to use has the hotspot facility, and choose your SIM carefully: you won't want to be staring at 0 bars when you get there. Wikipedia has this table (below) of UK 'MVNO's. Lebara runs over Vodafone and Lycamobile runs over O2 for example, though you won't normally be getting the best speeds the parent networks operate. These MVNOs often offer useful
    'Plans' for 30 days with no contract, which can be a very good deal. Ofcom have a coverage checker which could help you rule out non-starters for that location, but do test with a real SIM in-situ before the event!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Kingdom_mobile_virtual_network_ope rators
    https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-gb/mobile-coverage
    If you're stuck for the necessary postcode, try this: https://www.gridreferencefinder.com/os.php

    --

    Phil, London

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  • From Philip Herlihy@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jan 11 11:21:15 2022
    In article <xn0ncqrglh9vpsg004@news.individual.net>, jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk says...

    On 11/01/2022 in message <KL-dnYcMUIU_yED8nZ2dnUU7-QGdnZ2d@giganews.com> Henry Law wrote:

    Or can I link the laptops direct via WiFi to the phone, which acts as >gateway? What to do with the printer, then, as it doesn't have built-in >WiFi?

    I have had to use my mobile in a similar way on the process of moving.

    The 'phone has a setting called "Portable Hotspot" which once set up and turned on gives me Internet access via the 'phone network, it's connected
    at 74 Mb/s which is faster than my old fibre broadband! It appears on the laptop as just another WiFi Internet connection so easy to pick and
    connect to. Be aware that as it connects via your mobile network you may
    not get exactly what you would normally get in terms of facilities - i.e.
    I can't get the Plusnet news groups while connected this way as they are
    only available if you connect using Plusnet. I also discovered some odd security, the SIM is from iD Mobile, which I think used Three, and I found
    I couldn't connect to change.org as it was deemed an adult site!

    I have only used it on my laptop but going to the network and sharing
    centre (in Windows) I have the option to share it with other computers on
    the network.

    Don't know if that may be food for thought?

    That's the way to go, and if you install the printer on one of the laptops you can share it from there.

    --

    Phil, London

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Henry Law@21:1/5 to Philip Herlihy on Tue Jan 11 13:28:55 2022
    On Tue, 11 Jan 2022 11:46:20 +0000, Philip Herlihy wrote:

    The laptops could connect to that, but most WAPs can also be configured
    to act as a "Bridge", where the WAP becomes a client of the smartphone
    and routes connections to devices via Ethernet.

    Thank you both for helpful suggestions. I'll check the old phone I plan
    to use to make sure it does hotspot, and I'll also examine the WAP I have
    to see if it can be used in bridge mode. I'd much prefer that because
    I'm not a Windows guy any more and in the past I've had horrible problems
    with sharing stuff between machines.

    --
    Henry Law n e w s @ l a w s h o u s e . o r g
    Manchester, England

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  • From Philip Herlihy@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jan 15 17:04:54 2022
    In article <SfidnQBjndHqR0D8nZ2dnUU7-dWdnZ2d@giganews.com>, news@lawshouse.org says...

    On Tue, 11 Jan 2022 11:46:20 +0000, Philip Herlihy wrote:

    The laptops could connect to that, but most WAPs can also be configured
    to act as a "Bridge", where the WAP becomes a client of the smartphone
    and routes connections to devices via Ethernet.

    Thank you both for helpful suggestions. I'll check the old phone I plan
    to use to make sure it does hotspot, and I'll also examine the WAP I have
    to see if it can be used in bridge mode. I'd much prefer that because
    I'm not a Windows guy any more and in the past I've had horrible problems with sharing stuff between machines.

    I've found today that "Bridge" mode seems more often called "Client" mode these days (showing my age). I also spotted that this modem/router (available in Argos):
    https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5728882
    ... has a mode which allows it to use a SIM instead of a fixed line for the incoming "broadband" connection. See section 4.5.2 of the manual: which is linked as "View Document" on the page above.

    --

    Phil, London

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  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jan 15 17:19:10 2022
    On 15/01/2022 in message <MPG.3c4d0f1022ffd0f198999e@news.eternal-september.org> Philip Herlihy
    wrote:

    In article <SfidnQBjndHqR0D8nZ2dnUU7-dWdnZ2d@giganews.com>, >news@lawshouse.org
    says...

    On Tue, 11 Jan 2022 11:46:20 +0000, Philip Herlihy wrote:

    The laptops could connect to that, but most WAPs can also be configured >>>to act as a "Bridge", where the WAP becomes a client of the smartphone >>>and routes connections to devices via Ethernet.

    Thank you both for helpful suggestions. I'll check the old phone I plan
    to use to make sure it does hotspot, and I'll also examine the WAP I have >>to see if it can be used in bridge mode. I'd much prefer that because
    I'm not a Windows guy any more and in the past I've had horrible problems >>with sharing stuff between machines.

    I've found today that "Bridge" mode seems more often called "Client" mode >these
    days (showing my age). I also spotted that this modem/router (available in >Argos):
    https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5728882
    ... has a mode which allows it to use a SIM instead of a fixed line for the >incoming "broadband" connection. See section 4.5.2 of the manual: which is >linked as "View Document" on the page above.

    My TP-Link Archer VR2100 can do that. In view of the mess Plusnet is
    making of transferring my broadband to the new house it's very tempting.

    --
    Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
    It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

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  • From SH@21:1/5 to Jeff Gaines on Sun Jan 16 20:00:40 2022
    On 15/01/2022 17:19, Jeff Gaines wrote:
    On 15/01/2022 in message <MPG.3c4d0f1022ffd0f198999e@news.eternal-september.org> Philip Herlihy
    wrote:

    In article <SfidnQBjndHqR0D8nZ2dnUU7-dWdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
    news@lawshouse.org
    says...

    On Tue, 11 Jan 2022 11:46:20 +0000, Philip Herlihy wrote:

    The laptops could connect to that, but most WAPs can also be configured >>>> to act as a "Bridge", where the WAP becomes a client of the smartphone >>>> and routes connections to devices via Ethernet.

    Thank you both for helpful suggestions. I'll check the old phone I plan
    to use to make sure it does hotspot, and I'll also examine the WAP I
    have
    to see if it can be used in bridge mode.  I'd much prefer that because
    I'm not a Windows guy any more and in the past I've had horrible
    problems
    with sharing stuff between machines.

    I've found today that "Bridge" mode seems more often called "Client"
    mode these
    days (showing my age).  I also spotted that this modem/router
    (available in
    Argos):
    https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5728882
    ... has a mode which allows it to use a SIM instead of a fixed line
    for the
    incoming "broadband" connection.  See section 4.5.2 of the manual:
    which is
    linked as "View Document" on the page above.

    My TP-Link Archer VR2100 can do that. In view of the mess Plusnet is
    making of transferring my broadband to the new house it's very tempting.



    be careful to check the EXACT specifications....

    SOME routers do have a slot for inserting a SIM card whereas SOME
    routers support 3g/4g via the addition of a USB broadband dongle, and it
    is the dongle you insert the SIM into, so if the latter, you will need
    to budget for buying a USB 4g dongle

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  • From Henry Law@21:1/5 to Philip Herlihy on Mon Jan 17 07:17:38 2022
    On Sat, 15 Jan 2022 17:04:54 +0000, Philip Herlihy wrote:

    I also spotted that this modem/router (available in Argos): https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5728882 ... has a mode which allows it
    to use a SIM instead of a fixed line for the incoming "broadband"
    connection.

    Well, well; there's a product for everything it seems. I'll keep that
    one up my sleeve, because I have established that the WAP I have will do "bridge mode" (which is what it's called in the manual), I have an old
    phone that I can press into service, and I've just signed up for an ASDA data-only SIM on a monthly contract, which of course I shall cancel as
    soon as the event is over.

    As soon as the SIM arrives I can legitimately play with technical toys
    for an afternoon, working out how to set it up and all that. Bliss ...

    This group, as ever, has been enormously helpful. Thank you all once
    again.

    --
    Henry Law n e w s @ l a w s h o u s e . o r g
    Manchester, England

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to Henry Law on Mon Jan 17 15:16:58 2022
    On 17/01/2022 in message <sP2dnY06Tarv8Xj8nZ2dnUU7-YGdnZ2d@giganews.com>
    Henry Law wrote:

    As soon as the SIM arrives I can legitimately play with technical toys
    for an afternoon, working out how to set it up and all that. Bliss ...

    Be very interested to know how it goes in case I have to do it one day :-)

    --
    Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
    If you ever find something you like buy a lifetime supply because they
    will stop making it

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