Smart phone to router.

DXP55 · 3 Jan 2014 at 09:27

A mate has asked me the question and I have no idea.

He has a Samsung smart phone on 4g - 30mb + and is under the impression he can buy a router and connect to his mobile signal from mast then WiFi to PC-TV-Printer- etc from router.

ps - He does not have a land line (Edit)

Is this correct ? I thought you used the phone as router but what do I know my Nokia is 10 yrs old.

If he is wrong I need a bit of detail on how it's done so both he and I can understand it.

Hope this is right forum for the question.

Thanks

Dave

tom_e · 3 Jan 2014 at 09:29

I've seen routers with support for mobile dongles so you can plug one into the USB port and use that but I've never heard of one that can use a phone as a connection.
He should just be able to turn on the WiFi hotspot on the phone and connect his devices to that the same he would a normal WiFi router though, although obviously the range won't be great so the phone would have to be nearby.

Confused · 3 Jan 2014 at 11:49

I did a test with my dad's Asus DSL-N55U router over Christmas, as his ADSL connection is rubbish (currently just 1mb/sec down)

I plugged my Samsung Galaxy S2 into the router with a USB cable, and enabled the "USB tethering" option in the phone menu, and set the router to use the USB connection as the primary connection (as opposed to the ADSL)

With the phone/router in the middle of his house, I had about 2 bars of signal, and H+, and I had a download speed of about 5mbps - and we could actually watch something on iPlayer on his new TV.

There's details here on Asus's website.

Now that we've proved the concept, my dad is probably going to buy a USB dongle and a 3 One Plan SIM and do away with the ADSL side of things.

DXP55 · 3 Jan 2014 at 12:04

Thanks Confused.

I had an idea it worked that way but wasn't sure - He went out yesterday and bought a Linksys 600 and HP7525 printer thinking it was going to be a walk in park as they say -
He is a wiz with Chevy V8 engines but bit overwhelmed by latest Technology.

I have yet to find out exact model Linksys 600.

Thanks again

Dave

bremen1874 · 3 Jan 2014 at 18:48

Confused said:
Now that we've proved the concept, my dad is probably going to buy a USB dongle and a 3 One Plan SIM and do away with the ADSL side of things.

The One Plan can only be used with phones.

gav2pac · 4 Jan 2014 at 22:48

bremen1874 said:
The One Plan can only be used with phones.

Wont it let you tether on the One plan?

bremen1874 · 4 Jan 2014 at 23:15

You can tether from a phone. You can't use it with a dongle.

demonix · 5 Jan 2014 at 15:59

DXP55 said:
Thanks Confused.

I had an idea it worked that way but wasn't sure - He went out yesterday and bought a Linksys 600 and HP7525 printer thinking it was going to be a walk in park as they say -
He is a wiz with Chevy V8 engines but bit overwhelmed by latest Technology.

I have yet to find out exact model Linksys 600.

Thanks again

Dave

The router would need a USB port for what confused did to work, so if that linksys router doesn't have one then your mate has just wasted their money.

There are 3G/4G wireless routers available which will do what is required without the need for the phone (possibly) and there are a few available over on the OCUK site (the printer would need a router to connect to before other devices can be connected to it, and to use certain features the printer might have).

Puzzled · 5 Jan 2014 at 20:27

I've used my phone as a hotspot and tbh the signal was pretty damn strong.

What he could do is either try and use the router as a wireless extender or return it and buy one to boost the wifi signal.

His printer also has Wifi Direct, which I don't think can share internet access but can create a wireless network for printer use.

nniitt · 5 Jan 2014 at 21:54

MonkeyMan said:
I've used my phone as a hotspot and tbh the signal was pretty damn strong.

What he could do is either try and use the router as a wireless extender or return it and buy one to boost the wifi signal.

His printer also has Wifi Direct, which I don't think can share internet access but can create a wireless network for printer use.

I thought this kind of hotspot things were banned.

bremen1874 · 5 Jan 2014 at 22:14

Why would enabling the hotspot on a mobile phone be banned?

blueacid · 5 Jan 2014 at 22:15

nniitt said:
I thought this kind of hotspot things were banned.

Not banned, but if you try and use SIM card set up for a mobile phone it's likely the phone network will block internet after a while (or immediately).

Unless, of course, it's a mobile broadband dealio, set up for use in a dongle -they're fine with that of course!

bremen1874 · 5 Jan 2014 at 22:17

Or just have a phone contract that allows tethering.

blueacid · 5 Jan 2014 at 22:22

bremen1874 said:
Or just have a phone contract that allows tethering.

Not strictly all of them; The One plan from Three does allow tethering (i.e. using the SIM in a mobile phone, then sharing the internet connection of that phone). Put the same SIM in a USB 3G dongle, a mifi or something similar and they'll cut it off.

Confused · 6 Jan 2014 at 10:55

blueacid said:
Not strictly all of them; The One plan from Three does allow tethering (i.e. using the SIM in a mobile phone, then sharing the internet connection of that phone). Put the same SIM in a USB 3G dongle, a mifi or something similar and they'll cut it off.

Oh, well that sucks.

Guess I'll be finding a cheap DC-HSDPA+ enabled Android phone and just leaving that plugged in 24/7 instead of paying them the £25 I was going to for their 3g dongle.