enabling a wifi router to get the internet from a mobile router

[joe talin]

One thing small businesses may appreciate , is a 100% bullet proof internet - because without internet(which happens from time to time), they may lose some business, and that's expensive.

So i wonder, is there device that i could connect to the biz router, and in case of emergency, they could turn their phone into a hotspot, and connect it to their router ?

That way they could get a backup, but with zero monthly costs .

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

One of several products that could do this, I have a Ubiquiti airGateway which has the function of being a wireless client....and it has a bridged ethernet port that can do NAT and be a router itself. It has been replaced by a newer product called an airCube. They could be pre-configured to latch onto the wifi of a smart phones hotspot config.

But better yet, there are several "cellular failover" business grade routers out there such as Dattos DNA, or a CradlePoint, ir InTwine Connect,.which have a 4G (soon 5G) modem built into them as WAN2, and it auto kicks in when the primary WAN goes down. So it's nice and automated.

 

[backwoodsman]

Any router that can act as a wireless repeater will do that. Tomato and DD-WRT firmware will do it on any router they support.

 

[Diggs]

If it's just Internet access needed then hotspot a phone or two and make sure every machine has WiFi hardware. Painless........

 

[nerd2u]

Get a router that supports a sim card as a secondary failover link.

Many of these plans can be had for 10-20$ a month and go up based on usage, so if they aren't using it they aren't incurring much of a monthly cost.

If it's a business that is that reliant on internet this is a small monthly cost. Think about an office of 15 people making 20/hour if they experience 3 hours of outage a year it's paying for itself in saved productivity.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[Markverhyden]

If you want to sell a solution it's better that it be as automatic as possible. So putting together a solution that involves doing some kind of pairing with a smartphone etc is not very automatic. As @nerd2u pointed out a SIM card can be had at a low cost as well as USB LTE/4G, etc device. Many businesses with more than a handful of employees have their own mobil plan so adding that is usually, relatively speaking, a low cost.

A returning customer has a peplink router with a Verizon USB modem. He said it's be very reliable when they have lost their regular ISP connection.

 

[MichaelBits]

I recently setup a Mikrotik Routerboard with an LTE card to provide wireless access in our install vans.

We are going to do a similar setup to give one of our Business Internet customers a backup cell link for internet. Essentially a "cellular failover" as YeOldeStonecat mentions.

 

[nerd2u]

I recently setup a Mikrotik Routerboard with an LTE card to provide wireless access in our install vans.

We are going to do a similar setup to give one of our Business Internet customers a backup cell link for internet. Essentially a "cellular failover" as YeOldeStonecat mentions.

Would love to see see pictures of this in the van

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[MichaelBits]

Would love to see see pictures of this in the van

Well, it's not mounted in the van yet...

Here is what it is though, may not be what you were thinking.



A Mikrotik board mounted in a small custom box. You can see the antenna leads on the one side, the other side has the PoE connector.