Hello everyone! Here's a nice little guide on how to tether your phone and use that ability to power a home internet network. I have done tons of trial and error to get this working with bits and pieces from numerous forums and google research. This has been working flawlessly for me and it's a "set it and forget it solution".
The reason why I wanted to do this is because I live in a rural area with no high speed ISP. My only option was to use a data capped satellite ISP that is extremely limited in ability and expensive. Without further ado my guide to achieve an unlimited, data cap free, tethered home network.
What you need:
Android phone you're willing to dedicate for full time use
Computer with windows and LAN port you're willing to dedicate for full time use
Wireless Router
A nice USB cord for your phone
A nice CAT cable
1) First thing to do is look around for an unlimited data (4glte preferred, no tethering plan needed) cellular plan. I know there are a few out there but I decided on MetroPCS due to the coverage I get and the price ($60 a month, no contract). I opted for just a sim card as I had an android phone laying around.
2) Make sure your android is unlocked if it's not on the same network you are trying to use. My phone was tied to AT&T and I had to call them to unlock it. Most carrier will do this if the phone in good standing. Meaning paid off. Or root it.
3) We will need to find out where your equipment will sit to receive the best speeds. I recommend putting your phone in "field test mode" and walk around the house. The lower number the better. I also ran a speed test in certain locations to give me a rough idea of what speeds I would be getting. If you are really serious about this set up there is equipment out there to boost cell signal in your house. I like WeBoost.
4) Download your tethering application. I have tried multiple apps but only one worked perfectly but with different hardware you might have other results. Clockworkmod Tether ($4.99) and PDAnet+ ($7.95) worked alright but I had issues with it talking to my router and clients so disconnects where frequent and frustrating. I ultimately went for EasyTether ($9.99) and it has been working fantastic. Mind you when using Clockwork and PDAnet I would be getting a DL speed of 6Mbs when my phone was 13Mbs. I don't know what would cause that but with EasyTether I am getting speeds very similar to my phone with no speed loss.
5) All three tethering applications require you to install a sister program on your computer to work. So install that on your "slave" machine. They are all about the same process, install an .exe and drivers for your phone.
6) Test that everything is working. The tethering application will have instructions on how to USB tether your phone. We need to check that it will give your slave machine an internet connection. Simply open a web browser and see if it is working.
7) Great! Now your are connected and able to surf the web! But wouldn't it be great if you could use this on all your devices? This is where the router comes in play.
8) Now I don't know what router you are using but mine is an ASUS RT-N56U and the principle should be the same. Plug your router into power and reset it with the button on the back (10 seconds). Unplug from power. Connect the CAT cable to the WAN port of the router (the one that usually connects a modem to the router) and the other end to the LAN port of your slave machine. Plug power to the router and allow it to boot up. Now on your slave machine go to Network and Sharing Center, View status on the tether connection, properties, sharing, check Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection, select the Home networking connection as the router. With everything done correctly you should be getting an internet connection to the router.
9) Now this is all fine and dandy but there are some settings in the router you can configure to make it more reliable. Our cases could be different but this is what has worked for me. I'm no networking genius by any means so my setting could not mean anything. In my experience things would work for a few mins but streaming to chromecast or connecting a mac to wireless mysteriously cut all connection. So here are my settings.
Disable MAC Filter
Disable Wireless Scheduler
Enable IGMP Snooping
Enable DHCP Server
Disable DHCP Routes
Disable Multicast routing (IGMP Proxy)
WAN Connection Type-Automatic IP
Enable UPnP
Connect to DNS Server automatically-NO
DNS Server1 8.8.8.8
DNS Server2 8.8.4.4
Everything else is default
I don't know about the NAT for all you gamers out there but I am sure there is some router configuration you can do. If anyone has ideas on how to achieve this please chime in.
10) Congratulations! You have now set up a home network with your phone and can use it like any other ISP. If you experience any issue with this process let me know and I will get back to you with an answer. I have had to do a lot of trouble shooting to get to this point.
Related
Hello This guide is made up from the knowledge i have build up from advice given on XDA and information on other sites.
I have found this very useful in my home and hope you do to.
First off, this guide explains everything you need to do to use your diamond as the access point to the internet at home for all devices. (PC's, PS3, XBOX360, Wii)
It is highly recommended that you have a unlimited data allowance!!!!! Otherwise you could have a hefty bill at the end of the month.
Right what you will need :
A WM6.1 Device (I used a Diamond) with an unlimited data allowance tariff,
A WiFi router (i have used an old router that was installed with Tiscali BB)
WMWifiRouter version 0.80 (please find this your self i will not provide it)
and some basic knowledge of networking on PC's and your devices.
Thats it. Please don't be put off by the networking side of things its really easy to do.
Right first off we need to get your diamond taking to your router.
switch on your router and let it do its thing for 2-4 mins
Connect your diamond to the wifi router by switching on your wifi in settings, communications on touchflow, when prompted, connect to your router and enter your network key.
THIS IS THE SAME PROCESS AS CONNECTING TO A WIFI HOTSPOT.
Its that simple.
Next switch off your wifi in settings, communications.
Install WMWifiRouter version 0.80 (Simple and stable)
once installed open WMWifiRouter and press connect.
This should then setup your phone to be used as a access point and connect to your wireless network all at once.
Once it says connected you can turn off your phones main screen by pressing the off switch at the top and put your phone where there is best signal! HSDPA is needed to get up 7.2mbps (little H in signal area)
Right now you need to setup your laptop or device to talk to the phone via your router!
So here are the settings you need to setup in either TCP/IP (manual connection) or a manual connection on your device (PS3, Wii, XBOX360).
I will use a laptops connection as a example because all you need to do is to copy the settings to another device using a different IP address.
If you use wifi or a hardwired connection, right click the telly with the wifi connection in the bottom right of the screen and click open network connections (XP only dont know for vista), Or if the telly is not displayed in the bottom righthand cornner of the task bar then click start, control panel, network connections.
Click on the connection you wish to use i.e local area connection or wireless network connection (you can setup both connections by repeating these steps on each connection)
this should bring up a general tab of this connection, click properties.
This will bring up another box with the network properties, all you need to do is manually enter your IP settings and DNS settings so double click on "internet protocol [TCP/IP]"
Another box appears.
Click "use the following IP address"
In IP address type "192.168.0.xxx" xxx being the unique 3 digit code of your choice, write this down for your firewall settings on other devices if you run a networked drive etc. Each new device will need its own unique 3 digit code ie PC = 192.168.0.100, XBOX360 = 192.168.0.200, Wii = 192.168.0.123 etc.
In Subnet mask type "255.255.255.0"
In Default gate way type "192.168.0.1
Now click "Use the following DNS server address"
In preferred DNS server type "192.168.0.1"
Thats it, press ok and ok on any other boxes still left open.
Your network device will rest your IP and DNS settings to the ones you have just entered, thus allowing you computer to access the mobiles phones internet connection via your router
On all your devices Manually setup all your connections using these settings and they will all use your mobile phone to connect to the internet.
Using DHCP to configure your network is not advised as its unreliable at finding your phones connection.
Now if you want to start using your phone as a phone again, open up WMWifiRouter again if its not already and click options Quit.
To get internet access on other devices via your phone again all you need to do is to start WMWifiRouter and press connect. Start using the internet!!!
If you wish to use your laptop on another hotspot, you will need to reset the TCP/IP settings back to automatic, otherwise it will not work.
Using this process sometimes causes the phone to disable its own internet connection, so a soft reset after exiting WMWifiRouter is recommended.
Have fun, im sorry if its all a little messy but i have never been very good at writing these guides.
If any modd wants to add or edit this post then please feel free. any persons wanting to add to this guide please do so.
Yes i know you can connect your phone to your laptop by USB, Bluetooth, but this method allows multiple devices to use the same phone to access the internet at the same time and via a access point at the highest possible speed, so games consoles can use it!!! Brilliant if you get a good HSDPA signal and live in the country.
Oh one last thing! if you are a youngster and wish to try this, please do so on other equipment, don't use your family's main router and laptop or PC unless its no longer in use!!!
Thank You
I use need to use my phone to get my laptop online a lot. I had the Epic for two years, and rooted that so I could use the wireless tether. I have not rooted my Q LTE yet. Most of the time I don't care how the connection sets up my IP. However, I do have times when I need my laptop to be online and on a wired network connection simultaneously. When I tried to do that recently using Easy Tether, I kicked my IP for the laptop out of the 192.168.1.X range that I needs for the wired network. Anyone have advice on an app that will not bump my IP outside that? I tried FoxFi and can't get that to even work right (heard something about a known bug).
Hi
I'm just making this post as I can't really see any solutions for this.
Let me first explain the situation we're in, we have a bunch of laptops that need access to the internet and this building provides free wifi, YAY. The problem is, the wifi is unstable where we are, randomly doesn't allow computers to connect to it, and drops computers from the network for no reason. The landlord is pretty much unhelpful here, and we're only here for 2 weeks so we're just living with it right now.
I have a contracted phone with unlimited data that I tether with USB to my computer and then run a VPN on the computer which works fine for me, but I want to get the other laptops connected too.
The problem is my phone hasn't got tethering, so as soon as it detects a user agent that corresponds with a desktop based browser, it blocks the data connection until the signal is completely reestablished.
This is even a problem for my laptop as sometimes theres a random HTTP request that blocks the connections before the VPN can connect.
So the solution I really want for this is a VPN to be running on the phone, and then a hotspot to run on the phone. Then the laptops can connect to the phone and theoretically be behind the VPN, so everything can be connected and the connection won't get blocked.
I've tried all the iptables forwarding and masquerade rules to no avail, OpenVPN with "Use default route" to force all routes through the VPN also does not allow any computer on the hotspot to connect to get a data connection.
For more info, the phone is a SGS3 i9300 which is currently running the latest CM10.1 nightlies. The VPN is from HMA.
Does anyone have any suggestions for this?
Thanks for the time.
OK, my wife and I each have Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3's. We both have Wifi Tether TrevE mod installed and working and we also have a linksys router running DD-WRT.
I have wanted for a long time to create a stable home network with the router using our phones for internet. Reason being, We both have laptops that need access to our WiFi networked printer. And I also wanted to create a networked storage.
I started out trying to use the Router as a repeater bridge. The problem here is that in that mode there is no DHCP server in the router, so when you turn off WiFi Tether in the phone, there is no IP assignment taking place since it is handled by the phone. This is ok for the printer because we can set a static IP, but not ok for the laptops because they need to have auto ip assignment for all the other networks they might encounter. Plus I'd like to be able to have a friend come over and use the printer if need be without having to change his IP address. So this setup is unstable.
Then I tried the Router in Repeater mode. In this mode IP addresses are being assigned and everyone can see everyone else on the network. The problem here though, is that the Router and all connecting devices have to be in a separate subnet than the WiFi Tethering phone, i.e, Tethered Phone on 192.168.1.x and Router on 192.168.2.x (as far as I can tell anyway, I've tried putting them on the same subnet but fail to get internet access.) It's a problem because I have Samba Filesharing installed on the phones and the tethered phone is in a different subnet and not visible on the network. I want all devices visible.
So that's kind of where I am now, Wifi Tether on both phones (each setup with same settings so either phone can be used as our internet gateway) but they are on a separate subnet from the rest of the network while tethering.
How do I get all of my devices to be visible on the network?
Do I need a different setup in DD-WRT?
Currently it is setup in Gateway mode with DHCP server and wireless is in repeater mode with a VLAN setup with a different SSID from the WiFi tethered phone.
Do I need to usb tether the phone to the router? I have a usb port on the router but I've not found good instructions for getting the phones internet through to the router that way and I'm not sure that I would want it that way since I wouldn't be able to walk around with my phone.
Is there a way to make devices in different subnets visible to each other? Some kind of bridging or static routing or something?
Is it possible to have the phone connect to the router in a normal manner and for the router to then share the phones internet connection with the rest of the network? Then at least the router could run DHCP and be stable even without the phones.
Again, just to clarify, I want a home network with devices connecting to my WiFi router running DD-WRT and internet being provided by one of our phones, but with the network remaining intact when the internet provided phone is removed. Thanks for your help.
Bonus questions:
Is it possible to harness the power of both of our phones internet connections into one network by any means possible?
Are there any other wifi/tethering apps or another version of WiFi Tether that offer more features or the functionality of DD-WRT?
did you see this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1548844
pbmurdoc said:
did you see this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1548844
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Not much new there other than Barnacle. Didn't know about it, tried it, doesn't work on my phone. I would like to see a version of WiFi Tether with some more options though, why couldn't we have one with the same options as DD-WRT?
I did some more reading and I think what I need to do is link the subnet created by the router to the primary router (the phone serving Wifi Tether) through static routing. Unfortunately the static route needs to be done through the primary router and WiFi Tether doesn't include features like that.
I'll do some more experimenting and see what happens.
[A] Cellular Phone/USB Modem As WAN Connection
Answer is in the DD-WRT Wiki, here (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Cellular_Phone/USB_Modem_as_WAN_connection).
Or just google "DD-WRT Cellular Phone/USB Modem As WAN Connection", it should be the #1 result.
Their WIKI is a great resource.
Good luck!
EDIT:
In retrospect, I am unsure about linking to the DD-WRT site... external and all. If this is a no-no just let me know and I will delete the link.
DD-WRT Client Bridge worked for me
I was able to do what you're trying to do by configuring my DD-WRT router as a Client Bridge.
I can't post the link, but there are directions I followed exactly on the DD-WRT wiki in the section:
DD-WRT wiki mainpage / Linking Routers / Client Bridged
I'm connecting my router to the tether via wifi, and connecting my wired devices to the router. I haven't had it working long, but so far it has been great.
Got it, sort of
Just to update this thread. The client bridge is a great way to connect a wired network to the bridge but loses out on creating a stable wi-fi network when the phone tether is turned off.
Anyway, the final setup I managed was having the DD-WRT router set as a wireless repeater with a computer connected to it running a DHCP server. The computer takes care of the IP addreses so that we have a stable wired/wi-fi intranet when the phone is not sharing it's internet connection.
Update: I founde another solution/project based on OpenWRT
http://ofmodemsandmen.com/
my exploits using a Linksys E3000 have been documented here:
http://tweakedrom.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7
I kind of like the USB tether thing. The E3000 Router USB power charges and maintains my SCH-i605 (Verizon Samsung GN2) running CM12.1. I use this as a backup connection or in the event of main cable modem service disruption at the house. It is also great for traveling (hotels) or camping (car 12v adapter for router, or power inverter)
I just bought a used Asus RT-N66U router. Out of the box it supports USB tethering with android phones and dual WANs for failover/load balancing. ROOter also works, tested the x86 build on an old PC. I'm looking to cut out my ISP completely and just use 4G from the phone for internet. The issue I have run into is that I can't appear to do DDNS or port forwarding. My wireless carrier (verizon) appears to be employing a double NAT. If I perform a speedtest on the ookla app, I get 2 IP addresses in the results, an "internal" and an "external". Both are in the public range but I can't DDNS in with either of the IPs, nor can I get any kind of service working.
Anyone have a solution for this? I'm not 100% sure but I wonder if using the SIM card in a dedicated USB 4G modem (not tethering via the phone) would get me a direct IP? I suppose I could also sign up for a VPN service and run OpenVPN on the router but that'd cut down on speeds I think. I've also heard about punching holes for ports but I'm not 100% sure how that works, I assume I still need some 3rd party public IP for relaying or something.
I have the Tmobile $70 plan with comes with 2.5 GB of tethering.
If I tether to my laptop and the laptop has a VPN, then I can look at the counter at ma.web2go.com and see that no tethering data is being used. This solution works very well for a laptop, where I can operate a VPN on the laptop.
When I use the VPN on the phone, not the laptop, the laptop will see the tether wifi signal, will register, but the internet will not work on the laptop.
Or, other times, the VPN will disconnect on the phone after a few seconds and cannot be reconnected.
I would like to be able to use the VPN on the phone so that I can use a Roku and Chromecast where I cannot set up a VPN on the device.
Yes, I have added the line in the database file.
I have seen a solution elsewhere which involves switching the APN to use IPv4, but the APN is already set that way.
It seems as if Tmobile has some measures in place to stop people from doing what I want to do - anyone else experience this and anyone find any ways around it?