Use of mobile for Broadband

Sam Russell

How would I go about using a mobile contract to provide broadband at home?

I am thinking of a 48.ie or gomo.ie or similar deal to give me adequate low usage BB.

What do I need by way of router or how do I connect to the mobile? I have a few routers in stock.

The Cush

My brother uses this setup for home broadband while waiting for the NBI rollout.

€10 GoMo SIM in a b818 4g router connected to a P60 mimo antenna

Router is in the attic, WiFi active and also connected to a pair of TP Link adapters.

Iirc he has it running for more than 2 years now. He's happy with it.

Sam Russell

OK, I have a few routers of various vintages, including some recent Vodafone ones. Would any of these be of any use for this?

Currently have a Fritz box that interfaces with the Fibre to the Cabinet. It has built in propriety DECT but I have a Panasonic Dect setup that connects through a pots connection using VOIP.

I have a 5g/4g Samsung phone with 48.ie sim. Would this be any use with some form of connection?

I have no experience of this stuff.

The Cush

Are any of your spare routers 4g? If not, then you're out of luck.

Hotspotting that mobile phone is the only thing I can think of .

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122606820#Comment_122606820

What is 'hotspotting'?

smuggler.ie

Phone + USB-to-Ethernet adapter should get you wired, but problem is how to charge phone at same time - PoE support on adapter + PoE switch/injector=additional cost, and i have not tested with multiple devices connected to this setup
If any of your current HW support WiFi bridge - have being using this type setup for few years in conjunction to MiFi device back in 2G/3G era

Simplest, as The Cush said, B818 (~€100 unlocked, second hand, network locked even cheaper) or other models

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122606974#Comment_122606974

Basically your mobile becomes a router transmitting a WiFi signal, for other devices to connect to. There should be an easy button to switch on Hotspot on your phone.

On my Redmi 9 the Hotspot button is on the drop-down menu.

While I wait for NBI fibre here I Hotspot my GoMo 4g for home WiFi

Sam Russell

OK, thanks for the replies.

I see a period of deep research coming on.

trant

You can purchase a USB LTE dongle and plug that into the USB port on the FritzBox, which will add a new "Mobile Network" menu in the admin UI:
https://en.avm.de/service/knowledge-base/dok/FRITZ-Box-7490/76_Setting-up-the-FRITZ-Box-for-use-with-a-mobile-network/

From there you can set which connection you would like to use as primary and failover (if you plan to keep FTTC).

RobiePAX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122607563#Comment_122607563

To be honest it's very straight forward.

What receives the mobile broadband signal?

The sim card. Sold by Eir, Vodafone, Three and their virtual networks.

Where does the signal comes from?

Eir, Vodafone and Three masts aKa tall antennas.

Which sim card is the best?

The one that is closest to you. As they don't share with each other. Use ComReg Siteviewer map to see who's mast is closest to you.

How to "share" broadband with your tablet, laptop, TV from the sim card?

You need 4G or 5G router. They have a slot for a sim card.

Or using a spare smartphone. In settings you turn on "hotspot" and it turns smartphone into a budget router.

What are the cheapest data sim cards?

GoMo (Eir), ClearMobile (Vodafone), 48 (Three)

Again, the priority is who's closer to you, not who's cheaper.

Sam Russell

@trant That sounds as if it might be possible.

I have a Fritz!box from my internet service, and a spare Huawei HG658c router, plus a few others.

I have a 'Mobile Broadband Sharing Dock' that has a USB dongle that can take a SIM, but it is very old - probably a decade old so probable rubbish.

My basic problem is that my broadband speed is just 40mb, but used to be 60mb. It is also much dearer than my mobile contract, and not great at that. There is no prospect of FTTH, despite that fibre is outside my house.*

*On the telegraph pole there is a black plastic rectangular box that looks recent. I know fibre was brought from the cabinet that serves me to the pole that serves me a few years ago. I am not offered FTTH by any supplier.

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122613127#Comment_122613127

That is a good explanation so I will try to see which is best. Thanks.

trant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122613137#Comment_122613137

I used a Huawei E3372s dongle, but any dongle that supports "AT commands" should work fine. If you already have a USB dongle it might be worth plugging it in to try.

I ended up purchasing a FritzBox 6890 LTE from Germany which had a built-in LTE modem to keep things simple.

FritzBox technical support is excellent and very responsive if you run into issues.

Sam Russell

@trant That sounds promising.

The USB dongle is very old and probably not LTE.

smuggler.ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122613190#Comment_122613190

Worth a shot with what you have at hand, but old tech might be limiting your potential. Still - test without extra cost is good start

Sam Russell

The USB dongle is 2G so not really worth bothering with. I have an Samsung 4G/5G phone that might work, so I will explore that.

Sam Russell

I have a Vodafone Gigabox that has a USB port, but also a hidden USB port.

Could this be used with a tethered 5G phone? It would replace the current router and I assume all the existing functions could be replicated.

Of course, I would have to implement a replacement VOIP phone system, but I am thinking of doing that anyway, but asa separate project.