home network using verizon 4G and ethernet bridge

[spdfreak]

So, I suffered for a year and a half with 1.5Mbps ATT dsl since it is literally the only option available in my neighborhood. A lot of time it is really 1/2 of that- really sucks. Recently, Verizon rolled out 4G LTE in this area and a friend brought over his mifi and sure enough, 10-12 Mbps consistently. Since I have kept my unlimited data on Verizon even though I never used hardly any of it with 3G, I just bought a Nokia 822 off ebay and I want to use it for the 4G and run the rest of my home network off of it- a couple of computers and my PS3. Since I'm the only one at the house, it doesn't matter that there isn't any internet access when I'm not here. I think I can just get a wireless ethernet bridge and plug my switch into it, correct? Does anyone have experience with the best way to set this up and what a good ethernet bridge would be? Will any decent AP or range extender work? I've had good luck using TP Link stuff in the past...

 

[postmortemIA]

keep in mind that tethering is not included in the unlimited 4G... they'd like you to pay for it. Of course, you can use it until they cut you off or make you pay for it.

 

[dmc27]

... I just bought a Nokia 822 off ebay and I want to use it for the 4G and run the rest of my home network off of it ...

A Cradlepoint MBR95 will do WiFi-as-WAN, which will allow you to use your phone's hotspot as the router's source of internet.

 

[spdfreak]

keep in mind that tethering is not included in the unlimited 4G... they'd like you to pay for it. Of course, you can use it until they cut you off or make you pay for it.

Yeah, I'm just going to pay. There are no WP8 apps to get around it anyways. At least none I'm aware of.

 

[spdfreak]

A Cradlepoint MBR95 will do WiFi-as-WAN, which will allow you to use your phone's hotspot as the router's source of internet.

this is more what I'm thinking since I can't plug the phone into a usb port...

http://www.wikihow.com/Add-a-Mobile-Wireless-Hot-Spot-to-Your-Network

 

[spdfreak]

I got the phone and all my computers have wireless adapters so I can access the internet fine on any of them. I won't cancel my dsl for a week or so until I am certain that everything works well. So far, speeds are excellent- in the 10Mbps range.

I need a little help from a networking guru- I still want to set up a network using the wired stuff but I'm wondering how the dhcp stuff will work. right now, I guess the phone is handing out ip addresses? If I get a wireless ethernet bridge like a gaming or media bridge, will that need to be configured or will it get the ip addresses from the phone? I want the wired computers to be able to see each other so I can transfer movies, etc over the gigabit switch.

 

[Lithium381]

I got the phone and all my computers have wireless adapters so I can access the internet fine on any of them. I won't cancel my dsl for a week or so until I am certain that everything works well. So far, speeds are excellent- in the 10Mbps range.

I need a little help from a networking guru- I still want to set up a network using the wired stuff but I'm wondering how the dhcp stuff will work. right now, I guess the phone is handing out ip addresses? If I get a wireless ethernet bridge like a gaming or media bridge, will that need to be configured or will it get the ip addresses from the phone? I want the wired computers to be able to see each other so I can transfer movies, etc over the gigabit switch.

as long as you set it up as a switch/access point instead of NAT/gateway mode it should function as a bridge and dhcp will still be given from the phone, if i'm understanding your setup correctly. . . do you have a diagram on a napkin of current and proposed?

 

[spdfreak]

as long as you set it up as a switch/access point instead of NAT/gateway mode it should function as a bridge and dhcp will still be given from the phone, if i'm understanding your setup correctly. . . do you have a diagram on a napkin of current and proposed?

What I have now is a ATT dsl modem/4 port & wireless router with a Netgear 5 port Gigabit switch plugged into it. The PS3, home theater PC and office computers are plugged into the switch. My laptop which I hardly ever use and another PC in the basement shop are wireless. Computers are all Windows 7 on a workgroup. I don't think it's possible to get the router to see the phone as the internet source but after I cancel the dsl, I can use it for whatever its still good for. The only problem with the phone is that it is just a hotpot and doesn't have enough range to cover the whole house, but Windows 7 has been good about auto connecting whenever it gets in range.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Only 10-12Mbps? I get like 39-40 on my Verizon phone in speedtests.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Only 10-12Mbps? I get like 39-40 on my Verizon phone in speedtests.

I get 2Mbit/sec on m.speedtest.net on my T-Mobile/Samsung Android 4G smartphone.

 

[spdfreak]

Only 10-12Mbps? I get like 39-40 on my Verizon phone in speedtests.

I'm on the outskirts of ATL and only have 2 bars of LTE showing on the phone. Still, I'm pretty happy compared to the ATT dsl... Hopefully, as Verizon expands coverage it will get better. Once or twice a day, I'll see it drop back to 3G for a few minutes so I think they are still tweaking it.

 

[spdfreak]

I just did some tests moving the phone around the house and I get really good coverage- I didn't think the hotspot coverage would be this good. I'm using TP link 150N wireless adapters throughout and even with the phone in the basement, I have excellent wifi signal upstairs in the office. I guess I can just leave the current router/switch set up as it is and only select that network when i need to transfer a large video file... a little awkward but totally usable.

 

[PC Perv]

the amount of data traffic from desktop pc's and ps3 will be spectacular by mobile standards..


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android

 

[VirtualLarry]

You should get a WNR2000 router from Newegg for $20 (check Hot Deals), and flash to DD-WRT, and then configure it as Client Bridge, with the rest of your wired LAN behind it, and have it connect to the phone's WiFi signal.

 

[spdfreak]

the amount of data traffic from desktop pc's and ps3 will be spectacular by mobile standards..


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android

yeah, 14.6GB in the first week... and I'm not here on the computer all day or anything. I also haven't even turned on the PS3 yet or watched anything on Amazon Prime. It really doesn't seem right because when I had a 3G mifi, I never even hit 5GB in a month. But, this is sooo much faster that I can actually stream HD video. I did watch a TV show on nbc.com so that alone probably used 5GB. I wonder if it counts traffic between 2 computers that are using it as a router? I've streamed some TV shows that are recorded on my office computer to the HTPC in the living room. Those are about 3-4GB each.

 

[spdfreak]

You should get a WNR2000 router from Newegg for $20 (check Hot Deals), and flash to DD-WRT, and then configure it as Client Bridge, with the rest of your wired LAN behind it, and have it connect to the phone's WiFi signal.

Now I'm not even sure I need to use the wired stuff since everything is wireless N and pretty fast. But, I saw this and emailed tech support and asked if it would work for what I needed and they said it would. They are 29.99 with a code at NE, so cheap enough.
http://www.engeniustech.com/index.p...uters/3384-300-mbps-wireless-n-range-expander

Do you think the WNR2000 is a better solution? I have a Gigabit switch I can use as well.

 

[JoLLyRoGer]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but those with unlimited data plans still (myself included). Won't VZ eventually catch on if you're flagrantly abusing the service in their eyes. (In my eyes I pay for it and tiered data is BS).

I had also heard that they track the top bandwidth users and at some point they will throttle you.

OP, if you're hitting 14GB/week, make some notes of your speeds every few days or so and see if at some point you have a significant drop-off. Post results back here!

 

[ch33zw1z]

Jolly. There's not such thing as "unlimited". 5GB softcap, they watch the heavy users and take action (usually throttling). The reason the term "unlimited" is in play is because 5GB/month is way more than most mobile users will use. Although, with more app's and heavy reliance on the devices, I'm sure that average user number is creeping up.

 

[spdfreak]

Jolly. There's not such thing as "unlimited". 5GB softcap, they watch the heavy users and take action (usually throttling). The reason the term "unlimited" is in play is because 5GB/month is way more than most mobile users will use. Although, with more app's and heavy reliance on the devices, I'm sure that average user number is creeping up.

I'm sure Verizon has a soft cap, but it obviously isn't 5GB since they offer a 50GB plan (expensive). I just tested mine again and it is still in the 12GBps range even after using 14GB in a week- which I really don't think is accurate, but... So, maybe they will throttle my speed, but not yet. I've heard that Sprint does the 5GB soft cap on their "unlimited" plan but not Verizon. My month ends on the 19th, so I won't be able to see how much I use in a full month until next month.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Yea, good luck with that.

 

[FloatingSpots]

Verizon is pretty much unlimited. (I have unlimited 4G + paid unlimited hotspot).
There is network management, but it is on the tower level.
If the tower is loaded, heavy users will be throttled.
If bandwidth is available, you can go to town.
This month was my heaviest month at 232.211 GB.
I really love when my bill comes and it is listed in KB (243,491,103.4).
According to the Verizon tool, my 6 month average is 137 GB.
BTW, I use a MBR95 to perform WiFi as WAN.

 

[ch33zw1z]

That's lots of data. How much do you pay per month?

 

[spdfreak]

Verizon is pretty much unlimited. (I have unlimited 4G + paid unlimited hotspot).
There is network management, but it is on the tower level.
If the tower is loaded, heavy users will be throttled.
If bandwidth is available, you can go to town.
This month was my heaviest month at 232.211 GB.
I really love when my bill comes and it is listed in KB (243,491,103.4).
According to the Verizon tool, my 6 month average is 137 GB.
BTW, I use a MBR95 to perform WiFi as WAN.

Cool... I don't think Verizon really cares how much people on the old unlimited plan use since there aren't hardly any people on it anymore. All my friends "traded" their unlimited data for a cheap iphone upgrade, lol. A few people like me are willing to just pay for the phone to keep the data. Well worth it since I finally have 4G in my area. Going fwd, it will be a huge benefit since I can go pretty much anywhere in the country and have fast internet without cable or ATT.

 

[spdfreak]

I did a quick speed test over at my sister's house in downtown ATL where it shows 5 bars LTE and wow... 32Mbps on her laptop connected to my phone. Impressive. Her Comcast cable gets about 12.

 

[spdfreak]

So, I bought one of these for 15.00 the other day and it supports DD-WRT but several of the user reviews have people using it as a bridge with the standard firmware. Is there any good reason to use DD-WRT as opposed to how it comes out of the box?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833166064