Wifi as WAN

[dstempfley]

I am temporarily moving a small business to a location where the only Internet connection available is wifi from the facility. I need to reconnect the business office (3-5 desktops, laptops, network printers, storage, etc.) behind a firewall. I've determined that for networking I can use 4G, the provided wifi, or both. To reduce operating costs I'm leaning toward wifi for a primary. I am surprised at how few products I am finding that support what I need. I need help finding the right products or lines of products.

/Dion

 

[Fardringle]

http://www.wifiranger.com/ looks like it can do what you want. It's designed for RVs but serves the same general purpose.

Or install DD-WRT or OpenWRT on a compatible router and set it to WaW (Wifi as WAN) mode.

 

[dstempfley]

Thanks for the reference the wifiranger products have the capability, but like you said are designed for recreational applications. I have also found the Cradlepoint products and am looking at the AER1600 or MBR 1200B. The AER has better security features and has builtin 4G modems. The other uses a 4G USB Modem.

My client has a friend recommending a TP-Link travel modem for a fraction of the cost. There are a list of reasons that I don't like this. But none deal with performance of the device. Can anyone elaborate on problems they see at a networking level? Is there a stability or a performance issue? That's a lot of questions. Sorry.

 

[Fardringle]

The travel router might be OK for a VERY temporary solution, but they are designed for extremely light use for short periods of time, and probably won't give satisfactory results at a business. A proper router (even a decent SOHO router) running DD-WRT in WIFI as WAN mode should work well.

 

[dstempfley]

Thanks. I'll work the dd-wrt option. I wasn't aware that they had a Wifi as WAN option until now. It's been a while since I've used it, but I was never disappointed.