Is there a setup possible to connect a phone's net connection to a router with LAN ports?

[Jingthing]

I am not so technical so please humor me. 

I am well aware and have used tethering of my (Android) phone to my PC by USB and understand it can also be done with the phone as a wireless hotspot or bluetooth.

But I am curious is if there are specific routers available (maybe with a USB port, maybe not) where I could toggle to a router instead so that I could use the LAN ports on that router.

I have done some searching and have found that there is such a thing as routers with USB ports (but never mention of plugging in your phone) and also perhaps better a device called a BRIDGE (not sure how it connects to the router) which might be a way to send the phone's net connection to the router.

If this is possible, I think specific devices and likely custom setups would be necessary.

So to the tech geeks here, what do you think about this? Possible, not possible, if possible. how exactly?

[NotEinstein]

Any router that has the capability of becoming a repeater theoretically can do this. All the routers I have have the repeater function, allowing the router to connect to any discovered wifi source, assuming you know the password. I have not repeated a phone hotspot, so I cannot confirm, and there could be DHCP issues (maybe the phone hotspot doesnt act as a DHCP server, but you will find out. Here are a couple of router settings examples:

[Jingthing]

Interesting.

Thanks.

I recall hearing the word repeater in reference to this. 

So in that case no USB port on the router needed.

But I'm pretty sure from my reading that an extra BRIDGE device would be needed.

[frantick]

If wireless speeds (phone -> router) are sufficient, just look for a router supporting WISP mode and has the required number of physical ports you're looking for. Or just connect everything wirelessly to the router like one of these:

 

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.of1ak

 

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.of1Xg

 

I've used the cheap one for all my devices for the last 4 years; 3 phones, printer, laptop, and Google TV box. 

[NotEinstein]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Interesting.

Thanks.

I recall hearing the word repeater in reference to this. 

So in that case no USB port on the router needed.

But I'm pretty sure from my reading that an extra BRIDGE device would be needed.

No need for a bridge. I have a router configured as a repeater with devices connected to it's lan ports.

I recently bought a really cheap router as spare: https://shopee.co.th/-Instock-99-New-N300-Router-Repeater-300Mbps-Wireless-Extender-E-7--i.266356953.22452092636?sp_atk=f7c36f3b-f698-43a1-9148-2ead228997dd&xptdk=f7c36f3b-f698-43a1-9148-2ead228997dd

[Jingthing]

Well y'all have given me something to chew on.

 

[gamb00ler]

Are you using Apple or Windows PC?

 

I know on a Mac you can access the internet by using your phone's data connection through a USB cable.  Then you can share your internet access from the Mac over it's WiFi interface.  It may be possible to also share the Mac's internet connection over the hardwired LAN interface.

 

What functionality do you want to add to your current internet setup using your phone's mobile data connection?

 

Do you want an alternative path to the internet when your normal internet connection is down?

 

[PingRoundTheWorld]

Do you want a router that tethers internet from your phone? if so you've got answers already, but keep in mind it may disconnect often, not reliable, and drain your phone battery.

 

Another option to consider if you must use a SIM card (why?) is to buy a 4G or 5G router with a sim card slot and skip the phone altogether. Similar to a Pocket Wifi but in router form.

[NowNow]

21 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I am not so technical so please humor me. 

I am well aware and have used tethering of my (Android) phone to my PC by USB and understand it can also be done with the phone as a wireless hotspot or bluetooth.

But I am curious is if there are specific routers available (maybe with a USB port, maybe not) where I could toggle to a router instead so that I could use the LAN ports on that router.

I have done some searching and have found that there is such a thing as routers with USB ports (but never mention of plugging in your phone) and also perhaps better a device called a BRIDGE (not sure how it connects to the router) which might be a way to send the phone's net connection to the router.

If this is possible, I think specific devices and likely custom setups would be necessary.

So to the tech geeks here, what do you think about this? Possible, not possible, if possible. how exactly?

 

A simple search revealed the answer....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFq32V6XLs4

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, NowNow said:

 

A simple search revealed the answer....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFq32V6XLs4

Thanks.

Looks good.

[Jingthing]

19 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

Do you want a router that tethers internet from your phone? if so you've got answers already, but keep in mind it may disconnect often, not reliable, and drain your phone battery.

 

Another option to consider if you must use a SIM card (why?) is to buy a 4G or 5G router with a sim card slot and skip the phone altogether. Similar to a Pocket Wifi but in router form.

Yes I have used a SIM card router.

I've stopped doing that.

What I was looking for here was basically a backup option where I could use router lan ports which can't be done with a toggle directly to a PC.

[Jingthing]

20 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

Are you using Apple or Windows PC?

 

I know on a Mac you can access the internet by using your phone's data connection through a USB cable.  Then you can share your internet access from the Mac over it's WiFi interface.  It may be possible to also share the Mac's internet connection over the hardwired LAN interface.

 

What functionality do you want to add to your current internet setup using your phone's mobile data connection?

 

Do you want an alternative path to the internet when your normal internet connection is down?

 

PC.

Voip phone and smart tv connection. 

Yes its for a backup only.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'm trying to understand what the main goal is here, and what's to be gained by trying to port the phone's mobile internet connection to a wifi router?

 

As opposed to, simply setting up a mobile hotspot on your phone that will make its mobile internet connection available as a separate wifi node that any nearby device can connect to? No hardware involved, and can easily be turned on or off via the phone's settings.

[bamnutsak]

13 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I'm trying to understand what the main goal is here, and what's to be gained by trying to port the phone's mobile internet connection to a wifi router?

 

 

My initial thought was more succinct...

 

Why?

 

 

What do you have now? Describe your network topology.

 

What do you want to do that you cannot do today?

 

What devices do you need to be networked?

 

 

 

 

[gamb00ler]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

PC.

Voip phone and smart tv connection. 

Yes its for a backup only.

I think Windows still provides a way to share an internet connection via WiFi.

 

Your smart TV should be able to use your mobile phone's hotspot directly.  That leaves only your VOIP device.  Several VOIP services have a smart phone app.  Does yours?  If so, there is no need to provide an alternate internet connection for VOIP.

 

For VOIP via mobile data, I have Google Voice, LINE, Facetime, FB Messenger, Skype and WhatsApp.  Will those choices not be sufficient to keep you connected when your ISP connection fails?

[Brock]

I think the question is, what is the purpose of connecting your phone to the LAN/Router.  Do you want to use it to connect to a printer?? ( easier to use wifi) etc.

 

[bradiston]

I maybe missing the point, but I have a laptop with type C usb but no rj45 ports. I use a type C to rj45 converter cable, and plug it into my router. Works fine with a laptop, but not sure it would work with a phone.

[Jaggg88]

On 6/12/2024 at 3:58 PM, gamb00ler said:

Are you using Apple or Windows PC?

 

I know on a Mac you can access the internet by using your phone's data connection through a USB cable.  Then you can share your internet access from the Mac over it's WiFi interface.  It may be possible to also share the Mac's internet connection over the hardwired LAN interface.

 

What functionality do you want to add to your current internet setup using your phone's mobile data connection?

 

Do you want an alternative path to the internet when your normal internet connection is down?

 

You can do the same with a Windows device

[frantick]

5 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I'm trying to understand what the main goal is here, and what's to be gained by trying to port the phone's mobile internet connection to a wifi router?

 

As opposed to, simply setting up a mobile hotspot on your phone that will make its mobile internet connection available as a separate wifi node that any nearby device can connect to? No hardware involved, and can easily be turned on or off via the phone's settings.

 

True if you don't need the devices to connect to each other. But if you do and you're on a newer version of Android (no idea on iPhone), the Hotspot runs in isolation mode (unless you root it and run a command to effectively make it a router) 

 

Thus the need for a separate router for example, to allow pc->printer, tv->pc (Plex), file copying between devices, etc. 

[Jingthing]

Thanks for all the replies but based on the replies and also the fact that I have no time critical need for this backup, I think it's best for me to exit this discussion for now until I get around to taking the time to explore this further myself. I'm not likely to be doing that very soon, so there's no good reason to keep this going for now. At a later date I may have more questions based on what I've tried or an update about a solution.

I very much appreciate all the replies. Kind regards.

[MrJ2U]