Using a router to distribute 3g Internet. How to distribute mobile Internet from an Android smartphone to other devices? We distribute the Internet from the phone to iOS

Hi friends. For several days I did not write anything, I was busy with physical labor from morning to evening. I only had enough strength to respond to comments :).

I had a need to organize the distribution of the Internet from 3G via Wi-Fi and now I want to tell you how this can be done so that everything works and even flies :).

There will be no specifics in this article, since I have not bought the equipment yet, and I will write about setting up this circuit in the near future. And now we'll just look at how you can distribute the Internet from a 3G modem using Wi-Fi technology. This, of course, is not very important, but I use the Intertelecom Internet and will distribute it. By the way, I wrote about setting up a modem from Intertelecom in an article. If you use the Internet using 3G technology, or even 4G, then there are probably two options by which you can distribute this Internet over a wireless Wi-Fi network.

How to distribute 3G Internet over Wi-Fi?

First way. You can buy a regular Wi-Fi router that supports the technology USB 3G. This means that you can connect our modem to the router and it will distribute the Internet from it. The advantages of this method are that you will get a full-fledged wireless network and even the ability to distribute the Internet via LAN. You can connect many devices via Wi-Fi and the coverage area from the router will be large compared to the second method. Yes, and it's cheaper.

The second way. Modem with built-in Wi-Fi module. This is a device that wakes up to receive a 3G signal and distribute it via Wi-Fi. The main advantage of these devices is portability. They have a built-in battery that can provide an average of 4-6 hours of operation when connecting one device. One of the minuses is the ability to connect usually up to 5 devices and a range of about 10 meters. But Wi-Fi is always with you.

If you need mobility, that is, you need a device that will distribute 3G Internet via Wi-Fi somewhere on the street, in a car, etc., then you can buy a modem with a built-in Wi-Fi module.

Well, if you need the Internet for your home, like me, and you don’t plan to carry it around with you, then you can buy a regular Wi-Fi router, set it up once and forget it.

How will I do?

I have a modem Novatel U720, old true, but works well. I looked after myself for an inexpensive and good router. Since my modem is old, I understand that problems may arise when setting up the router. Decided to check, asked Google a query “Novatel U720 and TL-MR3220”. I opened several forums and realized that if your modem is not in the list of modems that the router supports, then this is all solved by a simple router firmware. And there are many third-party firmware. But as it turned out, my modem is also supported on the latest official firmware.

If you want to buy a router and connect a 3G modem to it, then look at the official website of the router to see if your modem is on the list of supported ones, otherwise there may be configuration problems.

Why did I choose TP-LINK TL-MR3220? An inexpensive router with good reviews, also from TP-LINK, I really like this company, even such budget devices work perfectly. And they look good :).

In general terms, the connection scheme is very simple. We connect the modem to the router, set up the router and you're done. You can connect devices via Wi-Fi. Of course, there are many nuances, such as: speed, equipment compatibility, etc. But we will consider these issues in the article when I write about the technical part, about setting up the router. Good luck!

Update

Prepared two detailed instructions for setting up routers to work with 3G modems. Perhaps someone will come in handy.

If your smartphone or tablet has Internet access, and other devices are not connected to the network, you can use it as a modem and distribute the Internet to your other devices. For this, two types of connection are provided, and all of them do not require any additional software or equipment. Everything is done by means of the smartphone or tablet itself, as well as the Android operating system. In this article, we will talk about all three methods, and you can independently choose how best to distribute mobile Internet from a smartphone to other devices in your particular case.

Mobile internet via Wi-Fi

• Open Tethering Mode and activate Wi-Fi hotspot.
• In the access point settings, specify the name of the future network and the password for it.
• Turn on Wi-Fi on the second device and search for and connect to the newly created Wi-Fi network.

Mobile Internet via Bluetooth

If the device that will receive the signal does not have a Wi-Fi module or it is not available for some reason, use the Bluetooth module as a transmitter. How to do it:

• Open Settings on your smartphone or tablet.
• Select the Wireless & networks category and open More.
• Activate Bluetooth tethering.
• Return to the root menu of the Settings and, having opened the Bluetooth settings, activate the visibility mode to other devices.

Download and install the BlueVPN app on the second device to receive internet shared by your smartphone via Bluetooth. In its main menu, turn on the search for Bluetooth devices, find the same smartphone or tablet that distributes the Internet and pair it.

Mobile internet via USB

• To connect your smartphone as a USB modem to your laptop or computer, do the following:
• First, connect your smartphone to your computer with a cable.
• Go to Settings > Wireless & networks > enable USB tethering.
• Select the created connection on the PC in the Network and Sharing Center.

Several times already, in the comments to other articles, I promised to write instructions for connecting a USB 3G / 4G modem to a Wi-Fi router. But not directly, but through a computer. When our USB modem is connected to a computer or laptop, the Wi-Fi router is also connected to the computer via a network cable, through which it receives the Internet from the modem and distributes it to other devices. The schema looks something like this:

USB 3G/4G modem + computer or laptop (Windows) + wifi router = Internet distribution from a router via Wi-Fi and a network cable.

Here is another photo of my circuit:

Who can use it? Yes, to many who use the Internet through a 3G / 4G USB modem. In Russia, these are mainly providers Yota, MTS, Beeline. In Ukraine, the most popular is probably Intertelecom.

When we have a USB modem, we can only connect one device to the Internet, a computer, or a laptop. But what to do when there are several devices? How to connect them to the Internet. That's right, you need to distribute the Internet through a router. In this situation, it would be more correct to buy a special Wi-Fi router that supports connecting USB modems. I wrote about the choice of such routers in an article.

But there are not many such routers, they do not work with all modems, and you need to spend money on buying a special router for a USB modem. And many have some old, ordinary routers that do not support connecting USB modems. And with the help of a regular router, you can also distribute the Internet from a 3G / 4G modem. True, in this case, we still need a computer or laptop.

The disadvantage of this method is that the computer must be turned on all the time. Since the modem will be connected to the router through a computer.

There is another way to distribute the Internet from a USB modem via Wi-Fi. When a laptop (PC with a Wi-Fi adapter) will act as a router. I described the setup of such a scheme in detail in the article. Perhaps you will like this scheme better. Yes, and the router in this case is not needed.

A few important points:

• Internet via USB modem must be configured on your computer (laptop). Most likely, you will need to configure the connection using Windows tools, and not through the program that was installed with the modem drivers. If you have an Intertelecom operator, then you can see the connection setup instructions.
• Do a factory reset on the router. So that the old parameters do not interfere with us. Turn on the router, find the Reset / Reset button, press and hold it for about 10 seconds.
• Also, I immediately advise you to disable the antivirus (firewall built into it). Nothing worked for me until I disabled the firewall built into Dr.Web.
• We will need a network cable to connect the router to the computer. As a rule, a network cable comes with a router.

It seems that everything is figured out, you can proceed to the settings.

We transfer the Internet from a computer (USB modem) to a router

Disable your modem connection on your computer (disconnect from the internet).

Connect your computer to the router using a network cable. On a computer or laptop, we connect the network cable to the network card connector, and on the router to the WAN (Internet) port. I want to note that your router may be different. It's OK. Here is the connection diagram:

Next, right-click on the connection through which you connect to the Internet (via a 3G / 4G modem), and select Properties. The connection itself may have the name of your operator. Or just "Telephone connection", like mine.

In a new window, go to the tab Access. There, check the box next to "Allow other network users to use this computer's Internet connection" In the drop-down list, select "Local Area Connection" (in Windows 10 - Ethernet). Click Ok.

If you were connected to the Internet, a message will appear stating that the changes will take effect after you reconnect to the Internet. Just disconnect from the internet and reconnect. If the connection was broken, then connect to the Internet. You should see "Public" next to your connection.

The "Local Area Connection" properties will contain the IP address and modnet mask. That's the way it should be, don't change them.

Connect to the Internet via a modem, and the router will automatically receive Internet from a computer (in my case, from a laptop). If your router was at factory settings, then by default, the connection type is Dynamic IP. This is how it should be, because the router automatically receives an IP from the computer.

You can already connect to the router via Wi-Fi, or via cable, and use the Internet. If the Internet through the router does not work, then first try restarting it. If this does not help, restart the laptop and reconnect to the Internet. Disable antivirus on your computer(firewall).

Everything worked for me right away. I connected to the TP-LINk router through the phone, went into its settings (on the tab where the Internet connection settings are set), and there I saw that the router received an IP address from the laptop. And that means everything works.

My router was distributing the Internet, which I received from a laptop that was connected to the Internet via a 3G USB modem from Intertelecom.

After the router receives and distributes the Internet, you can change other router settings. For example, set up a Wi-Fi network, put a password on Wi-Fi.

Afterword

According to the idea, in the same way, instead of a router, you can transfer the Internet to another computer by connecting them with a network cable. Only on another computer, in the properties of the local network connection, we set the automatic receipt of IP and DNS. I haven't tested, but it should work.

You need to understand that this method may not work with all modems and connections. Since there are a lot of different modems, operators, settings and other things, it is possible that some problems will arise during the setup process.

In my case, everything worked. I hope you managed to set everything up the same way. You can ask questions and share tips in the comments.

I myself encountered this problem not because of the lack of access to wired Internet, but because of the persistent desire of the authorities to save money. In short, I'll tell you how it all began: I work for a small company, we rent a room on the territory of the factory, the network consists of a router, 2 PCs and 4-5 laptops. Previously, we got the Internet through the factory network at a decent speed, for which we paid about 3,000 rubles, but one fine morning (fortunately or unfortunately), the director caught the eye of a Rostelecom poster with a promise of 2 MB for only 1,000 rubles. No sooner said than done, the connected Internet from Rostelecom refused to work at all. The problem was buried in the old telephone network of the plant with a bunch of interference and interference, two months of bad luck with Rostelecom's "specialists" and a bunch of applications did not lead to anything, as a result, one of the employees brought a "trijik" to the office for personal needs, so to speak , the speed turned out to be quite decent - as much as 4 MB, as a result of which it was decided to distribute such Internet to everyone. And here is how to solve this problem:

First: all computers were initially united in a local area network. Connecting a 3G modem to a PC created another network, a simple permission in the network settings to use this Internet did nothing for everyone, because both the “trijik” and the router handed out ip-addresses automatically and, therefore, did not see each other. Lokalka had to be hung up on static ip-addresses. To do this, we climb into the settings of the router: in the address bar of the browser we drive in 192.168.1.1 (depending on the model of the router, the exact address can be found in the adapter settings), login / password (if not changed) admin / 1234, then find and uncheck the corresponding checkbox.

We define the computer to which the 3G modem will be connected as a server and assign it a static address - remember it! it will be needed to configure the rest of the machines.

We repeat these steps on each machine that needs to be connected to the network, but in "Properties: Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP / IPv4)" we write the following:

The last digit of the ip address for each computer must be unique, I usually start with 10 and work my way up to 11, 12, etc. The subnet mask is obtained simply by clicking on the appropriate field. In the fields "Default gateway" and "Preferred DNS server" enter the ip-address of the computer to which the modem is connected.

After all computers are connected to the network, we return to the PC with the modem.

In "Properties: Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP / IPv4)" select automatic obtaining of addresses and DNS.

After a little poking around in the modem settings, you can set up automatic connection to the Internet when you connect a computer, reconnect when the connection is disconnected, and so on. As a result, we get decent internet and solid savings (550 rubles per month instead of 3000).

The 3G radio bandwidth is high enough to meet the needs of multiple users using a single modem. In addition, many Russian providers, including Rostelecom and Promsvyaz, are already starting to offer 4G services - such a connection allows you to transfer traffic at 100 Mbps with the prospect of speeding up to 1 Gbps. It is rational to use such a connection to several people at once, but here a difficulty arises - how exactly to distribute traffic to several devices without resorting to expensive and inefficient solutions? It is logical to assume that Wi-Fi should be used - in this case, the user will have several options for organizing a high-speed network with the ability to access the Internet. We will tell you how to set up and share Wi-Fi from a modem in order to get the most out of your radio connection.

It turns out that the modem can distribute Wi-Fi no worse than a router

Universal Solutions

First of all, you can purchase a combo modem with a built-in Wi-Fi router. Setting it up will take a minimum of time, because in the web client all the parameters will be displayed in an organized form. Combo devices can use not only the above wireless connection, but also ADSL communication, which requires a cable connection. Similar modems are offered to be purchased by Promsvyaz and Rostelecom, as well as other providers - when working with them, you will not need to configure the device. If you need to connect via 3G, and not ADSL, you should give preference to a device in the form of a flash drive with a USB connector.

To distribute wireless Internet to several devices, you can purchase a mobile router, which has long been offered by providers such as Promsvyaz and Rostelecom. Of course, it will not be able to work with ADSL, but you will get a stable connection even far from the city - the device is equipped with a battery and does not require access to a power outlet. If you are interested in the ability to switch between ADSL and 3G, you should purchase a Wi-Fi router with a USB connector. A modem can be attached to it, which must first be configured when connecting to a computer.

Non-standard options

Using a modem connected to a laptop, you can distribute data without a router at all. In Windows 7 and older, it is possible to organize a wireless network through the command line. However, it is always more convenient to use special applications, such as Virtual Router Manager. The only condition is that only original drivers for wireless modules must be installed on the computer.

You can distribute traffic via Wi-Fi without a radio modem at all - for this you need a modern smartphone or tablet. The following models are capable of performing the function of a router:

• iPhone 5 and later;
• iPad Air;
• Samsung Galaxy S4;
• HTC M8-M9.

Setting up the distribution is quite simple - you just need to enable the appropriate option in the wireless settings, as well as set the SSID and your password. To connect, you need an operator card, such as Promsvyaz, with 3G support.

Convenient connection

Distributing traffic received via wireless communication is very simple. To do this, you can purchase a combined device that works simultaneously in 3G / 4G networks and creates a Wi-Fi connection available for mobile devices. At the same time, such a router can be not only stationary, but also portable, equipped with a battery. Also, a Wi-Fi connection can be organized without a router, using a standard laptop network adapter for this. Finally, the function of a universal device that receives 3G traffic and distributes it among several consumers can be performed by a modern smartphone or tablet.