OT WiFi Repeater ?

My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot device
that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase is required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but capable
of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems with the
phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before were not covered
by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they gave me an AT&T sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it will
cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the Internet so
I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

OT wrote:
My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot device
that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase is required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but capable
of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems with the
phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before were not covered
by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they gave me an AT&T sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it will
cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the Internet so
I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

https://www.consumercellular.com/blo...obile-hotspot/

"The ZTE Mobile Hotspot uses a cellular signal to
create a powerful, 4G LTE wireless internet network
for up to 10 devices."

"Phil Dehnert asks:

... possibility of increasing your 4GB maximum data usage --- [uh, oh]
"

Great. Your 4G service has a "data cap". You will
exhaust that cap in about 2 microseconds, if you
run your collection of IP cameras through it.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Paul

In article , says...

My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot device
that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase is required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but capable
of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems with the
phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before were not covered
by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they gave me an AT&T sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it will
cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the Internet so
I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

All I can tell you is a cheap easy way to extend your wifi. Use a second
old router you may already have laying around. Dummy the thing down so
it acts like a switch (turn off DHCP, assign a static unused IP to it
etc.) but leave the wireless live. I assigned a different SSID to it but
that may not be neccessary other than to tell them apart if/when
connecting gives you a choice between it and the main router. After that
once pluged into network it'll act like a switch that also hase
wireless.

I did this at home here because I couldn't get a good signal out to my
sunporch at opposite side of house with router in basement with even
concrete wall and tin siding to go thru. Yes, could have used a real
switch and plugged it into existing cable I had run out there already
but instead choose the router to extend the wireless so my outside IP
camera and various laptops would work fine using WiFi instead of having
to connect a cable every time when out there and wanted to use one of
them.

I did this because I had two old routers laying around and also because
those repeater gadgets to extend wireless seem way overpriced for what
they do.

On Thu, 11 May 2017 20:01:40 -0400, Paul wrote:

OT wrote:
My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot device
that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase is required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but capable
of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems with the
phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before were not covered
by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they gave me an AT&T sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it will
cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the Internet so
I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

https://www.consumercellular.com/blo...obile-hotspot/

"The ZTE Mobile Hotspot uses a cellular signal to
create a powerful, 4G LTE wireless internet network
for up to 10 devices."

"Phil Dehnert asks:

... possibility of increasing your 4GB maximum data usage --- [uh, oh]
"

Great. Your 4G service has a "data cap". You will
exhaust that cap in about 2 microseconds, if you
run your collection of IP cameras through it.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Right, but the service isn't designed for the kind of use the OP
contemplates. Rather, it seems to be aimed at travelers.

"This device isn?t meant to replace your primary internet service.
Instead, you can use the Hotspot as an economical wireless internet
option when you?re out and about."

Consumer Cellular is my only phone, and I like it (except, like other
carriers, they refuse to give us the option for anonymous call
rejection). But it looks like their biggest data plan is 3 GB, which
kind of rules out movies.


--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://BrownMath.com/
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
Shikata ga nai...

OT wrote in news
My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot device
that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase is required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but capable
of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems with
the phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before were not
covered by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they gave me an AT&T
sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it will
cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the Internet
so I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

In Nov. 2011, I did something similar as pjp, with two D-link 524
wireless routers. My original set up was with just one DL-524, upstairs
and connected to my Comcast modem, that serviced three pcs via ethernet
that I had pulled through walls to bedrooms/dens, etc,, and also
serviced wireless laptops. But, when I went downstairs/garage with
wireless devices, the signal was weak.

I had an extra D-link 524 laying around, and decided to chain it to the
original upstairs D-link 524, and use it as an access point with the
same SSID. It worked great,reliable, with no dropped connections, and
is still working almost six years later.. Here's what I did:

1) connect modem to wan port on upstairs router
2) connect a wired pc to lan port on upstairs router. Open internet
browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was 192.168.0.1), and
log in 3) set WAN to automatically obtain
4) configure DHCP for upstairs router to start at 192.168.0.100 and end
at, say, 192.168.0.199 5) configure upstairs router SSID to whatever you
like,let's say 'codeblack', and configure your encryption/passcode

6) connect ethernet cable to LAN port on upstairs router

7)connect a wired pc to the LAN port on the downstairs router. Open
internet browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was
192.168.0.1), and log in, and make the following settings:

7) WAN settings do not matter, as you will not be using the WAN port on
the downstairs router

8) disable DHCP on downstairs router
9) configure downstairs router SSID to 'codeblack', and configure your
encryption/passcode the same as the upstairs router

10) configure LAN of downstairs routerto 192.168.0.2, so that it has a
different address than the upstairs router once they are connected via
ethernet; After you apply this setting, you will no longer be connected
to this downstairs router unless you point your browser to 192.168.0.2

11) connect upstairs router's LAN ethernet cable to downstairs router's
LAN port

12) restart the pc connected to the downstairs router

13) connect any wired devices to upstairs and downstairs available LAN
ports

14) login on your wireless devices to codeblack

Good luck.

On 5/12/2017 4:00 PM, Boris wrote:
OT wrote in news
My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot device
that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase is required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but capable
of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems with
the phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before were not
covered by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they gave me an AT&T
sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it will
cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the Internet
so I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

In Nov. 2011, I did something similar as pjp, with two D-link 524
wireless routers. My original set up was with just one DL-524, upstairs
and connected to my Comcast modem, that serviced three pcs via ethernet
that I had pulled through walls to bedrooms/dens, etc,, and also
serviced wireless laptops. But, when I went downstairs/garage with
wireless devices, the signal was weak.

I had an extra D-link 524 laying around, and decided to chain it to the
original upstairs D-link 524, and use it as an access point with the
same SSID. It worked great,reliable, with no dropped connections, and
is still working almost six years later.. Here's what I did:

1) connect modem to wan port on upstairs router
2) connect a wired pc to lan port on upstairs router. Open internet
browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was 192.168.0.1), and
log in 3) set WAN to automatically obtain
4) configure DHCP for upstairs router to start at 192.168.0.100 and end
at, say, 192.168.0.199 5) configure upstairs router SSID to whatever you
like,let's say 'codeblack', and configure your encryption/passcode

6) connect ethernet cable to LAN port on upstairs router

7)connect a wired pc to the LAN port on the downstairs router. Open
internet browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was
192.168.0.1), and log in, and make the following settings:

7) WAN settings do not matter, as you will not be using the WAN port on
the downstairs router

8) disable DHCP on downstairs router
9) configure downstairs router SSID to 'codeblack', and configure your
encryption/passcode the same as the upstairs router

10) configure LAN of downstairs routerto 192.168.0.2, so that it has a
different address than the upstairs router once they are connected via
ethernet; After you apply this setting, you will no longer be connected
to this downstairs router unless you point your browser to 192.168.0.2

11) connect upstairs router's LAN ethernet cable to downstairs router's
LAN port

12) restart the pc connected to the downstairs router

13) connect any wired devices to upstairs and downstairs available LAN
ports

14) login on your wireless devices to codeblack

Good luck.

Change your upstairs router to use a wireless WAN connection to your modem
and you'll have what it appears the OP wants.
And that's the rub.
Your DHCP server has to be active all the time.
But you likely don't want your hotspot connected all the time
unless you have unlimited high speed data.
What do you use for a DHCP server so that your local network works
without the hotspot and does work with it when you turn it on.
Maybe you can set up fixed IP addresses everywhere.
Where do you put the port forwarding for the IP cameras?

I have a friend who uses a USB phone modem plugged into a
Cradlepoint wireless router. The cradlepoint is robust
enough to do all the routing functions for his network.
USB solves the problem getting the phone signal into the router's
WAN port.

I'm not saying it's not doable. I'm saying it's more complicated
than it first appears. The crippled phone company hotspot may not
give you the flexibility you need. Hotspots are designed to let
devices connect to the internet. Controlling a complex network
with remote access is not what they're designed to do.

I had WiMax internet for a couple of years. The modem did have
some routing capability, but I finally gave up and put it into
passthrough mode to the WAN port of a better router and did everything in
the second router. I couldn't have done that
as easily if it had been wireless only.

The devil is in the details.

mike wrote in news
On 5/12/2017 4:00 PM, Boris wrote:
OT wrote in news
My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot
device that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase is
required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but
capable of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi
connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems with
the phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before were not
covered by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they gave me an
AT&T sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it will
cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the Internet
so I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

In Nov. 2011, I did something similar as pjp, with two D-link 524
wireless routers. My original set up was with just one DL-524,
upstairs and connected to my Comcast modem, that serviced three pcs
via ethernet that I had pulled through walls to bedrooms/dens, etc,,
and also serviced wireless laptops. But, when I went
downstairs/garage with wireless devices, the signal was weak.

I had an extra D-link 524 laying around, and decided to chain it to
the original upstairs D-link 524, and use it as an access point with
the same SSID. It worked great,reliable, with no dropped
connections, and is still working almost six years later.. Here's
what I did:

1) connect modem to wan port on upstairs router
2) connect a wired pc to lan port on upstairs router. Open internet
browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was 192.168.0.1),
and log in 3) set WAN to automatically obtain
4) configure DHCP for upstairs router to start at 192.168.0.100 and
end at, say, 192.168.0.199 5) configure upstairs router SSID to
whatever you like,let's say 'codeblack', and configure your
encryption/passcode

6) connect ethernet cable to LAN port on upstairs router

7)connect a wired pc to the LAN port on the downstairs router. Open
internet browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was
192.168.0.1), and log in, and make the following settings:

7) WAN settings do not matter, as you will not be using the WAN port
on the downstairs router

8) disable DHCP on downstairs router
9) configure downstairs router SSID to 'codeblack', and configure
your encryption/passcode the same as the upstairs router

10) configure LAN of downstairs routerto 192.168.0.2, so that it has
a different address than the upstairs router once they are connected
via ethernet; After you apply this setting, you will no longer be
connected to this downstairs router unless you point your browser to
192.168.0.2

11) connect upstairs router's LAN ethernet cable to downstairs
router's LAN port

12) restart the pc connected to the downstairs router

13) connect any wired devices to upstairs and downstairs available
LAN ports

14) login on your wireless devices to codeblack

Good luck.

Change your upstairs router to use a wireless WAN connection to your
modem and you'll have what it appears the OP wants.
And that's the rub.
Your DHCP server has to be active all the time.
But you likely don't want your hotspot connected all the time
unless you have unlimited high speed data.

Hi, I don't have a Comcast Xfinity Gateway. I've set up a few of those
for relatives, and I just don't like them. I get my internet and TV
from Comcast, and my cell service from ATT. Any data streaming goes
through my home network. My average cell data use is about a MB.

What do you use for a DHCP server so that your local network works
without the hotspot and does work with it when you turn it on.
Maybe you can set up fixed IP addresses everywhere.
Where do you put the port forwarding for the IP cameras?

I have a friend who uses a USB phone modem plugged into a
Cradlepoint wireless router. The cradlepoint is robust
enough to do all the routing functions for his network.
USB solves the problem getting the phone signal into the router's
WAN port.

I'm not saying it's not doable. I'm saying it's more complicated
than it first appears. The crippled phone company hotspot may not
give you the flexibility you need. Hotspots are designed to let
devices connect to the internet. Controlling a complex network
with remote access is not what they're designed to do.

I had WiMax internet for a couple of years. The modem did have
some routing capability, but I finally gave up and put it into
passthrough mode to the WAN port of a better router and did everything
in the second router. I couldn't have done that
as easily if it had been wireless only.

The devil is in the details.

On 5/13/2017 8:32 AM, Boris wrote:
mike wrote in news
On 5/12/2017 4:00 PM, Boris wrote:
OT wrote in news
My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot
device that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase is
required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but
capable of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi
connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems with
the phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before were not
covered by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they gave me an
AT&T sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it will
cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the Internet
so I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

In Nov. 2011, I did something similar as pjp, with two D-link 524
wireless routers. My original set up was with just one DL-524,
upstairs and connected to my Comcast modem, that serviced three pcs
via ethernet that I had pulled through walls to bedrooms/dens, etc,,
and also serviced wireless laptops. But, when I went
downstairs/garage with wireless devices, the signal was weak.

I had an extra D-link 524 laying around, and decided to chain it to
the original upstairs D-link 524, and use it as an access point with
the same SSID. It worked great,reliable, with no dropped
connections, and is still working almost six years later.. Here's
what I did:

1) connect modem to wan port on upstairs router
2) connect a wired pc to lan port on upstairs router. Open internet
browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was 192.168.0.1),
and log in 3) set WAN to automatically obtain
4) configure DHCP for upstairs router to start at 192.168.0.100 and
end at, say, 192.168.0.199 5) configure upstairs router SSID to
whatever you like,let's say 'codeblack', and configure your
encryption/passcode

6) connect ethernet cable to LAN port on upstairs router

7)connect a wired pc to the LAN port on the downstairs router. Open
internet browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was
192.168.0.1), and log in, and make the following settings:

7) WAN settings do not matter, as you will not be using the WAN port
on the downstairs router

8) disable DHCP on downstairs router
9) configure downstairs router SSID to 'codeblack', and configure
your encryption/passcode the same as the upstairs router

10) configure LAN of downstairs routerto 192.168.0.2, so that it has
a different address than the upstairs router once they are connected
via ethernet; After you apply this setting, you will no longer be
connected to this downstairs router unless you point your browser to
192.168.0.2

11) connect upstairs router's LAN ethernet cable to downstairs
router's LAN port

12) restart the pc connected to the downstairs router

13) connect any wired devices to upstairs and downstairs available
LAN ports

14) login on your wireless devices to codeblack

Good luck.

Change your upstairs router to use a wireless WAN connection to your
modem and you'll have what it appears the OP wants.
And that's the rub.
Your DHCP server has to be active all the time.
But you likely don't want your hotspot connected all the time
unless you have unlimited high speed data.

Hi, I don't have a Comcast Xfinity Gateway. I've set up a few of those
for relatives, and I just don't like them. I get my internet and TV
from Comcast, and my cell service from ATT. Any data streaming goes
through my home network. My average cell data use is about a MB.

Your objective is unclear. If you have multiple internet
devices connected to comcast, you have a router somewhere.
What do you need that you don't
have and expect the hotspot to provide?


What do you use for a DHCP server so that your local network works
without the hotspot and does work with it when you turn it on.
Maybe you can set up fixed IP addresses everywhere.
Where do you put the port forwarding for the IP cameras?

I have a friend who uses a USB phone modem plugged into a
Cradlepoint wireless router. The cradlepoint is robust
enough to do all the routing functions for his network.
USB solves the problem getting the phone signal into the router's
WAN port.

I'm not saying it's not doable. I'm saying it's more complicated
than it first appears. The crippled phone company hotspot may not
give you the flexibility you need. Hotspots are designed to let
devices connect to the internet. Controlling a complex network
with remote access is not what they're designed to do.

I had WiMax internet for a couple of years. The modem did have
some routing capability, but I finally gave up and put it into
passthrough mode to the WAN port of a better router and did everything
in the second router. I couldn't have done that
as easily if it had been wireless only.

The devil is in the details.

mike wrote in news
On 5/13/2017 8:32 AM, Boris wrote:
mike wrote in news
On 5/12/2017 4:00 PM, Boris wrote:
OT wrote in news
My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot
device that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase
is required.

It is WiFi only (no USB dongle capability like Sprint has) but
capable of up to 10 (if I remember correctly) simultaneous WiFi
connections.

My Consumer Cellular goes through AT&T now since I had problems
with the phone sim that was on T-Mobile. Areas I went to before
were not covered by T-Mobile but are by AT&T. So for free they
gave me an AT&T sim card.

Is there a way to expand the area of such a device such that it
will cover all of my house ?

Is there a way to connect it to my isolated home WiFi LAN ?
I would need one "port" to get the home WIFI LAN out on the
Internet so I could see my security cams remotely.

I.E. some WiFi repeater ? Or whatever.

I have WiFi cameras and several PC that add to more than 10.
I do not need high speed.

In Nov. 2011, I did something similar as pjp, with two D-link 524
wireless routers. My original set up was with just one DL-524,
upstairs and connected to my Comcast modem, that serviced three pcs
via ethernet that I had pulled through walls to bedrooms/dens,
etc,, and also serviced wireless laptops. But, when I went
downstairs/garage with wireless devices, the signal was weak.

I had an extra D-link 524 laying around, and decided to chain it to
the original upstairs D-link 524, and use it as an access point
with the same SSID. It worked great,reliable, with no dropped
connections, and is still working almost six years later.. Here's
what I did:

1) connect modem to wan port on upstairs router
2) connect a wired pc to lan port on upstairs router. Open internet
browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was
192.168.0.1), and log in 3) set WAN to automatically obtain
4) configure DHCP for upstairs router to start at 192.168.0.100 and
end at, say, 192.168.0.199 5) configure upstairs router SSID to
whatever you like,let's say 'codeblack', and configure your
encryption/passcode

6) connect ethernet cable to LAN port on upstairs router

7)connect a wired pc to the LAN port on the downstairs router. Open
internet browser and point it to your router's log in (mine was
192.168.0.1), and log in, and make the following settings:

7) WAN settings do not matter, as you will not be using the WAN
port on the downstairs router

8) disable DHCP on downstairs router
9) configure downstairs router SSID to 'codeblack', and configure
your encryption/passcode the same as the upstairs router

10) configure LAN of downstairs routerto 192.168.0.2, so that it
has a different address than the upstairs router once they are
connected via ethernet; After you apply this setting, you will no
longer be connected to this downstairs router unless you point your
browser to 192.168.0.2

11) connect upstairs router's LAN ethernet cable to downstairs
router's LAN port

12) restart the pc connected to the downstairs router

13) connect any wired devices to upstairs and downstairs available
LAN ports

14) login on your wireless devices to codeblack

Good luck.

Change your upstairs router to use a wireless WAN connection to your
modem and you'll have what it appears the OP wants.
And that's the rub.
Your DHCP server has to be active all the time.
But you likely don't want your hotspot connected all the time
unless you have unlimited high speed data.

Hi, I don't have a Comcast Xfinity Gateway. I've set up a few of
those for relatives, and I just don't like them. I get my internet
and TV from Comcast, and my cell service from ATT. Any data
streaming goes through my home network. My average cell data use is
about a MB.

Your objective is unclear. If you have multiple internet
devices connected to comcast, you have a router somewhere.
What do you need that you don't
have and expect the hotspot to provide?

Hi again, objective was simply to increase coverage by using a second
router as an access point at the farthest point in my house downstairs,
connected to the first router upstairs via ethernet, which is connected
to the Comcast cable modem via ethernet two feet away (not their
gateway). There are no public hotspots. Everything after the modem is
on my home network, LAN or WLAN.



What do you use for a DHCP server so that your local network works
without the hotspot and does work with it when you turn it on.
Maybe you can set up fixed IP addresses everywhere.
Where do you put the port forwarding for the IP cameras?

I have a friend who uses a USB phone modem plugged into a
Cradlepoint wireless router. The cradlepoint is robust
enough to do all the routing functions for his network.
USB solves the problem getting the phone signal into the router's
WAN port.

I'm not saying it's not doable. I'm saying it's more complicated
than it first appears. The crippled phone company hotspot may not
give you the flexibility you need. Hotspots are designed to let
devices connect to the internet. Controlling a complex network
with remote access is not what they're designed to do.

I had WiMax internet for a couple of years. The modem did have
some routing capability, but I finally gave up and put it into
passthrough mode to the WAN port of a better router and did
everything in the second router. I couldn't have done that
as easily if it had been wireless only.

The devil is in the details.

On 5/13/2017 4:28 PM, Boris wrote:

My cell phone, Consumer Cellular, company offers a wifi hotspot
device that ties to the phone network only. A one time purchase
is required.

So, the hotspot is not part of the equation.

Your objective is unclear. If you have multiple internet
devices connected to comcast, you have a router somewhere.
What do you need that you don't
have and expect the hotspot to provide?

Hi again, objective was simply to increase coverage by using a second
router as an access point at the farthest point in my house downstairs,
connected to the first router upstairs via ethernet, which is connected
to the Comcast cable modem via ethernet two feet away (not their
gateway). There are no public hotspots. Everything after the modem is
on my home network, LAN or WLAN.

That should be trivial. You can buy a wireless repeater that just plugs
into an intermediate AC socket and does what you want.
People here won't like that because can halve your connection throughput.
May not be an issue for you at all. It's probably still as fast as
your internet can support.

A typical commercial router has the hardware required, but likely not
the software to support it. DD-WRT compatible routers can be converted.
Unless you happen to have a router to convert, the ready-made repeater
is a good option.

Don't know if this one is the best, but it is currently 30% off
with free shipping.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...8008_deskt op

I have not used this exact model and present it only as a possible
solution. I do have a similar Belkin unit.

Google
wireless range extender
for a zillion discussions of the subject.

Before you go crazy on solutions, make sure you have a
signal strength problem and not an interference problem.
A close neighbor on the same wifi channel might be clobbering
your signal. Sometimes, changing the channel or moving the antenna a
few feet can make
a lot of difference.

Stop by the google playstore and put wifi analyzer on your
android phone. Wander around watching the signal strength.
com.farproc.wifi.analyzer.

On Sat, 13 May 2017 23:28:06 -0000 (UTC), Boris
wrote:

Hi again, objective was simply to increase coverage by using a second
router as an access point at the farthest point in my house downstairs,
connected to the first router upstairs via ethernet

You are on precisely the right track. If you need to increase wireless
coverage, by far the best solution is exactly as you've written above.

www.smallnetbuilder.com has multiple step by step articles to walk you
through the process.
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/google-search-results?q=router%20as%20access%20point%20wireless

You'll want to avoid using anything calling itself a repeater.

--

Char Jackson