[commodore]

Is there any easy way to have an iPhone or Android hotspot on the WAN side of a DD-WRT router? I remember reading a while ago that you have to change router's wireless mode, which probably isn't exactly what I have in mind. Is it possible to connect the hotspot over the USB port, for example?

I guess an alternative solution would be to have a 4G/5G "modem" with ethernet port, but in that case one would need another SIM card or a cellular plan for that.

[hf74]

You could run a wireless hotspot on the phone and then connect the router as a wireless client. But that is mostly pointless since you can just connect everything you want to the phone's hotspot to begin with.

[commodore]

Yes, that's not what I'm looking for. Two of the reasons why I'd prefer to put it on the "WAN side" are:
- I want to keep LAN (wired and wireless) with everything it offers (also e.g. being able to communicate between tablet/phone/laptop etc. internally), and
- the ability to use a blacklist (tracking and advertising hosts etc.) on my internal network, for all devices connected to my DD-WRT.

[ho1Aetoo]

"Iphone tethering" is supported as WAN connection type in GUI

[Alozaros]

iPpone tethering was working time ago when i had to use it...Phone plugged the to USB port..than select via GUI as a WAN interface..

no idea if its still working....on 52369...(its mostly iOS dependent) give it a try..

Android tethering was discussed recently, in a few treads around..have a deep search..

[commodore]

I tried it, but I couldn't get it to connect. On the WAN status page, Connection Type was empty, Login Status was Disconnected, it was trying every now and then (judging by the occasional page refresh), I also tried several times clicking the Connect button, but it didn't work.

On iPhone, the screen was on, the "computer" was trusted, and the hotspot "usb only" was enabled. I also rebooted the router a couple of times (also with the phone connected at boot time).

Any idea what could be wrong?

I'm currently using r52330 on TP Link WR1043ND-v3.

[hebeda]

many android phones with Android 11 and higher support ethernet tethering ...

so use the andoid phone as WAN and connect the router by ethernet to your phone ...


here is an example , this adapter does work and was tested on various Xiaomi and Samsung Smartphones and some no Name Tablets , many cheaper models on aliexpress not are working as intended:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195627181646

[commodore]

So this means leaving DD-WRT connection type on "automatic configuration - DHCP", and pluging this adapter into the USB-C port of an Android device? I might as well try it, I have a decent Android 11 tablet as well, and two of these adapters somewhere.

EDIT: It works! Thanks! It took a minute or so for the dd-wrt to obtain an IP (this would be a question for another thread at some point, as it takes such a long time on an FTTH connection...), but since then it's worked flawlessly. As a matter of fact, I'm writing this from such connection.

The next quest will be finding out if iPads with cellular data can also do this.

[commodore]

I managed to also make iPhone hotspot via USB work. I guess it just took some time to get connected (and one or two extra reboots, for what it's worth).

Question: What's the speed limit on the USB port of TP-LINK WR1043ND V3? My speedtest has shown around 50 Mbit down and 8 Mbit up, but I'm not sure whether the cell area was congested or it was due to USB speed limit. Usually the downstream is around 150 Mbit or more.

[hebeda]

the speedlimit is Usb 2.0 or usb 3.0 depending on the used adapter and on your phone

there are phones with usb 3.0 support and also USB-Ethernet adapter with usb 3.0 support, with these you get almost full ethernet speed

usb 2.0 interface on the phone is the bottleneck ... i remember it was something around 340 mbps net speed ...