Linksys WRT160NL/E2100L, DD-WRT With 3G Modem

[DaveMcLain]

I have a friend who lives out in the country and who is unable to get DSL or cable high speed internet access. He does have a smart phone and now he can receive 3G data reliably at his house. What he wants to do is get a 3G USB modem and then have me configure a wireless router(WRT160NL) which has USB ports to allow him to connect his wired and wireless PC's and share the data connection. He's not interested in doing streaming video etc but he would like to be able to check e-mail and do general web surfing on his PC and his wife would like to be able to use her laptop from home.

DD-WRT firmware does support using a 3G modem as the WAN connection on this router but I was just curious if anyone on here had ever done this sort of setup. If so, what sort of performance did you obtain and how well did it work overall? He's not looking for some sort of incredible speeds but really just something to move him away from stone age dial-up internet access.

 

[stevech]

I use Cradlepoint MBR900 ($66 on eBay, new condition).
11n router with every feature imaginable, plus USB port for all popular 3G and some 4G modems. I use Verizon EV-DO. Excellent product, even if you pay full retail for the MBR900 at Newegg or Fry's. He may want/need an add-on antenna for 3G to get higher speeds with a better signal strength - depending on distance from cell site, indoor situation. These antennas are widely sold. I don't need it in a common residence with a cell site 2 miles or less away.

I also use Cradlepoint's CTR500 which is a small travel version of the MBR900, with one ethernet port and 11g. You can connect a switch and LAN to the ethernet port. The CTR500 with its internal antenna has much less in-home range than the MBR900. The CTR500 at retail is $99.

I also have an Android (HTC Incredible) smart phone. There is freeware for it so a PC can be tethered by USB and access the Internet without paying a tethering fee. With some hacking, this PC could share the Internet connection via WiFi. This saves the cost of a second 3G service payment for the modem, but will be problematic.

 

[DaveMcLain]

Thanks Steve I'll check out that Cradlepoint model.

He's told me that the 3G reception inside of his house is very good with his phone so I'm assuming that it'll also be just fine for the data modem, we'll just have to give it a try.