How to create a Wifi hotspot using a Telecom 3g XT T-stick

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Cameltrain

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# 68689 26-Sep-2010 13:26

Does anyone know of a device (router) that could be used to create a wireless network with a Telecom XT 3g T-stick to provide the mobile broadband internet connection?. The idea being to have the T-stick plug directly into the router so that a small number of computers say up to 10 could join the wireless network and share the broadband internet connection.

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# 384524 26-Sep-2010 13:34

There are numerous routers out there that support this feature. The main thing you have to look at is whether the router is compatible with the data stick you have.

I have a Cisco SRP521 that support this but there are cheaper options out there.

scottjpalmer

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# 384537 26-Sep-2010 14:07

www.netcomm.com.au

I just got one, works mint.

tigercorp

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# 384541 26-Sep-2010 14:11

It's not a dedicated router solution, but if one of the machines is a Windows 7 laptop, you could use Connectify

BarTender

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# 384548 26-Sep-2010 15:15

You can also use a Asus WL-520gU if you load on OpenWRT.

I personally use a Linksys WRT54G3G and a Sierra Aircard 880 PCMCIA card, which works a treat for me.

freitasm

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# 384554 26-Sep-2010 15:27

Or a Cradlepoint PHS300 - there is a distributor for AU/NZ but haven't seen them in the market yet. I have one from the U.S. and it's great.

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corksta

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# 384627 26-Sep-2010 19:06

This is the perfect device for what you want to do:

http://www.netcomm.com.au/netcomm-products/3g-mobile-broadband/3gt1wn

Should be able to get them for about $170 - $200 here.

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# 384665 26-Sep-2010 20:51

I got the 3G17Wn brand new still foil sealed for $100 on TradeMe last week, was a tossup between the 2, this deal was too good to pass up!

MaiTechnoKiwi

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# 385201 27-Sep-2010 22:08

http://www.gowifi.co.nz/access-points-802.11/engenius-etr9350-3g-802.11n-travel-router.html

i got one of these and they are only 100 bucks, awesome !

helebor

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# 395164 24-Oct-2010 10:03

scottjpalmer: www.netcomm.com.au

I just got one, works mint.

Tho' you don't say which one you got, I bought the 3G18Wn and, so far, I don't have the hotspot quite working. It's a bit of a shaggy dog story so please bear with me.

Network is 2 desktops (without 801 wireless), three laptops and a wireless printer. Until now, WAP has been an Edimax. At the moment, no Linux, only WinXP SP3 all round.

I changed the host address of the 3G18Wn to 10.1.1.3 and set its DHCP server active, range to 10.1.1.4 - 10.1.1.99. I have a Belkin ADSL router as ADSL gateway (IP 10.1.1.1). Have shifted the Eth cables from two desktops (static IPs 10.1.1.7 and 10.1.1.14, resp.) from the Belkin to two of the 4 Eth ports on the 3G18Wn. The Belkin DHCP is disabled. The Belkin is cabled to one of the Eth ports on the 3G18Wn because it simply did not work when plugged into the ported labelled WAN.

In the meantime, have retained static IPs for the wireless printer and 3 laptops, because the on-board wireless on one of the laptops doesn't support encrypted security (to be solved by putting in a PCMCIA wireless card that does). So, for now, the 801b/g/n security on the 3G18Wn is disabled and we're protected only by MAC address filtering.

ADSL connection is working fine on this setup for all nodes, but only as long as all of the tcp/ip configs are set to use Telecom's DNS. Without it, we get ARP errors in the logs and no internet.

At this testing stage the 3G18Wn is set up to provide mobile b/band as failover. Next week it will have to be our primary b/b provider as we are moving house two doors along and Telecom will swipe our ADSL port and give it to someone at the top of the waiting list....we go to the bottom of a 71-day long waiter's list.

So far, so good, ADSL is fine.

Next was to test the Tstick. The 3G18Wn 3G was configured according to the separate instruction sheet that Netcomm supplied for Telecom XT mobile. Tstick was plugged in. I pulled the cable from the phone jackpoint and waited for XT mobile to kick in as failover. It picked up the signal OK, apparently, and within a couple of minutes it settled down and displayed solid blue on its LED (indicating Registered on network).

However, we had no internet connectivity on any of the nodes.

All this preamble leads to the question: does anyone know what I haven't done yet that I need to do? Telecom support won't help, giving the reason that they don't sell any hardware to support Wifi hotspotting with the Tstick and therefore are not allowed to advise with the setup. I checked with Netcomm support by phone and was assured of compatibility with the Tstick (the ZTE MF636). I suspect it would help a lot if I could find out what parameters are needed by the XT mobile b/b service for DNS resolution...can you describe what you did...or could anyone else help?

TIA,
./hb

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# 395165 24-Oct-2010 10:06

I have received a BandLuxe R300 here and it works really well with Telecom New Zealand.

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helebor

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# 395181 24-Oct-2010 10:56

Could you tell me what your params look like for 3G WAN, please? Esp. what you are applying for DNS resolution?

freitasm

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# 395183 24-Oct-2010 10:58

The only parameter I have on this is the APN name. IP and DNS are assigned by the network.

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helebor

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# 395189 24-Oct-2010 11:27

Right - thanks. I guess that tells me I need to test this with null DNS params from the clients...and then solve the question of why the ADSL config requires them...and hopefully end up with the failover working as intended.

./hb

helebor

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# 395210 24-Oct-2010 13:37

Nyet. :-( For some reason, Telecom's ADSL B/b service requires clients to request its own DNS servers explicitly.

I'd really love to hear from someone who has done this thing with setting up MBB as the failover option for the Netcomm 3G routers.

./hb

gordonz

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# 395250 24-Oct-2010 15:52

I have the same device arriving on Tuesday and hope to use it as my only broadband connection, so I will keep you posted how it works out. It had good reviews which is why I bought it.

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