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Help with home network

Nov 21, 2014#1

Ravenpoe

So, I have a bit of a unique situation that I haven't been able to figure out.

Because I live in the boonies, my only internet connection is a cellular-powered 4G mobile hotspot. All of the computers and other internet-enabled devices in my home connect via wifi to this hotspot for internet service, but they do not connect to each other in any way.

Is there still a way to set up a wireless home network to share files between these devices? The only way I know to do this is to have them all connect to a router, which would also provide them internet service, but the internet has to come from the hotspot.

My technical skills aren't advanced enough for this. Help me out.

Nov 21, 2014#2

figmentPez

Your hotspot is, most likely, functioning as a wireless router.

Nov 21, 2014#3

Ravenpoe

figmentPez said:
Your hotspot is, most likely, functioning as a wireless router.

Well, yes, but I don't have access to control anything through it. I can't share files through it, all it does is create a wifi hotspot for internet connection.

Nov 21, 2014#4

figmentPez

Ravenpoe said:
Well, yes, but I don't have access to control anything through it. I can't share files through it, all it does is create a wifi hotspot for internet connection.

What have you tried in order to share files? In what ways is is not acting as a router?

Nov 21, 2014#5

PatrThom

Most likely, you will require some sort of wireless routing device to go with your hotspot. Then your wireless router will be the one device that connects to your hotspot and then turns around and shares it with all the others. That way, all the file sharing you do will go through that device rather than making the hotspot do all the work.

But we will know more about things once we get the command line results.

stienman said:
I don't recall how to get the same information from the mac.

(Apple menu) -> System Preferences... -> Network

--Patrick

Nov 21, 2014#6

Ravenpoe

stienman said:
The answer may be complicated. However, the reality is that it should work fine as-is. Tell your devices that you are on a safe network, and they can share files. You should be able to ping each other, and share files. If you can't, it's probably not the 4G internet access point's fault, though it could be.

Are you using windows or mac?

If windows, go to the command line (run the program cmd) and run "ipconfig /all" then post the results here. It'll tell us what your computer thinks about the network, and how it's configured. If it's a normal router network, everything should work fine.

Do that with both computers you want to share files between.

I don't recall how to get the same information from the mac. You want to find out what each computer/device has for:

IP
Gateway
Mask

Then you can do some connectivity testing to find out where the bottleneck is.

This is the ipconfig output for my main pc. The problem I'm having is that even though I can attempt to join a homegroup on either side, attempting to do so fails, even though all options for file sharing are enabled. Also, even if I can get them joined in this method, I'm still certain I'll need a seperate router for file transfer, because I doubt this little hotspot has enough power to transfer big files at any decent speed.[DOUBLEPOST=1416613406,1416613222][/DOUBLEPOST]

PatrThom said:
Most likely, you will require some sort of wireless routing device to go with your hotspot. Then your wireless router will be the one device that connects to your hotspot and then turns around and shares it with all the others. That way, all the file sharing you do will go through that device rather than making the hotspot do all the work.

I'd be fine with this, though I have no idea how to do that, have any recommendations for a router that can connect to a wireless hotspot?

Nov 21, 2014#7

PatrThom

This may just be because the ports used for file sharing are closed on the hotspot. To be fair, the hotspot probably wouldn't be able to pass packets fast enough to keep you from tearing your hair out in frustration.
[DOUBLEPOST=1416613647,1416613455][/DOUBLEPOST]

Ravenpoe said:
have any recommendations for a router that can connect to a wireless hotspot?

Some of this is going to depend on whether you want ALL your other devices to be wireless, or only SOME of them.

--Patrick

Nov 21, 2014#8

figmentPez

Ravenpoe said:
I'd be fine with this, though I have no idea how to do that, have any recommendations for a router that can connect to a wireless hotspot?

What model hotspot do you have? Does it have any wired connection options? (either USB or ethernet)

Nov 21, 2014#9

PatrThom

Most mobile hotspots are wifi-only and only allow a max of 5 clients. It's like some sort of tradition among carriers.

Keep in mind that having two wifi networks running is going to mean a reduction in speed for non-wired clients (due to overhead, channel crosstalk, etc).

--Patrick

Nov 22, 2014#10

PatrThom

stienman said:
There may be some routers that intentionally mess with the configuration of the IP to prevent computers from talking to each other, but that would be very strange.

I'm just assuming that, since it's a hotspot, the ports/sharing protocol/whatever are being blocked just so you don't "accidentally" try to share your files over the internet..."for your safety."

--Patrick

Nov 22, 2014#11

figmentPez

Also, what files are you trying to share, and why? I'm wondering if something like DropBox or BitTorrent Sync might be a better option than Windows file sharing.

Nov 22, 2014#12

Ravenpoe

figmentPez said:
Also, what files are you trying to share, and why? I'm wondering if something like DropBox or BitTorrent Sync might be a better option than Windows file sharing.

Media streaming between devices is the main concern.

Nov 22, 2014#13

PatrThom

I believe what you're looking for will probably be labeled something like "wireless bridge router" or "wireless repeater." It's not hard to find routers that will do what you want, the hard part is finding routers where one side or the other does not require at least one wired connection. It can be done, but it will require some investigation before you plunk any money down onto a particular model (mainly "does it support bridge mode?").
Also your data rate will be diminished due to the fighting between xmit and receive.

--Patrick

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