Reverse Tether Verizon MiFi

1

I use the MiFi in the office for laptop internet use since our network doesn't have a wireless router. However, this prevents me from seeing the office network, shared servers, etc when I need them.

I'm thinking about reverse tethering the MiFi.

What I mean by that is, using the USB on the MiFi, connect it to my network so I can use it's 4G LTE connection, and at the same time use it as a wireless router for the network.

A more obvious solution would be to get a wireless router, but I'm wondering if there's a way to work around that. Plus (because of our area) we get about 1 Mb download through our ISP, while the MiFi get's 30+. If I could turn it into a router and make use of its download speed there would be a major advantage there over getting a wireless router.

EDIT:

To clarify, I'm trying to do two things with the device:

  1. Use it's 4G LTE data connection to provide internet to my hard line office network.
  2. Use it's wifi capabilities to provide wireless access to said network (not the MiFi's network), aka act as a wireless router.

Steve Robbins

Posted 2012-03-12T19:00:30.600

Reputation: 190

2You can use both right now. Just connect via wifi to the the mifi router and plug in an Ethernet cable for your work network. Then use static routes to direct the traffic destined for your work network to the gateway in your office and the everything else IE: 0.0.0.0 to the gateway on the mifi router. Pretty simple but I can't show you examples without knowing your work subnet/gateway and your mifi subnet/gateway. – Supercereal – 2012-03-12T19:25:47.983

BTW the mifi unit is already a wireless router (as in it provides Layer 3 functionality and NAT) it just doesn't have Ethernet ports. – Supercereal – 2012-03-12T19:29:55.873

Not clear from your question who is using what connection. Do you want allow your whole office to get internet via your 4G modem via your phone's Wifi? – LawrenceC – 2012-03-12T19:40:09.993

@ultra seems pretty clear to me. He want's to use his mifi router in the office but still have access to his office shares/services. If he wanted the office to have connection they could just connect to the mifi device it broadcasts an ssid and assigns DHCP like any other AP. – Supercereal – 2012-03-12T19:49:13.693

@ultrasawblade Yes. And Kyle, I think you're on to something but I'm not that knowledgeable on network configuration. If you could create an answer and expand on it a little more I would appreciate it. – Steve Robbins – 2012-03-12T20:10:29.107

Answers

1

@stevether I don't understand why you can't use your Mifi device with your work network at the same time. Since you said your office don't have a wireless router, I can only assume you're using Ethernet to connect to your work network. In this case, you are using two network devices to access two different networks, which is a perfectly normal setup. Unless you the IP address range of your Mifi and your office's router happen to overlap.

Maybe you mean your work network is also connected to the internet and when you plug the cable in, all your traffic automatically goes through it even though it's slower? In this case you need to set the precedence of your network connections. Under Windows (Vista and above), open network and sharing center and select "Change adapter settings" on the left. In the new window, press Alt and select Advanced -> Advanced Settings... In the dialog, adjust the list so your wireless connection is higher in the list than the wired connection.

If it's not the case, could you clarify your question?

billc.cn

Posted 2012-03-12T19:00:30.600

Reputation: 6 821

1I see what you're getting at and I could have been clearer. Having to plug the ethernet into the laptop defeats the purpose. Basically I'm looking to gain wireless access to the network using the mifi as a router. I would plug the mifi into one of the desktop machines, set it up however I would need to, then the mifi would rout wireless connections into the existing network, in addition to adding its 4G speed to the network. – Steve Robbins – 2012-03-12T20:38:15.050

Asked: 2012-03-12T19:00:30.600

Viewed: 2 154 times

Active: 2013-01-06T09:30:26.287