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Forum Discussion
Aggregation using iPhone as data source?
Ok, random thought - probably a no-no.. We had ISP issues this morning and it got me wondering if it’s possible to use an iPhone with an RBK853 - which has WAN aggregation - to supplement out intern...
WAN Aggregation on the 850 router refers to the ability to connect two Ethernet cables to a single modem to increase the data rate above 1gigabit. Before modems started coming with 2.5G, 5G, and now 10G Ethernet jacks, that was the only way to get more than 1G into the router. Modems are all abandoning that technology in favor of simply faster Ethernet ports.
That is not the same thing as supporting two different WAN sources
p.s. If I understand correctly, the goal is to provide internet access to the entire network when the primary Internet Service Provider (ISP) has failed. A brief search turned up conflicting information about this possibility.
- There definitely are Ethernet to Lightning converters on the market.
- It is not clear (to me) what use can be made of such a connection.
My Samsung Android tablet, for example, is a "WiFi only device". (i.e. it has no Ethernet connector.) Using a USB-C to Ethernet device, I can connect the tablet directly to a router using Ethernet and thus access the web. This is similar to using a USB-Ethernet device on a laptop which has no Ethernet capability.
Perhaps a Lightning to Ethernet converter will enable an iPhone to be connected to a network in the same manner.
(A key to this may be finding "Ethernet" in the Network Settings of the iPhone. It is clearly there on my Samsung tablet, but I do not see a similar entry on my Moto E or Sony Xperia phones. However, both of those phones allow me to create a WiFi "Hot Spot" that allow devices to use the LTE data connection on the phone. - Some of the articles mention using the Lightning to Ethernet device to "tether" Ethernet devices to the iPhone. Would this include tethering an Orbi router? Might be fun to find out! (Just personally, I would drag one of my old routers out of the "Box of Stuff" and try that first.)
- I have no idea how many devices the NAT inside smartphone Hot Spots can support, or what would happen when the cellular network discovers this phone chewing up enormous bandwidth.
Most of the time when people post on the forum about Redundant WAN connections, the goal is to have two simultaneous ISP connections live all the time: one Primary and another as backup (usually LTE cellular connection). The Orbi does not support that, so these people purchase a router that does support multiple WAN connections and use it to "front" the Orbi.
They want the failover and recovery to be almost instantaneous, not "oh s**t, the internet is down, when Dad gets home with his iPhone, maybe he can find that Gizmo he bought and do whatever he says will make the internet work again."
Actually, this sounds like fun. I just might dig out an old router and see what happens.