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Forum Discussion
Is there a way to connect Orbi Netgear Orbi RBK753S-100NAS to an iPhone's cellular Internet?
Say my cable Internet goes down. Is it possible to use the wifi router to the iPhone's cellular?
Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)
12 Replies
No. Sorry. All Netgear routers require an Ethernet cable connection to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) network.
There is a (slim) chance that you could do this:
- Purchase an Ethernet to USB adapter compatible with your model of iPhone (different iPhones have different USB types).
- When the iPhone is connected to the cellular network, move the Orbi Ethernet cable from the ISP device to the iPhone adapter.
- "See what happens"
Obvious concerns are the amount of traffic the iPhone data connection will support (both speed and volume of data).
It might be fun as an experiment, but there are some rather obvious drawbacks:
- If the cell phone is tethered to the home router with an Ethernet cable, it is not much use as a cell phone.
- With the lightning port being used for the Ethernet connection, there would need to be a Magsafe device for charging.
(no idea if the charger would keep up with constant data use)
oops..... Amazon shows a bunch of these adapters that also provide a charging port. Wow! - There seems to be a trade-off between adapters with charging that only support 100mbps speed and (at least one) without charging that supports 1000mbps speed.
- No idea what actual speed a cell phone achieve if it is constantly using the cellular data connection.
(don't cell providers place limits on constant data usage?)
$20 to Amazon will get you one.
How about connecting to the iPhone's personal hotspot wirelessly?
Netgear routers connect only using their Ethernet WAN port. This is what sets "WiFi Extenders" apart from the previous WiFi Access Points (which also required an Ethernet uplink connection).d
Netgear does market systems which connect to both cellular and traditional internet sources and can switch automatically from one to the other, such as the RBK753:
https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/NBK752/NBK752_NA_DS.pdf
The obvious drawback to this sort of product is that it requires a subscription to 5G cellular service (i.e. a monthly charge). Also, customers have to be careful about the firmware release installed on the router and satellite as sometimes Netgear will update one (or the other) without ensuring that they continue to operate correctly in this configuration.
Interesting. Eh, I don't want to add another line and change carrier. The need is very rare too, but could be useful when there's an cable outage.
The need is very rare too, but could be useful when there's an cable outage.
as CrimpOn says, there are some routers out there that will fail over to mobile data, but all the ones I am aware of require their own data plan.
Your Orbi requires an ethernet WAN port. I guess you could get an extender that can connect to your phone's hotspot, and then connect its ethernet port to the Orbi WAN port when your ISP service fails. Very ad-hoc, but could be made to work.
p.s. I am tempted to perform this experiment using an Android phone just to see:
- If it works at all.
- What sort of performance it produces.
- How quickly it eats up my cellular data plan.
Do it. :D
