Connecting multiple hotspots with tether, repeater, and WAN

jjaj823 · 2022-04-07T17:07:49.093Z

Hello everyone!

I live in an RV full-time, and have several sources of internet, all cellular connections of one type or another.

For hardware, I have the following:

Netgear M1 router providing LTE via ethernet
A OnePlus Nord 10 for tethered use
Another hotspot for LTE that is wifi-only
MT1300 (not currently in use - yet)
TP-Link AX1800 router

What I would like to do is have all three cellular sources connected to the MT1300. The tethered phone and M1 hotspot connections seem relatively straight-forward. The ‘gotcha’ I see so far is in adding the connection for the wifi-only hotspot. I don’t need to use the AX1800, but I have it if required.

Is it possible to configure the phone (via tether), the M1 (via WAN port), and the wifi-only hotspot (via repeater) together? Or, would I have to add another device to “convert” the wifi-only hotspot to an ethernet connection first (such as GL-iNet Mango)? Or, is this just not possible?

Any advice or recommendations welcomed!

Thanks in advance!

wcs2228 · 2022-04-07T21:53:28.477Z

There is no problem at least connecting M1 to WAN port over Ethernet cable and LTE hotspot to WWAN over wifi repeater at the same time. It “should” also be feasible to connect Nord 10 over USB tethering, although I have not tried it myself.

The priority order is configured in the /etc/config/mwan3 file, with WAN, then WWAN, then Tethering:

How to find active interface, does it prefer WAN over 4G? Technical Support for Routers

Is there an easy way to find the active interface connected to the Internet? I’ve got a puli with a 4G SIM and also connected to my DSL router via the WAN port. If the WAN port disconnects, I see that the connection swaps to the 4G mobile connection (and the VPN re-connects). If I plug back in the WAN port to my DSL router, does the puli (or any other gl-inet device with dual WAN) switch back to the faster DSL. I guess what I’m asking is if the WAN port takes precedence over the 4G connectio…

There may be time delays between switching over from one connection to another connection.

I do not work for and I do not have formal association with GL.iNe

alzhao · 2022-04-08T10:12:24.603Z

You can connect 3 connections at the same time.

It use one Internet and then failover to the next one. The priority order is: cable > wireless wan > tethering.

jjaj823 · 2022-04-11T20:33:19.950Z

Thanks all for the answers!

I was able to get the connections set up and working, but for some reason, the WWAN is always used first. If I disconnect that, the WAN connection works fine…any thoughts on why this might be happening?

Appreciate your collective assistance so far!

wcs2228 · 2022-04-11T20:48:28.774Z

You can log in via SSH and check the /etc/config/mwan3 file. The “metric” value determines the priority from 1-WAN (highest), 2-WWAN, 3-tethering, 4-modem (lowest), like this:

config member 'wan_only'
	option interface 'wan'
	option metric '1'
	option weight '3'

config member 'wwan_only'
	option interface 'wwan'
	option metric '2'
	option weight '3'

config member 'tethering_only'
	option interface 'tethering'
	option metric '3'
	option weight '3'

config member 'modem_only'
	option interface 'modem'
	option metric '4'
	option weight '3'

Also, check that the M1 WAN provides a stable Internet connection, so that the router does not switch over to WWAN hotspot.

I do not work for and I do not have formal association with GL.iNet

alzhao · 2022-04-12T06:57:15.202Z

The router use ping to detect Internet. Make sure your wan connection can allow ping

jjaj823 · 2022-04-13T13:11:35.803Z

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and assistance!

I changed the WWAN configuration to a metric of 2. It appears as though more of my data is flowing through the M1 WAN, so I’m going to monitor this and see how things go over the next couple of days. Thanks again!

alzhao · 2022-04-14T02:11:20.828Z

One thing, there is a metric in /etc/config/network. You should use that metric value. It seems take priority over the one in /etc/config/mwan3

jjaj823 · 2022-04-15T18:36:45.710Z

Thank you! Everything seems to be working as intended for now. Thank you for your assistance!