How-To Geek
DIY 3G Hotspot Brings Home Internet Access Wherever You Get a 3G Signal
You’re outside the reach of local broadband networks but you want to browse the web with ease. Build a whole-house 3G-to-WiFi router to pull down high-speed wireless internet instead.
The above photo shows the external installation of a DIY 3G-to-WiFi router. The box and the antenna at the peak of the roof hold everything necessary to pull down a 3G signal and shift it to the home network for high-speed internet access inside the house. The design is quite thorough and involves exhaust fans to cool the box in the summer and a small ceramic heating element to keep it warm enough in the winter. Total cost for the project was $160. Hit up the link below for the full build guide including schematics.
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Comments (4)
Jason Fitzpatrick is warranty-voiding DIYer and all around geek. When he's not documenting mods and hacks he's doing his best to make sure a generation of college students graduate knowing they should put their pants on one leg at a time and go on to greatness, just like Bruce Dickinson. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 11/1/11
My company has a number of retail stores in smaller towns, and most have some form of broadband internet. However, one of our stores, in an area surrounded by big box stores, was in a dead zone. There was cable internet a mere 300 ft away, but they said our address wasn’t serviceable and DSL wasn’t available either (at the time). Luckily, 3G had just arrived in the area! For three years we ran the time clocks, credit card terminals, and our back office computer off of a 3G dongle plugged into a USB / CAT-5 combo router. I just finished installing the replacement DSL connection last week. It was pretty reliable, but not as reliable as a DSL connection.
this is totally USELESS when the greedy cellphone companies no longer allow unlimited access.
It’s a total JOKE
I use an air card, a trucker antenna and a router to provide internet for my house. With no options like cable, dsl or even dial up available in the boonies where I live, it was that or satellite. The air card is much faster, cheaper and more reliable than satellite ever thought of being. Oh yeah, it’s unlimited too.
What is that aircard.? Sounds like it can help me