Alternative internet connection over mobile network?

[t_andersen]

This may be a stupid question and then easy to answer for some of you smart guys. I run a surveillance and home automation system in a vacation home but the internet is not always reliable, so I now and then lose connection to the vacation house LAN from outside. I usually connect via remote desktop on Windows 10. It would be very useful if I somehow could set up an alternative internet connection to the LAN via a cell phone network. I have seen a unit on the internet some time ago that could do just that but it was rather expensive and required a special IP address arrangement with the cell phone company.

My question is then: Are there any inexpensive cell phone network solutions that let you connect to your LAN from a remote computer? I am thinking of something like Arduino or Raspberry, or hooking up an old smartphone permanently?

 

[bp2008]

There are routers that can use a cellular modem as a fallback in case the main internet goes down. Some such routers have the modem built in, while many others require a USB modem to be attached. I'm not an expert on the cheap solutions. I used fairly expensive ($300+) Peplink routers whenever I needed to set that up.

It helps to use remote desktop software like Teamviewer which doesn't require you to have your own public IP address.

 

[Fastb]

check these thread:
Setting up VPN, using cellular modem
Seeking A Remote Surveillance Camera System
Cellular Modem for remote access to NVR

I bought a Cradlepoint cellular modem from ebay, and a 2GB data plan for it. I used it for a M2M (IoT) connection, so I could surf in remotely. Using a cell phone was not possible, I forget all the details. Connecting inbound to a cell phone doesn't create a data connection with an ip address to talk to the NVR. A cellular modem, OTOH, provides an ip address. But you may need to pay for a fixed ip address. Using DDNS to maintain a data connection consumes too much bandwidth, just to keep the ink alive. Without a static ip, you get dynamic ip, meaning everytime you connect to your cellular provider, you get a different ip addr. So no way to surf in, since you don't have an ip address. Verizon wanted $500 to get a static ip (additonal ip addresses are cheaper, after the intial outlay)
The cradlepoint worked well. Sending snapshots (after an "event") consumed data. The real consumption occurs when you surf in to view live video, or playback video. Consider your monthly data consumption, that will determine the data plan you need. For my job site monitoring, it was too expensive.

The cradlepoint isn't cheap. But it's a wired router, a WiFi router, and cellular modem. The failover capability is pretty slick, so you only use cellular when the other two internet connections go down.

Good luck,
Fastb

 

[DWW0311]

check these thread:
Setting up VPN, using cellular modem
Seeking A Remote Surveillance Camera System
Cellular Modem for remote access to NVR

I bought a Cradlepoint cellular modem from ebay, and a 2GB data plan for it. I used it for a M2M (IoT) connection, so I could surf in remotely. Using a cell phone was not possible, I forget all the details. Connecting inbound to a cell phone doesn't create a data connection with an ip address to talk to the NVR. A cellular modem, OTOH, provides an ip address. But you may need to pay for a fixed ip address. Using DDNS to maintain a data connection consumes too much bandwidth, just to keep the ink alive. Without a static ip, you get dynamic ip, meaning everytime you connect to your cellular provider, you get a different ip addr. So no way to surf in, since you don't have an ip address. Verizon wanted $500 to get a static ip (additonal ip addresses are cheaper, after the intial outlay)
The cradlepoint worked well. Sending snapshots (after an "event") consumed data. The real consumption occurs when you surf in to view live video, or playback video. Consider your monthly data consumption, that will determine the data plan you need. For my job site monitoring, it was too expensive.

The cradlepoint isn't cheap. But it's a wired router, a WiFi router, and cellular modem. The failover capability is pretty slick, so you only use cellular when the other two internet connections go down.

Good luck,
Fastb

Ditto. I tried this for a while using an EHWIC-4G-LTE-A in a Cisco 2901. It worked well, but the data charges got really expensive really quick, so it had to go. They have since started offering "unlimited" plans, so maybe it's a viable option now.

 

[Fastb]

6 months ago, an M2M data plan (no voice, but w/ an IP connection in & out, didn't offer "unlimited". "Unlimited" applied to cell phone only to watch sports, Netflix, music, etc.
But things are changing frequently.
YMMV

 

[t_andersen]

Thanks for the good input, guys! After studying the links, it occurs to me that you can get really inexpensive cellular modems in USB sticks and mount them in the BI PC. Obviously one needs to check that the cellular network provider uses public IP addresses. Is a DDNS service really that traffic intensive? You would think that sending an IP address now and then doesn't take much bandwidth.

I do not have in mind to transmit video surveillance files but I am interested in getting "engineering" access to the system to try to fix an error condition (say reboot router after a thunderstorm). I think others have the same need.

 

[DWW0311]

Thanks for the good input, guys! After studying the links, it occurs to me that you can get really inexpensive cellular modems in USB sticks and mount them in the BI PC. Obviously one needs to check that the cellular network provider uses public IP addresses. Is a DDNS service really that traffic intensive? You would think that sending an IP address now and then doesn't take much bandwidth.

I do not have in mind to transmit video surveillance files but I am interested in getting "engineering" access to the system to try to fix an error condition (say reboot router after a thunderstorm). I think others have the same need.

Brakes. Unless you have some sort of very robust firewall on that box, you'll be opening it up to a public footprint. Bad mojo.

 

[Fastb]

Some other threads that might help. The first thread below explains how low data consumption could go...
Make sure you expand the quoted text box to see the details from @gmaster1 , such as this tidbit:
2GB/mo for everything. Tuning this setup properly is the difference between spending an arm and a leg and knowing and accounting for every byte (not kilobyte) so that you can scale accordingly. When I started this years ago I purposefully limited my test account to 1GB a month and was still able to do 30min FTP, off-site alerts w/ video, and live-view in under 800MB/mo.

4G LTE setup
What is consuming my cellular data?

Fastb

 

[gmaster1]

Don't get a public IP -- Most cell providers don't even offer it. The ones that do charge a fortune for it. You don't and won't want one over 3G/4G--trust me

I'm still deploying 4G powered setups here and there. I've been on a kick lately to do PtP bridging now that the technology has FINALLY become a cost effective and stable alternative, but you can't beat 4G at times.