Extend MiFi number of users with wireless access point?

Question

Question

Extend MiFi number of users with wireless access point?

by steve2712 Oct 12, 2015 5:41AM PDT

Hi, I am thinking of buying a Huawei E5377 4G mobile WiFi for when we have the occasional internet outage at work. The problem is, the unit only seems to allow a maximum of ten simultaneous users. (We have a strong 4G signal in our office).

We need more users, even if most of them aren't doing much for most of the time.

Is it possible to use a WAP and use this to extend the number of users that can use the MiFi mobile wifi hotspot device?

Thanks

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4 Posts

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Great, thanks

by steve2712 Oct 12, 2015 3:16PM PDT

Thank you.

If it can be done I expect I'll find out how to do it - just wasn't sure if the WAP would work like this or whether the MiFi device would somehow get wind of it and confound the extra wifi connections.

Virtual Router looks interesting too, thanks.

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(NT) Virtual router is your most likely fix.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 12, 2015 5:04PM PDT

Back to Networking & Wireless forum

r. proffitt · Answer 1 · Oct 12, 2015 8:25AM PDT

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Answer

Yes. WAPs can be used.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 12, 2015 8:25AM PDT

There's also Virtual Router but as you must be adept at configuration I stop at yes, no and advice. It's your network so you have to be conversant with networking and setup.
Note: Corrected title.

Post was last edited on October 12, 2015 5:02 PM PDT

r. proffitt · Answer 2 · Oct 12, 2015 5:43PM PDT

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Answer

So armed with VirtualRouter the next limit is

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 12, 2015 5:43PM PDT

Concurrent connection limits. This has nothing to do with client count. If some bad user ran a TORRENT it could be game over as the connections limit over cellular are much lower than a common ISP connection.

http://www.howtogeek.com/183488/is-there-a-limit-on-the-number-of-devices-a-router-can-concurrently-handle/

"Followed by the answer from Daniel B:

There is a (theoretical) absolute limit of 65,535 concurrent connections. When using SNAT or MASQUERADE, that is. As such, the maximum feasible number of devices would be somewhere near 800, to account for closing and opening connections."

For cellular I've seen this concurrent connections be as few as 4. This number is set by the modem and not carved in stone. Most carriers know what their limits are but after you share more by using a router or VirtualRouter this should be the next hurdle.

Somewhere in the middle are folk that don't grasp LANs and want to share across LANs. That's beyond the scope of what I'll discuss here but at a networking manager and builder you have to grapple with that once in a while.

Extend MiFi number of users with wireless access point?

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