Advice on 4g Dongle internet back up

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RideTheLightning
Posts: 136
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:08 am

Hi all

I was doing a bit of research into having a dongle 4g internet back up for using either on my desktop PC or laptop in case my main internet connection goes down. I would want the connection to be automatically established immediately if there is a drop out on the main connection. After explaining potential issues with router and dongle hardware compatibility, the poster, “bill001g” on the website below provided the following information:
Now once you get that all figured out the hard problem is how do you do it automatically. They switch really well if you were to unplug the eterrnet cable, but that is not how the internet normally goes down. This also gets into what does "down" mean. What happens if you can get to some internet location but not the ones you really need or you are getting data loss that makes it very slow but it barely functions.

A number of these routers you can give it a ip address to ping to check if the network is up but that is about the best you are going to see. Now if you run third party firmware there are a bunch of scripts people have written to test different things. This option though is not for beginners

You will likely many times have to force it to move manually in the router config page. In any case because you are using different connection(ie IP addresses) all your sessions including VoIP calls will drop and you will have to reestablish them. So you do not want it switching back and forth if the main connection is going up and down a lot.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/i ... outer.html

So, the potential problems seem to be how the router identifies if the connection is down. I know there are some on here that use dongles on computers as internet backups and was wondering how you get around the problems described above? Is there software available from the dongles that allows the user to program a trigger that:

“Activate dongle internet back up if main connection drops for x# of seconds” and
“De-activate dongle internet back up if main connection re-establishes for x# of seconds”?

Does anyone run any type of "third party firmware" to test connections etc in conjunction with a 4g dongle?
Are there any other pitfalls?

Would appreciate any advice before buying any hardware. Thanks in advance.
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ShaunWhite
Posts: 9731
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:42 am

If you mean a 4g dongle with it's own SIM, or a simple wireless USB dongle that you'd connect via say, a smartphone, then auto-swapping is really difficult, if not impossible to do as far as I can tell. ( I swap manually via the windows connection settings, wired to the router or wireless USB configured to use my phone, if my broadband goes down, takes about 3secs)

The solution to your problem is to go for a dual wired/4g router. That moves the connection control off the PC and into the router which is more able to detect a BB outage. Most if not all of these have a fallback function. For what I can tell they work like a normal wired/wireless access point but they also have 1 or 2 SIMs for 4g & 3g fallback. They sound like just the job, one connection to the PC, no PC setup or software, and the access point ( aka dual wired/4g router ) does all the connection management. Some can connect to the internet directly, replacing your existing router, but others will be wired/wireless to your router and work like an access point.

I can't recommend one as I don't do it that way, I'm never far from my system if it's on, but I'd be interested to hear how you get on.
If in doubt, telephone a specialist retailer because it's definatly doable with the right hardware.
RideTheLightning
Posts: 136
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:08 am

ShaunWhite wrote:
Sat Mar 11, 2017 4:25 am
If you mean a 4g dongle with it's own SIM, or a simple wireless USB dongle that you'd connect via say, a smartphone, then auto-swapping is really difficult, if not impossible to do as far as I can tell. ( I swap manually via the windows connection settings, wired to the router or wireless USB configured to use my phone, if my broadband goes down, takes about 3secs)

The solution to your problem is to go for a dual wired/4g router. That moves the connection control off the PC and into the router which is more able to detect a BB outage. Most if not all of these have a fallback function. For what I can tell they work like a normal wired/wireless access point but they also have 1 or 2 SIMs for 4g & 3g fallback. They sound like just the job, one connection to the PC, no PC setup or software, and the access point ( aka dual wired/4g router ) does all the connection management. Some can connect to the internet directly, replacing your existing router, but others will be wired/wireless to your router and work like an access point.

I can't recommend one as I don't do it that way, I'm never far from my system if it's on, but I'd be interested to hear how you get on.
If in doubt, telephone a specialist retailer because it's definatly doable with the right hardware.
Thanks for the advice Shaun. Yes, a dual wired/4g router sounds about right for my situation. I will look into what you said and, once up and running, will post my experience. 8-)
RentonT
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:26 am

Regarding using a 4g dongle with it's own sim... How much data would you be using (per day for example) trading the horses pre-off?
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BetScalper
Posts: 1139
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:47 pm

RentonT wrote:
Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:04 pm
Regarding using a 4g dongle with it's own sim... How much data would you be using (per day for example) trading the horses pre-off?
A great deal I would imagine.
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Euler
Posts: 24700
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
Location: Bet Angel HQ

I use this device: -

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices ... lour=Black

It doesn't auto switch but a couple of clicks, if I have a problem, will switch to it in seconds. If I disconnect the ethernet cable on my PC it will detect it quickly. I also use my iPhone, on a different network, to tether a connection if needed. Using a vps on my iPhone / iPad allows me to switch in seconds and exit if needed.
RentonT
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:26 am

Cheers, I just got the same brand usb dongle with O2 (I have time to return it if I change my mind). Getting 7-8mb download speed in a really rural area which is pretty good. My BT homehub is half that!!! But I am moving out soon anyway.

40GB would be £29 per month. But there are obviously a range of lower tariffs.

I have seen a couple of other threads on the forum about usage amounts but seems a bit vague still.
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Euler
Posts: 24700
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
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Streaming has dramatically cut the usage amounts. I used to do 50Gb a month and now do only 6Gb or so. If you use a VPS it will cut it to tiny amounts.
RentonT
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:26 am

Thanks very much Peter, that is just what I wanted to know. I take it that is your total usage (full time trading) regardless of whether you are using a dongle or not?
RentonT
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:26 am

Also regarding a VPS, I am a fully manual trader, not using any automation. Apart from if I want to trade from abroad I don't think I fully understand the benefits/negatives of a VPS for my trading?
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Euler
Posts: 24700
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
Location: Bet Angel HQ

Y, I monitor everything!

So that is racing or some market, pretty much for seven days a week. Generally midday, or an hour or so later, to 9pm.
RentonT
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:26 am

SUPER!!!
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Euler
Posts: 24700
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
Location: Bet Angel HQ

Actually, I screwed up there. I was reading my current month, last month was 23Gb, still a big reduction. Sorry about that! Last month was very busy so I think that's a fair reflection.
RentonT
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:26 am

No worries, cheers for the help.
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