getting internet into my home network

you need to tell us what kind of 3G/4G device it is including product name and model and better the URL to download the user manual of possible, as this device controls what kind of WAN and LAN connections to be supported.

Those devices are not normally compatible with routers and switches (I have one of those).

Hook the device to your laptop and get Internet.

Now use Internet Sharing in the Network and Sharing center to share internet.

Did you update the default GW on all systems on the home network to point to the 3G/4G device?
If DHCP is used on both did you disable the DHCP on the home network?

The 3G/4G device is a Huawei B310 LTE CPE.

In the paper "Quick Start" in the box we have a section "Scenario 2: Accessing the Internet using Ethernet" which shows the ethernet cable going to from the unit to an ethernet port in the wall (which is presumably connected to a switch behind the scenes).

Check and see it is also a hotspot. My HUAWEI LTE 8372 IS a hotspot. If so, you can set this up and have all your computers get internet from it . I have done this.

@noci - I was thinking this this 3G device is just like the broadband router I once used (back in the days of fixed lines. Which I could plug straight into the switch and hey presto everything on that switch got internet (without changing default gateway or anything...., or hang on maybe the switch was the default gateway...???)

@John Hurst - my computers are old and don't have wifi cards :(

What I have done in this case is get economical USB Wi-Fi cards. Most computers XP and newer can use these. This may be very helpful to you.

Thanks! I was hoping to be able to just share the internet somehow...

I want to use Remote Web Workspace to access my computers when I'm abroad... If they were all connected by wifi, that would still be okay?

The wifi sounds like a complication.... isn't there a way to get this device to act the same way my old broadband router did?

You can get (from your ISP) an Internet Hotspot that is AC powered, get Internet wirelessly from the ISP and has Ethernet ports that you can plug your computers into. This will work. I have used this as well but it means a different device.

You cannot likely plug your HUAWEI card into your router. That does not work.

@JohnHurst

I'm using a switch now, not a router.

In my old office I had a router, as we had broadband there. But not in my home office.

@noci

now I'm thinking about your answer and realising that I don't know how to look at the network configuration of the 3G/4G device... e.g. its IP address, which default gateway it points at etc.

Anyone know how to do this?

Or maybe its not possible, and this device acts very differently from a router?

Actually I've just read this in the manual (under "Scenario 2: Accessing the Internet using Ethernet")..

"Connect the B310 to a wall-mounted Ethernet port or an ADSL modem for Internet access."

I'm going to try this with the ADSL modem we used to use in the office... which should already be on the same LAN as these computers since they all worked fine in the office 3 months back

If your B310 gets Internet and has an Ethernet port (I think you are saying this) then you can use your switch to connect things up.

@JohnHurst, yes my B310 gets internet and has an Ethernet port...

but doesn't work when just connected directly to the switch.. yet....

i'm going to try putting it behind the ADSL router... and connecting the ADSL router to the switch...

Is the switch new?  It should be running Full Duplex and have 100 Megabit ports.  Make sure you are not trying to connect a new(er) switch with a crossover cable.

@JohnHurst

Yes the switch is new. I'm not sure what you mean by Full Duplex. It is a gigabit switch.

I'm not using a crossover, using UTP.

I've had a look again at the manual (online version here: http://www.manualslib.com/manual/991525/Huawei-B310s.html)

It seems I'm barking up the wrong tree. Scenario 2 is not about serving internet into a LAN via a wall-mounted ethernet port, or much worse an ADSL router. Rather, its about using internet coming *from* the wall-mounted ethernet port *or* the ADSL router... or so it seems to me...

At least further into the manual are instructions for configuring the B310 device's networking (ip address etc.), so I'm going to try that..

Any new switch will be full duplex and have auto sense ports.

Just connect up with a standard Ethernet cable between the switch and the B310 and it should work.

*should work*... but it not always does. Sometime (too many times IMHO) Duplex settings get mixed up. So for real production environments i prefer to use managed switches and place ports in either HD of FD as appropriate.
Speed negotiation mostly works expect for some queer combination of manufacturers of switches.

Generally new (i.e. modern) switches always work for me. I do not need a managed switch in very simple applications.

From the manual I read that the B310 was set to IP address 192.168.8.1. My computers are on 192.168.1.x so how can they work when they're not on the same subnet, no?

I went in and changed the B310 to be have static IP so I could put in on the 192.168.1.x subnet...  but then wifi stopped working (why? I've no idea lol)...

Now I'm going the long way round, changing the subnet of the other devices to be the same as the B310... but how am I going to change the switch?

my computers arent using DHCP because I think the switch is set to 192.168.1.1

anyway, I did some research about changing the IP address of the switch which seemed too risky, as it would require a hardware reset (as I don't know the password, was set up by somebody else)...

So new plan is to use the Draytek router as a switch, as I do know how to reset that and play around with it... its easier all round...

So, all devices going to be set manually to same subnet at the B310... lets see

You should not have to set devices manually. You can, but no need to . Set to DHCP, turn them off and then on and they should get the new subnet.

Doing IP addressing manually is more complicated and error-prone than using DHCP.

I have changed my Home Office subnet more that once and it takes about 10 minutes.

@JohnHurst: Does it matter the order in which I turn on the devices? Should I turn on the B310 first as its got the more "hardwired" preference for IP address?

Or does it act as a DHCP server? and does it tell the other ones automatically if it needs to use the 192.168.8.x subnet (bear in mind that the manual says to find it on 192.168.8.1)

(And yes, setting the other computers to the .8.x subnet means now I can't get on the shares of the server for some reason...)

cheers

Or does it act as a DHCP server? and does it tell the other ones automatically  <-- If it is the source of Internet, yes, for sure.

A standard switch is NOT a DHCP server and neither are devices.

Turn everything off. Everything.

Enable the B310 and turn on the switch attached to it.

Now turn on one computer. Set to DHCP if you did not do already and restart it. It should get an IP from the B310. That is, if it can support more than one device. Try it at least.

Ok, I set the client PC and the server to
obtain an IP address automatically
and obtain a DNS server address automatically

Do I need to do the same for the router, or will it do it automatically?

Furthermore I removed the hardcoded address for a WINS server from the server setup (It was pointing to itself, but hardcoded)

I'm using a switch now, not a router  You do not have a router, so no.

what should be the default gateway, the switch (or in this case the router, acting as a switch), or the B310? thanks

192.168.8.1 or 192.168.8.2 depending on the B310.

"I'm using a switch now, not a router  You do not have a router, so no."
Remember I said above that I started using the router as a switch, because I couldn't find how to login to the switch...?

Sorry, I cannot go back and piece this thread together every time I open it.

Perhaps better to get a true switch to simplify things. You do not want a rouge router doing things you do not understand

Ok, I'll go back to using the managed switch then - the only reason I moved away from it was so I could change the IP address of the router acting as a switch...

One question: does a switch have an IP address?

Not really (at least not standard switches).

Ah, thats what I was thinking, thanks.

so it doesn't matter then if I turn the switch on before or after i turn on the B310?
Or even I don't need to turn it off....

then i turn on the 2 computers *after* the B310.... correct?

Yes

ok, the server looks like its getting internet - super!!!

and the client too...

looks like DHCP was the way forward, thanks @John Hurst

Thanks for the update and I was happy to get you going on this. Looks like it is time to wrap this question up.

thanks for your patience John

Thanks. I sometimes have to work at being patient, but we both learned things and you got going.