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Would an Android phone make an acceptable 5G modem? (lemdro.id)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted for [email protected]

Just playing around with the idea that I'd use an old phone as a 5g modem that I'd then attach to a regular router. Is this possible, smart/dumb?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I looked into this. It will work, but you might find the device will overheat because it is not designed to be on (as a hotspot) 24/7

[–] YonatanAvhar 3 points 1 year ago

Should be possible, my main concern would be the battery, you'd need to root the device and have some form of battery charge control to make sure it doesn't explode due to being charged to 100% for too long.

As for actually configuring it, Android can do Ethernet tethering if provided with a USB-C to Ethernet dongle, and you can set that up as the WAN of your router, or use it instead of your router and simply use a switch.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

There are some USB-C -> Ethernet adapters with a USB charging port.

If you have one of these, you can use Ethernet tethering to share the phone's Internet connection, but you might need to disable the DHCP server either in the router or the phone (or you could just use a switch instead of a router).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

How would this work in terms of I/O? Even if your phone would work with a USB C to Ethernet adapter to connect it to your router, would you also have the I/O for continuous power draw? Speaking of which, I can't imagine that using an old android phone would be terribly power efficient unless it's a temporary solution.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

A powered USB c hub would probably solve the issue.

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