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Is it possible to share my phone's internet but instead of creating a Hotspot, share it directly to a router through ethernet

Here's my idea: Mobile Phone (LTE) -> USB OTG -> USB Ethernet port -> Cat5e cable -> Router

Btw, my router isn't supported by DD-WRT so that's off the suggestion list.

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  • Reverse tethering is to provide data to a phone. That's not what I was asking. Thanks
    – Martin O
    Sep 25, 2016 at 0:23
  • I think usb tethering is possible for a pc, but it requires rooting and the app needed to interact with Windows. For what it's worth I've seen routers that can take a 3g/4g usb dongle.
    – jiggunjer
    Sep 25, 2016 at 17:15
  • It's definitely possible to setup such a "tethering" route on Linux, and as Android is based on Linux, it should also be possible with rooted Android. However, normally routers offer other bits of infrastructure (e.g. DHCP: clients connecting to the "ethernet hotspot" should get a local IP address, and NAT: local IP addresses use your global IP address) that must be either installed on your phone (not so easy with Android) or work on your router (and you didn't tell us which one you use). So that will be substantial work.
    – dirkt
    Sep 26, 2016 at 14:08
  • Well, DHCP server/daemon is definitely available on almost all Android devices. Otherwise, hotspot over WiFi wouldn't work as well.
    – TJJ
    Jun 6, 2018 at 14:20

4 Answers 4

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Newer Android devices with Android 11 come with Ethernet Tethering support built-in. For example, in this setup, I connected my phone (Galaxy S21) and my laptop over a LAN cable:

Sharing internet over lan

The Android phone acts as a router itself, which allows internet to be shared without an intermediary router. However, I think you can also use it with an existing router using NAT or bridged mode.

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  • I confirm this setup is working on smartphone side using a Pixel4a (Android 12) and a Sitecom CN-378 usb-c ethernet adapter, which also allows to charge the phone.
    – ceztko
    Aug 1, 2022 at 14:14
  • Same, worked great with a Pixel 5a (Android 13) through a Cable Matters USB-C multiport adapter. Tried both the phone as the router and plugging the adapter's Ethernet into the WAN port of regular router and both setups worked fine. Thanks!
    – CletusW
    Mar 26, 2023 at 20:18
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Forget the USB as the intermediate. You can accomplish what you want with a wireless bridge adapter that has a CAT5 LAN port.

Program the wireless bridge to your phone's hotspot and then plug the LAN port on the bridge adapter to your Router's WAN port.

This GL.iNet GL-MT300N Mini Travel Router is probably a good bet, as you can program it with DD-WRT for ultimate flexibility. I think someone in the Q&A section confirmed they are doing what you want with this VONETS VAP11G-300. Pretty sure any wi-fi repeater that has a LAN out port for connecting wired devices should work for you.

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    Why so complicated? If you run OpenWRT on something similar, you can plug in the Android for USB Tethering right away. openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/…
    – Run CMD
    Mar 21, 2020 at 8:34
  • What about using a Ethernet-capable Wifi device (like Wifi router etc.) with wireless CLIENT functionality? Simply connect the wireless client to your Android hotspot and you are all set! :)
    – Kozuch
    Sep 20, 2020 at 14:05
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I've done something similar.

I have an OpenWRT router installed on a VM. I then have another VM on the same server running Ubuntu 20.04.

With Proxmox I can add a new VLAN interface to each VM (basically I have a single ETH port which runs my LAN on VLAN 0, the default VLAN, and on VLAN 100 I have this bridge between OpenWRT and the VM).

Because the VM is running Ubuntu, I have all correct drivers to handle tethering and if I bridge the tethering interface and the VLAN 100 I can add a new interface to OpenWRT (eg. ETH0.100) and get tethering to this virtual ethernet.

The coolest thing about this architecture is that I can even load balance the ethernet network provided by my ISP and tethering devices (luckily mwan3 package works like a charm).

Yes, I know this OpenWRT guide, but unfortunately, USB passthrough to OpenWRT has some issues.

Using OpenWRT on a VM is much more flexible than having it on a router. If you don't have any compatible router (or like me you brick the only one compatible), you should give VM a try.

One possible issue you could have due to VLANs is that you are using a very low-end unmanaged switch which does weird things with VLANs. In this case, you have to buy a managed switch and block all VLANs which aren't useful for your network.

One last thing, if you don't want to use Proxmox (I highly discourage this), I know it is possible to install OpenWRT on Docker, but as far as I know, you will likely to encounter lots of issues.

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Download PDANet.apk....in Play store buy FoxFi license 7.99...turn on pdanet check usb connect and hide tethering. On PC download same version of pdanet for windows...open it and settings check auto connect usb. Plug phone into PC usb ..boom you have a tethered connection 10.0.19.2 255.255.255.0....go to PC Ethernet connection and manually set ipv4 address 10.0.19.3 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.0.19.1hook Ethernet cable to router wan port...login to router and change wan ip manually to 10.0.19.4 255.255.255.0....you can WiFi all your other devices to router and the PC will Jank route to your usb connected 4G or 5G

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