Would any Mikrotik device have the capability of connecting to a cell phone? What I would like is to have two WAN connections, one provided by my somewhat unreliable ISP, and the other provided by a cell phone with a data plan. The device, along with the cell phone, would be located on a tower where there is 3G or better cell reception (cell reception is terrible in and around my house). The device would normally route via the ISP, but in the event that the internet were unreachable that way, it would switch temporarily to the cell phone.
No problem at all. I use this with a mAP Lite when travelling, but also with a hAP Lite and hAP ac Lite. I think just any indoor MKT will do. (Outdoor specific devices might lack the personal hotspot frequencies.) There is a problem with IOS is some cases, if the MKT connected to another network before. and had another IP address. The DHCP lease renewal is not triggered in IOS (iPhone). Apple users have this in their forum for years with all sorts of non-Apple clients. This is the case in my setup, as I use the “connect list” to make the MKT scan for all possible solutions, and the personal hotspot is the last one in the row. Android gives no problem. A smartphone may go to sleep if there is no traffic. A “mobile router” or mifi router would be more reliable.
For stationary ISP connections with terrible 3G/4G coverage, the “SXT LTE kit” gives a much better connection than a smartphone or some other indoor unit. But you need a SIM card in the “SXT LTE kit”, as in the mifi router.
Thanks, the SXT LTE kit sounds like what I need. Now if I can only find one in Ecuador.
Ecuador? Check if you need the “SXT LTE kit” or the “SXT LTE kit-US”. They have a different set of 3G/4G frequencies.
Doing some more reading on “SXT LTE kit”, and also on the “LHG LTE kit”. I had been thinking that these devices would have both 5 GHz and LTE built in, but it looks like they only work as LTE devices. If that is the case, then I guess I would put a device for 5 GHz and another for LTE on the tower, and connect both to a router with two ports configured as WAN. Then, I would somehow configure RouterOS on the router to dynamically change its routing rules, depending on whether the 5 GHz connection was responding. Does that sound right? Would someone here care to comment?
Yes, sounds OK. Also check this for the dynamic change: http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/advanced-routing-failover-without-scripting/136599/1
A lot of specific 5GHz devices to look at … SXTsq 5 ac and many others.
There are a lot of “5GHz +LTE” devices , but with much lower antenna gain.