Sharing smart phone mobile data internet hotspot with WiFi router

This is how I shared my mobile data internet hotspot to my non-wireless D-Link DNS320L network attached storage (NAS). This NAS does not have WiFi capability and it only have one Ethernet port for network connection.

What’s the story?

I have been relying on my unlimited data plan on my Android smart phone for most of my internet needs at home and out of home. I don’t have a landline (ADSL or fiber) internet plan as I felt that it’s an unnecessary monthly expenditure.

I can create a WiFi hotspot from my Android smart phone to share my internet connection to my other wireless devices and that works well. But there is a device that I have that doesn’t have WiFi capability. That is my D-Link DNS320L ShareCenter network attached storage (NAS).

This D-Link NAS has only Ethernet network port to be use for connecting to a WiFi router using a network cable. To access the NAS from my laptop, I will need to connect to the WiFi router. By connecting to the WiFi router, I lose my connection to my smart phone WiFi hotspot which also means that I lose my connection to the internet while accessing my NAS.

The WiFi router that I have is the D-Link DIR605L which doesn’t have a capability to join a WiFi access point (in my case is my Android smart phone WiFi hotspot) as the WAN connection to the internet. So I have a NAS that can’t connect to the internet unless I get a WiFi router that support connecting to a WiFi access point as the WAN connection to the internet.

What about buying a new WiFi router?

Buying a new WiFi router will solve this problem but I am interested to find out if there is a way to work around it without spending extra money. After doing some research on the internet, there is a way and it will need an extra device which I already have one collecting dust in my drawer. That extra device required is a Windows 10 PC.

I have an old Asus EeePC netbook that runs on Intel Atom processor and 2GB RAM. This little netbook is not very useful for today’s use due to its extremely low specs relative to the average Windows softwares requirements nowadays.

Cheap solution

The netbook (Windows 10 installed) can be configured to connect to my smart phone WiFi hotspot and share the connection to its Ethernet port which can be connected to the WiFi router via its WAN port. By connecting to the WiFi router WAN port, internet access can be shared with all other devices that are connected to the WiFi router including my D-Link NAS.

This is the perfect solution!

If you are confused how the connection looks like, you can refer to the connection diagram below:

Setting up

1. Create a WiFi internet hotspot from your smart phone.

2. Connect the netbook WiFi to the smart phone WiFi internet hotspot. Now the netbook has a connection to the internet.

3. Go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings.

4. Right click on the Ethernet adapter and select Properties.

5. Click the Sharing tab.

6. Check the Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection check box.

7. Click OK to apply.

8. Since I am using D-Link DIR605L, the following example will be based on this WiFi router. First login to the router through its built-in webpage located at 192.168.0.1.

9. Click the Advanced button located at the bottom of the page right next to the Cancel button.

10. At the Internet Connection Type section, make sure that Dynamic IP (DHCP) is selected.

11. If you make the change, click Save Settings button and reboot the WiFi router.

12. Using an Ethernet cable, connect one end to the netbook Ethernet port and the other end to the WAN port of the WiFi router.

Now I can connect my work laptop WiFi to the WiFi router and I will have an internet connection. At the same time, I can access my D-Link DNS320L network attached storage. My other WiFi devices can also connect to the WiFi router and get internet connection from my smart phone mobile internet hotspot.

The netbook acts as the internet bridge connecting my mobile data internet hotspot to the WiFi router. So every time I need to switch on the WiFi router and the netbook to get the internet connection from the mobile data internet hotspot to the WiFi router. So it’s good to set the power button of the netbook to shutdown and disable auto sleep while the power supply is plugged in.