Asus RT-AC5300 and Dual Wan load balancing configuration

[Smokey613]

According to @Tech9, the configuration for my purpose should be easy.

What's the default IP address ?

The default LAN IP is 192.168.0.1 on a /24 network.

You may want to change that to something that will not conflict with ISP routers/modems that may default to the same schema.

I chose 192.168.230.1 so I was pretty certain there would not be any conflicts.

 

[HarlockP4]

The default LAN IP is 192.168.0.1 on a /24 network.

You may want to change that to something that will not conflict with ISP routers/modems that may default to the same schema.

I chose 192.168.230.1 so I was pretty certain there would not be any conflicts.

it's perfect, that range is unused

 

[Tech9]

Check if your TIM modem/router can be used in Bridge Mode as modem only. This will make the ER605 your Internet Gateway with no double NAT. Your USB dongle should be set in Link Backup mode with no Load Balancing. You don't need to eat your LTE data when your primary WAN is up.

 

[HarlockP4]

Check if your TIM modem/router can be used in Bridge Mode as modem only. This will make the ER605 your Internet Gateway with no double NAT. Your USB dongle should be set in Link Backup mode with no Load Balancing. You don't need to eat your LTE data when your primary WAN is up.

I've already disabled everything on Technicolor to force it work only as Modem, there is no a specific option to change the operation mode.
No way to avoid the double NAT
I would like to have my usb dongle in hot mode since I have no limit on data traffic

 

[Smokey613]

There is a question on that subject I came across on another forim.

They recommend checking the Load Balance regardless if you plan to actually run Load Balancing or Failover.

The mode of operation is mainly influenced by your link backup settings. This is where some settings are not intuitive.

As you can see in this photo, it shows my secondary link offline when in fact, I can still access my fiber modem as well as the Plex server directly connected to that modem from behind my AX86U_Pro.

 

[Smokey613]

I was running a USB Modem as a third failover but changed wireless carriers and have not yet gotten another USB modem from the new carrier.

 

[Smokey613]

More info…

 

[Smokey613]

If you can not place your ISP device in Bridge or Pass Through mode, then place the ER605 in a DMZ on the ISP device. This is what I have to do.

Then on the ER605, place your Asus in a DMZ. I know, triple NAT but it has been working great for me without any issues.

The Wireguard server and DDNS work great on my AX86U Pro.

 

[HarlockP4]

Check if your TIM modem/router can be used in Bridge Mode as modem only. This will make the ER605 your Internet Gateway with no double NAT. Your USB dongle should be set in Link Backup mode with no Load Balancing. You don't need to eat your LTE data when your primary WAN is up.

Fresh update I found a guide that explain how to turn off NAT on Technicolor and I did it

 

[Smokey613]

I hope it works. My cable modem supports Bridge Mode but it was never stable.

I am sure it is due to the way my cable ISP handles their network, hence the reason for my triple NAT usage.

 

[HarlockP4]

If you can not place your ISP device in Bridge or Pass Through mode, then place the ER605 in a DMZ on the ISP device. This is what I have to do.

Then on the ER605, place your Asus in a DMZ. I know, triple NAT but it has been working great for me without any issues.

The Wireguard server and DDNS work great on my AX86U Pro.

This is note.

Double DMZ

 

[Smokey613]

Yes, I have used double/triple NAT with multiple DMZ forwarding for a long time and have never had an issue. It can get tricky sometimes.

 

[Smokey613]

I was running a USB Modem as a third failover but changed wireless carriers and have not yet gotten another USB modem from the new carrier.

Got my new USB modem in and online with the ER605 !!

 

[HarlockP4]

@Smokey613

Got a question: I received the TP-Link right now, is there a way to allow TP-Link to see all the devices connected to Asus without turning Asus into an access point? I think I have to disable NAT and DHCP on Asus but not totally sure.

For sure I need to assign a static IP for Asus into TP-Link

 

[Smokey613]

@Smokey613

Got a question: I received the TP-Link right now, is there a way to allow TP-Link to see all the devices connected to Asus without turning Asus into an access point?

No, it will not see anything but your Asus if the Asus is in normal router mode.

 

[Smokey613]

To be honest, the best use of the ER605 in “stand alone” configuration is as a multi wan device.

If used with a TP-Link Omada controller and AP units it can do a lot more.

 

[HarlockP4]

No, it will not see anything but your Asus if the Asus is in normal router mode.

it should be nice to have tp-link to see these devices to better use the load balancing feature based on services

I found this reply surfing around

t can be very useful if you have several routers connected in cascade. This can be interesting for example if you have several wired devices connected to a router in a room, and some others connected to another router in a different room, or if you want to have several WiFi access points in different rooms using different routers. Disabling NAT in the second and lower level routers will make all the devices to be visible between them and share the same subnetwork as if they were all connected to the "top" router. If you don't disable NAT in these routers, the devices connected to the second level routers will see those in the first level through their particular internal IP, but this won't be the case in the other direction.

 

[Smokey613]

I'm sure @Smokey613 will help you, but there is nothing much to configure. See the GUI Emulator above. I can't save settings there, but it's easy like home router configuration:

In WAN you define interfaces:

View attachment 50486

Then the properties of each:

View attachment 50487

Then you select Load Balancing or Link Backup:

View attachment 50488

You also have DDNS options:

View attachment 50490

You have to experiment with DDNS on the router if you need DDNS. I use updater software on a client on my dual WAN networks (different routers though) for faster reaction and current WAN IP detection. My routers are in Link Backup mode.

You can use your AC5300 in Router or AP Mode just like before.

The DDNS on the ER605 updates hourly. I used to use a client on a pc for updating. Now I use the DDNS provided by Asus on the AX86U Pro.

 

[HarlockP4]

@Smokey613

I have 2 question for you:

1) I would like to use tplink in failover mode because my USB modem has a low signal, what's the correct settings to use it in failover mode and not load balancing?
2) what's the correct setting for DMZ in tp-link? can you provide me an example?

 

[Smokey613]

The Load Balance setting is a little confusing.

If you are running Dual WAN then enable Load Balancing regardless of any other settings.

The settings in the Link Backup tab will actually determine how the WAN links are used.

In your case:

your Primary WAN interface would be: WAN

your Backup WAN interface would be: USB Modem

The MODE would be: Backup when all primary WANs fail

NOTE: In my case, I use both WAN and WAN/LAN as Primary since I have 3 WAN connections.

The

• Enable Application Optimized Routing

settings allow using Load Balancing on my two WAN ports without causing issues using secure online services like banking.

It is amazing how far superior the ER605 handles all this versus an Asus router.