Dual WAN setup help needed

[RickMo]

Current setup: ISP #1: Cable to modem to WiFi router, ISP #2: Verizon LTE Home Internet WiFi router (ASK-RTL108).

Objective: Combine both incoming Internet connections into one network, while allowing all connected computers to see/use resources and computers.

Thinking of purchasing Tp-link TL-R470t+ (or anything similar) but I'm unsure how to configure the TP Link to accommodate the two ISPs. I'm guessing I connect the TP Link to the output of the cable modem, but do I take the LAN output of the Verizon router and connect it to the TP Link? And then how do I configure it?

Thanks in advance...

 

[L&LD]

You need a router that can do dual WAN. There are not too many consumer routers that can do that dependably.

I don't know if the TP-Link can, but Asus routers have that option.

How fast are the speeds up/down of each ISP? That will indicate what level of router you should be looking at.

 

[degrub]

Cisco RV series dual Wan routers.

 

[RickMo]

You need a router that can do dual WAN. There are not too many consumer routers that can do that dependably.

I don't know if the TP-Link can, but Asus routers have that option.

How fast are the speeds up/down of each ISP? That will indicate what level of router you should be looking at.

The TP Link router I mentioned is Dual Wan-capable. The up/down speeds are 150 mb/38 mb and 45 mb/6 mb. I'm not as interested about trying to increase speed, but because of the many power outages, I'm looking for a continuous, reliable internet connection.

 

[Trip]

@RickMo - Not sure if you've picked a solution yet, and I'd expect (hope?) the TP-Link would function well enough, but if you really want to ensure solid fail-over, I'd lean more towards a Cisco RV or Peplink Balance. They'll be more costly, yes, but they're proven to handle multi-WAN properly, and as @L&LD said, that goes a long way in this space, because not a lot of SMB-grade devices can do it correctly, straight out of the box (to say nothing of consumer gear).

Here's an example diagram of how you'd connect everything, using a Cisco RV340 as the multi-WAN router:

Notes: Since the ASK-RTL108 doesn't offer bridging or IP pass-through mode, you'll have to use a LAN port as "WAN 2" on the RV340. You'd run your local network, both wired (LAN) and wireless (WLAN) from the RV340 and the wireless router your already own, running in "AP Mode", connected to one of the RV340's LAN ports. This will allow for all devices to simply be connected to one local network, while the RV340 manages the WAN connections and fails over seamlessly if cable (WAN 1) or cellular (WAN 2) should go down. Make sense?

Any questions, feel free.

 

[RickMo]

@Trip -- Thanks so much for the helpful diagram. I'm just about ready to put it all together. On the advise from another forum user, I purchased a Cisco RV340, and he offered the same advice as you. A pity the LTE modem can't be bridged, but I think I've enough info to proceed. I may be posting again here if I have questions. Thanks so much!

 

[Trip]

@RickMo - Excellent. Best of luck with the build-out and config. We're here if you need us.

 

[RickMo]

Thanks again, @Trip. A little more research and I'll be ready to forge ahead. Though... I have this awful feeling that it won't happen easily. But, nonetheless....

 

[RickMo]

@Trip - Wow! I'm shocked. It went together smoothly. The Setup Wizard walked me through it and I was up and running quickly. Now that it's up and running I have two questions: Does this dual WAN setup increase the download/upload speed if both WANs are up and running? (It seems so.) And, I'm guessing it'll maintain an Internet connection even if one ISP fails. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Trip]

@RickMo - Glad it's gone so well thus far.

Regarding the speed bump -- yes and no. By default, the RV340 is setup to send normal TCP sessions across both links, which tends to give the casual observer the illusion that you really are "combining" both into one, when, in fact, they are still separate in such a setup, and things like HTTPS or UDP traffic can only be sent over a single link per session (and utilize only as much as that single link's max bandwidth).

FYI, to truly fuse/bond links, you need a bonding appliance at either end -- both at the customer premise and upstream at the first on-internet POP (ie. datacenter). Peplink offers such a product, which they call SpeedFusion. There are some other products which do a slightly better job at "quasi-bonding" just from the customer end, using fancier protocols, such as Multipath TCP (or MPTCP), but in the end, they're mostly bound to the same limits you'll find with the RV340. So, presuming things like SpeedFusion and similar aren't worth it for you (and I'd presume they wouldn't be), you've pretty much got the simplest and best setup possible, without breaking the bank or getting needlessly complex.

 

[RickMo]

I did look into SpeedFusion but I wanted something that was whole-house, network encompassing. You're right: The Cisco was the answer. Thanks again. Really appreciate your time and help.

 

[Avery]

Hello @RickMo - seeing that you implemented this setup about a year ago. I am considering essentially the same setup with the RV340. Are you using both of your WAN connections concurrently or using Verizon strictly as a failover/backup? If for failover only, how do you find it works?

 

[coxhaus]

Having seen the setup screens years ago, I have owned a RV340 router since 2017 I think you can do either. But I have not run dual WAN. I see no point for dual WAN for home as you can buy 1 gig internet which would be faster than I can use.
For a business where you are paying wages you do not want the internet to go down. You need a backup.

 

[Tech9]

I am considering essentially the same setup with the RV340.

It works perfectly, but Cisco RV34x routers will be End-of-Support at the end of 2022.

 

[coxhaus]

More than likely there will be a replacement for the Cisco RV340 router. I think the chip shortage is coming into play here.

When you hit EOL you still have 3 to 6 months maybe more before you need to stop using the router. If you want to buy one now you will need to buy it used as they are EOS now.

 

[Tech9]

I'll be definitely using my RV345P's until something critical comes up. Plans to upgrade at the end of 2022, eventually. I believe you're good with your RV340 too. I still have one RV320 in use in my parent's house, works perfectly fine with 2x ISP's in fail over.

 

[Avery]

When you hit EOL you still have 3 to 6 months maybe more before you need to stop using the router. If you want to buy one now you will need to buy it used as they are EOS now.

It sounds like security patching ends in 10 months.... if a zero-day vulnerability hits, you're exposed, right?

 

[Avery]

I see no point for dual WAN for home as you can buy 1 gig internet which would be faster than I can use.

Working at home 90% of the time for both wage earners sets a different standard for the need for redundancy these days

 

[Tech9]

TP-Link ER605 router for $60 does Multi-WAN properly as well.

Omada Gigabit VPN Router

Omada ER605 supports Gigabit Ethernet connections on both WAN and LAN ports and multiple VPN protocols and high-security, high-performance VPN capabilities, making employees’ remote connections to their main offices as secure as if they were in the main office.

www.tp-link.com

 

[coxhaus]

It sounds like security patching ends in 10 months.... if a zero-day vulnerability hits, you're exposed, right?

Yes, but they don't happen that often. There are lots of consumer routers right now that are exposed. It really depends on how bad it is. Some of the vulnerabilities are difficult to implement.

The one TP-Link router I ran had terrible firmware as it was not well written. They never even fixed it before they outdated the hardware.