Guidance - Dual WAN small single network

[marsofearth]

Hello I am looking for some guidance on setting up a Dual WAN setup for a small network.

The only feasible high speed internet connections are via cellular with the option of 2 different service providers (Telus, Rogers). The cellular modems ZTE MF275R provided have no UI setting for bridge mode. The DHCP server can be turned off however.

I started with just the Linksys WRT-1900AC router and manually switching modems when one service went down or data volume was close to reaching cap.

I picked up a TL-ER6020 for a very reasonable price and simply "plug & play" set it up, with Telus on WAN1 and Rogers on WAN2, set to load balance (all the time) and it ran very nicely for about 2 weeks, balancing the loads very well between the Telus and Rogers connections.

A few days ago, our Telus connection went down on WAN1 and the TL-ER6020 did not fail back to the WAN2 connection. In fact even setting the WAN2 as primary and only connection did not help. Connecting the Rogers to WAN1 did work after reseting WAN1 to Primary. After quite a bit of testing it appears the WAN2 port is faulty, but after speaking to TP-Link they suggested TL-ER6020 is not suitable for the type of service I was placing it in.

So, my question is; what type of dual wan router should I be using for my situation? Any tips or ideas are much welcome. Thank you!

Image illustrating the Network layout with unsuccessful TL-ER6020 Dual Wan setup:

 

[chadster766]

The easiest setup would be the Linksys LRT224.

You could do this in the WRT1900AC alone with LEDE\OpenWRT (easier but still complex), McDebian (most complex) or possibly DD-WRT (easiest) firmwares.

 

[marsofearth]

The easiest setup would be the Linksys LRT224.

You could do this in the WRT1900AC alone with LEDE\OpenWRT (easier but still complex), McDebian (most complex) or possibly DD-WRT (easiest) firmwares.

Interesting, so OpenWRT loaded on the WRT1900AC will open a LAN port as another WAN? This would be ideal. Do you have experience using a WRT1900AC or similar this way?

 

[chadster766]

I recommend using a LRT224 because it's not expensive and designed for the job but I you have good Linux technical knowledge that the open source firmware on the WRT1900AC would be fun and challenging.

The WRT1900AC has a built in DSA switch which means all ports can be turned into individual Ethernet interfaces.

wan, lan1, lan2, lan3, lan3, wlan0, wlan1

For OpenWRT you only need to Google "OpenWRT dual wan" and for McDebian "debian dual wan" to find out how.

 

[marsofearth]

Thanks Chadster766

I will investigate these options. I like the idea of the LRT244 as a plug&play solution, but I may have a spare WRT1900AC I can play with, and possibly use as a backup system.