Dual WAN Router

tsinc80697 · 30 Jun 2021 at 16:21

The ADSL where I live tops out at 15mb so I've been using Smarty 4G for a few months which has been great but I can't play any more online games with a 150ms ping!

I realised that my Asus RT-86U has dual WAN ability but it seems to be a bit flakey. I have it setup so everything in the house uses the 4G connection, and only specific IPs use the ADSL.

It works great for the 2 machines that are on the ADSL but the but devices on the 4G seems to have intermitent problems that weren't there when I was just running the 4G…so I'm guessing it's an issue with the router.

If I try to download a large file it always fails as the transfer seems to cut out for a second or two during the download. I've also noticed that some http requests seem to hang for a few seconds as if the router is deciding what to do with the request.

Can anyone recommend a dual WAN router, even one without wifi as I'm going to go down the mesh route for that at some point (Netgear Orbi or similar) so I'm not too fussed about wifi performance.

Armageus · 30 Jun 2021 at 16:28

PFSense works well (currently using at work to balance 3 different internet connections) - just need some hardware to put it on

m4rkw7 · 30 Jun 2021 at 17:57

I guess that you have some sort of USB modem or dongle for the 4G. Is it on the supported list for ASUS? Is your router on the latest firmware?

Armageus · 30 Jun 2021 at 18:02

Draytek are a good off the shelf option - they support usb modems, as well as having some specific models that directly accept sim card e.g. 2862ln

tsinc80697 · 1 Jul 2021 at 08:28

m4rkw7 said:
I guess that you have some sort of USB modem or dongle for the 4G. Is it on the supported list for ASUS? Is your router on the latest firmware?

I’m using a Huawei B818 router with the wifi disabled and it wired to Port 1 on the Asus. The ADDL is wired in to the WAN port.

tsinc80697 · 1 Jul 2021 at 08:29

Armageus said:
Draytek are a good off the shelf option - they support usb modems, as well as having some specific models that directly accept sim card e.g. 2862ln

I’ll take a look at Draytek thanks. I need to to keep the 4G router separate from the main router as the signal for 4G is poor unless on a specific room. So the 4G router lives in the office and is hardwired through the house to a media cupboard where the Asus router lives.

Silent Bob · 1 Jul 2021 at 11:28

I use OpenMPTCProuter to aggregate a 20mb VDSL and 10mb 4G connection which was suggested in this thread https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/posts/34752140 . The advantage over load balancing is that a single connection can download at near 30mb. It does require a raspberry pi/spare desktop pc at home plus a VPS subscription though.

Orcvader · 1 Jul 2021 at 12:39

tsinc80697 said:
I’m using a Huawei B818 router with the wifi disabled and it wired to Port 1 on the Asus. The ADDL is wired in to the WAN port.

Another thing to consider is a possible double NAT issue if the Huawei router is still functioning as a router. Is there a modem only mode or bridge mode so the Asus can handle the connection instead?

the-evaluator · 1 Jul 2021 at 12:59

Orcvader said:
Another thing to consider is a possible double NAT issue if the Huawei router is still functioning as a router. Is there a modem only mode or bridge mode so the Asus can handle the connection instead?

Even if bridge mode is an option there will still be NAT potentially getting on the way as the 4G connection will be put through CGNAT. That is unless the 4G contract is specifically for one with a public IP address assigned.

tsinc80697 · 1 Jul 2021 at 13:12

the-evaluator said:
Even if bridge mode is an option there will still be NAT potentially getting on the way as the 4G connection will be put through CGNAT. That is unless the 4G contract is specifically for one with a public IP address assigned.

It is through CGNAT. I tried a third party service to get around this but it caused signifcant speed drops.

tsinc80697 · 1 Jul 2021 at 15:53

Silent Bob said:
I use OpenMPTCProuter to aggregate a 20mb VDSL and 10mb 4G connection which was suggested in this thread https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/posts/34752140 . The advantage over load balancing is that a single connection can download at near 30mb. It does require a raspberry pi/spare desktop pc at home plus a VPS subscription though.

How would this work for gaming and wanting to choose the lower latency connection? Can you specify IPs to use one of the outgoing connections or does the bonding of them always offer the lower latency plus the higher download speed?

Silent Bob · 1 Jul 2021 at 16:17

I get pings of around 10 on vdsl and 40 on 4G. When I try pinging servers it always returns the lower figure. I assume it's prioritising the connection with the lower latency. However it is also possible to force certain domains to always use the VDSL connection and bypass the VPS. I do this for Disney Plus as it's blocked when accessing it via the VPS.