How to set up redundant internet

valor

Hi,

I'm moving into a new place in Dublin and I want to set it up so that I have 2 internet connections, and that if one goes down, I seamlessly connect to the other so that I don't even notice the first one is going down

Can someone explain to me how I go about doing this?

The first net connection would be with UPC, havent decided what the other one is

I assume I have to buy some sort of special router?

Thanks alot

FruitLover

If you have an old PC knocking around, you could use something like pfSense as a load-balancer or failover router.

Otherwise look for a router with failover/load-balancing capabilities.

Knasher

If you have a router capable running ddwrt (or equivilent) then you should take a look at http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Dual_WAN_with_failover.

It will never be completely seamless (regardless of what hardware you buy) as that would require more advanced routing than a commercial ISP provides. However it should be pretty unnoticeable from a browsing point of view.

accensi0n

Is this mainly for online poker?

What's the time limit on a poker hand? (Just thinking if it's not completely seemless you may still have time for the failover to occur and rejoin your table)

valor

Yes, its for online poker...depends on the circumstances, the specific site, and at what point the internet dies...ie if it dies right before you make your decision then its useless...in general 30 seconds

I dont have either an old cmoputer or a current router, so I need to buy a dual wan router?

Can anybody recommend a particular model?

Cheers

valor

something like this then I imagine ? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Draytek-Vigor-2910-Dual-WAN-Firewall-Router-/160444487456?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item255b3c9720

Once I have the 2 internet connections, is it as simple as plugging them both into the router, configuring router, connecting to it, and then thats it?

Also, recommendations on a secondary ISP in South Dublin near UCD to compliment UPC, ie a adifferent type of connection?

tricky D

There might be issues with IPs changing mid-game which would raise flags for the poker network provider. Not sure tho....

valor

Yeah I was wondering about that maybe being a problem..

Does a dual wan router use one connection at once, or is it trying to use both all the time, which probably wouldnt be any use to me?

Knasher

Its up to you. You can set it up for load balancing and/or failover, with load-balancing you increase your bandwidth but it obviously doesn't have any effect on your round trip time.

If your just using it for fail-over then a midband service would probably be your best bet as you shouldn't be using very much bandwidth at all. The Draytek device does support some usb 3g devices so you should look into that. Cost wise it would probably be the most economical as you will have to pay €25 per month for line rental alone on DSL.

Also tricky D has a point, its possible that the poker site may have been set up to expect communication from a fixed ip. So what your trying to do may not work at all. Depends entirely on how their website is set up.

valor

AH OK, so I configure it for load balancing to split the connections, and failover so it uses one primarily and then the second one if and only if the first one fails? Guess it does what is says on the tin

tricky D

Knasher wrote: »

Also tricky D has a point, its possible that the poker site may have been set up to expect communication from a fixed ip. So what your trying to do may not work at all. Depends entirely on how their website is set up.

Having worked for a poker site, the chances of it being flagged are very high. The main question is what would they do. Some ISPs using dynamic IPs might have IPs changing mid-session, but very many would have them change in the case of reconnects and poker networks would probably have to take this into account, so I'd reckon they'd usually just flag for inspection as opposed to some sort of action. It would be interesting to ask and see what response they have.

valor

Full Till responded saying changing IP's mid session would be no problem

I'm more worried about smaller, crappy sites disconnecting me than the bigger ones

valor

Can anybody in the know confirm for me that I can use http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Draytek-Vigor-2910VG-Dual-WAN-Wireless-Router-VoIP-/350282893993?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item518e7ccaa9

In order to plug in a Cable connection (UPC) and a DSL connection (magnet) and that it will failsafe for me?

valor

Bump to get a resposne to the above post, I want to make sure its the right thing before I buy it

The way I see it is I have modem A from UPC, Modem B from Magnet, they are both plugged into the wall, tehn I plug them both into the Router, and my computer into the Router, and configure the router for failsafe. Then I'm all set?

is it as easy as that?

Cheers