Load balancing router

Happy_Harry

The background:
I used to have Imagine and Eir Mobile broadband. I currently have 2 Wireless LANs as a result, which is a pain for things like plex and printer.
I am ditching Imagine and replace with another EIR subscription , as it is half the price and more stable.

I can't make do with just one as a) sometimes there is simply too much streaming going on in the house simultaneously and b) I use more than 750GB per month.

The need/want :
I would like to have one Wireless LAN, I guess with a load balancer to utilise both EIR connections at the same time, the router deciding which device uses which connection.
I need to have session stickiness, as banking applications don't like change of IP address mid-session and I can see similar issues when gaming.
I would also like to have some sort of QoS, so that for example web conference traffic or gaming traffic gets priority over streaming or browsing.

I want to make sure that the traffic splits between 50/50 and 70/30 so I don't go over the 750GB limit from either subscription.

Can the TP-LINK R470T+ provide this ? I know it is 100Mb/s ports but my internet connection is typically not faster than 70 MB/s anyway.

If so , great - is there a similarly priced model that can do this with Gigabit ports - just for future proofing and for local traffic ?
If not- which router can provide for my needs/wants, without the need to have in-depth networking skills.
My idea is for the router to do all the routing and DHCP and have one or two APs for wireless connections.

brav

I have not used that TP-Link however it should work out of the box, it is set to load balance WAN1 and 2, which is what you want.
Other than that it depends on your budget.
On the low end you can go with the TP-Link above, pre configured, or if you want full control you could use any o the Mikrotik routers such as the hAP AC2 with built in Wi-Fi they can all be configured to load balance the 2 WAN connections and you can set up different address pools to say have some devices only use 1 of the connection or both etc, but not user friendly.
Beyond that you would be going up to the couple of hundred for Ubiquity gear or beyond that for Cisco etc.

10-10-20

Another option would be a Draytek router:
https://www.draytek.com/products/vigor2915
It has load-balancing and bandwidth and session management with QoS; VPN and 3G/4G fallback.

A proper router, but a snip at only 10x the price of the TP-Link!

Happy_Harry

I have decided not to go with the TP link, even though cheap as chips, I think it will be replaced soon after.
I read reviews mentioning QoS was removed in later firmware, no giga bit ports.

What is the view on the Synology RT2600 AC ?
Means I could sell my TP-link AX50, seems to have very friendly user interface and meets requirements I have I think. Seems also to be the only router about that has usage per device out of the box, something I have been after for a long time.
Used to have Yamon as an add on to a DD-WRT flashed router in the past, but prefer a per device monitoring out of the box.

I don't have the time to spend hours on end anymore to configure, hence my preference for something user-friendly. I am also just a home user with only family needs, so my requirements are not that high.

Hence Mikrotik is not for me right now ( maybe in years to come post my pension). Not sure about Draytek, I am afraid I will simply pay over the odds for features I don't need.

Johnboy1951

Draytek, in my experience, are relatively costly, but you get what you pay for (at least I did).

Stable, long lasting and reliable are the words I associate with mine.

I changed to a Fritz!Box when I moved to fibe.
The Draytek (Vigor 2910vg) had been in use for 10+ years at that time.

Alun

Happy_Harry wrote: »

What is the view on the Synology RT2600 AC ?
Means I could sell my TP-link AX50, seems to have very friendly user interface and meets requirements I have I think. Seems also to be the only router about that has usage per device out of the box, something I have been after for a long time.

I have it's older, less powerful cousin the RT1900AC. I haven't tried the load balancing features to be honest, but be aware it repurposes one of the LAN ports, so you lose use of that for normal LAN usage.

Happy_Harry

Alun wrote: »

I have it's older, less powerful cousin the RT1900AC. I haven't tried the load balancing features to be honest, but be aware it repurposes one of the LAN ports, so you lose use of that for normal LAN usage.

Are you happy with it in general - wifi coverage, speed, user interface ?
I know about losing the LAN port, but need one only anyway.

Alun

Happy_Harry wrote: »

Are you happy with it in general - wifi coverage, speed, user interface ?
I know about losing the LAN port, but need one only anyway.

Yes, I am. I have a Synology NAS as well and the interface is pretty much identical.

Happy_Harry

So got myself an RT2600AC and a second Eir modem/router - and seem to already have an epic fail.

My older Eir modem/router is a B618 and has bridge mode. The new eir modem/router is a B628 and doesn't have bridge mode.
It beggars belief really, both that fact and that I didn't triple check.

any ideas how to work around this ?

10-10-20

Nope, but pester EIR for the feature (for what it's worth).
Does the B628 support bridge-mode under other vendor's firmware?

Happy_Harry

I actually don't think it is EIR firmware - no logo or anything from what I can see.. How can I check ? looks like a Huawei out of the box firmware.

No Eir logos in web interface, no mention of Eir in firmware version.

That is for both the 628 and 818 ( apologies thought it was 618)

Happy_Harry

Tried to do a poor man's bridge , with placing my router in the Huawei's DMZ with static IP. It does work , but is still double NATting, and I am afraid that somewhere down the line this will cause issues..

I called Eir - and I can only say they met expectations. They don't support bridge options, they also half heartedly confirmed the firmware is not customised.

I found here (https://consumer.huawei.com/ie/routers/4g-cpe-pro-2/specs/) that IP-pass trough is "Optional" - whatever that means. Could not find much more about this router.. I guess have 2 options now- find any modem that has bridge mode, or I start a thread and see if anyone with a B818 wants to trade with my B628..

KeRbDoG

I've a TP-LINK TL-R470T+ in my garage I never really used (was playing around with 3G+VDSL) - if you still want to play/test with one, happy to sell for very little Bought in 2016, prob has older FW on it

Happy_Harry

KeRbDoG wrote: »

I've a TP-LINK TL-R470T+ in my garage I never really used (was playing around with 3G+VDSL) - if you still want to play/test with one, happy to sell for very little Bought in 2016, prob has older FW on it

Thanks a mill for the offer- I got my Synology dual WAN router and npw determining whether to keep it or not.. I need to play around a bit more and see if there is sufficient value in the QOS settings compared to the R470+, the gigabit ports ( I do actually get up to 180Mbps download from 4G) and the "easy" interface and ability to report usage by device..

My TP link router I had seems to have better coverage, which is a bit disappointing as it cost half of what I paid for the Synology.

I will get back to you if I ship the router back and want to play around with a 470+..

ED E

The Syn is likely based on an existing platform, might be able to do the same with a low power X86 and PFSense.

10-10-20

ED E wrote: »

The Syn is likely based on an existing platform, might be able to do the same with a low power X86 and PFSense.

In that line of discussion, recommend this:
https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2e4.htm