daronow
asked on
What is the best way to insure internet connectivity (using both DSL and a cable modem)?
I have both a cable modem and I recently subscribed to DSL to try to insure my internet connectivity is up 24/7. While obviously both could go down, assuming one of them is up all the time, what is the best way to connect them to my two home PCs?
I first tried the Hawking H2WR54G dual wan router which was a piece of garbage. It arbitrarily would shut down ports and then turn them back on 20 minutes later. I then ordered a netgear dual wan VPN router which has frozen up twice in the last week so I'm exchanging it for a new one.
However I dug some old ethernet cards out of the basement and put a second card in each PC and I think that may work, but I still need a router of some kind. I still have a dlink 802.11g single wan router and an older dlink 802.11b single wan router. I also have a 10 port hub I can use. What is the best way to insure both my PCs are up and connected to the internet via one of my two broadband connections?
As a side note both old dlink routers use 192.168.0.1 as their IP address, while the netgear 2 wan router uses 192.168.1.1 as it's IP address (so I was thinking I might be able to connect one router through another router).
Thanks.
Dave
I first tried the Hawking H2WR54G dual wan router which was a piece of garbage. It arbitrarily would shut down ports and then turn them back on 20 minutes later. I then ordered a netgear dual wan VPN router which has frozen up twice in the last week so I'm exchanging it for a new one.
However I dug some old ethernet cards out of the basement and put a second card in each PC and I think that may work, but I still need a router of some kind. I still have a dlink 802.11g single wan router and an older dlink 802.11b single wan router. I also have a 10 port hub I can use. What is the best way to insure both my PCs are up and connected to the internet via one of my two broadband connections?
As a side note both old dlink routers use 192.168.0.1 as their IP address, while the netgear 2 wan router uses 192.168.1.1 as it's IP address (so I was thinking I might be able to connect one router through another router).
Thanks.
Dave
The firebox Edge X has "wan failover" which is exactly what you are wanting. A little more expensive but it actually works . . . very well. With this unit, you arent stuck with it either. Its upgradeable as your needs grow.
http://www.watchguard.com/products/edgex50.asp
http://www.watchguard.com/products/edgex50.asp
Have to disagree in part with lrmoore. I've used all three brands and most of my colleagues as well. In an IT dept. of 20, 19 thought Linksys was cheap junk and if it worked, great, but don't complain when it fails (between us, we'd seen about 5 linksys system fail in 2 years). Hawking is linksys (in terms of expected quality and reliability), only worse (at least now linksys is owned by Cisco and HOPEFULLY they've begun making changes to their products so they are more reliable - I'll admit the Linksys sampling is about 3 years old).
Netgear, as I recall, was supposed to be a spinoff/subsidiary of Bay Networks, from the start. I've used their products at work and at home for years and have only seen ONE device fail (used a lot more of them then Linksys).
Now, I have the same setup - A DSL line and a Cable line. I have not spent the time trying to configure this, but I have looked into it. I would suggest building your own router using linux. Here's some things to read:
http://lartc.org/
http://www.linuxguruz.com/iptables/howto/2.4routing.html
Also, linux can use BGP and I've had that recommended as a good, easy way to set this up.
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6261_11-1047843-2.html
My router at home is a linux machine which I simply have configured with both interfaces. If you can learn a little scripting, you might be able to configure your own psuedo-dynamic routing by scripting a ping on the linux server and executing a script to switch default routes in the event your ping fails.
Netgear, as I recall, was supposed to be a spinoff/subsidiary of Bay Networks, from the start. I've used their products at work and at home for years and have only seen ONE device fail (used a lot more of them then Linksys).
Now, I have the same setup - A DSL line and a Cable line. I have not spent the time trying to configure this, but I have looked into it. I would suggest building your own router using linux. Here's some things to read:
http://lartc.org/
http://www.linuxguruz.com/iptables/howto/2.4routing.html
Also, linux can use BGP and I've had that recommended as a good, easy way to set this up.
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6261_11-1047843-2.html
My router at home is a linux machine which I simply have configured with both interfaces. If you can learn a little scripting, you might be able to configure your own psuedo-dynamic routing by scripting a ping on the linux server and executing a script to switch default routes in the event your ping fails.
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I would recommend you take a look at the Linksys RV042 dual-wan capable router. It is much more robust and capable than either of the others that you have tried.
You will always have issues with dual nic's. I am not a fan of that at all. A PC can have one and only one default gateway. Adding a second default gateway enables Dead Gateway Detect, but only in the event the whole router is down, not just the router's wan link, and there's no fall back once the primary link returns.