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Multi-WAN Combining Internet Sources on a Peplink router
Peplink routers can be a central conductor of multiple internet sources to create a reliable redundant internet setup. The multi WAN options that many Peplink Routers can utilize include their own embedded cellular modems, external cellular devices, Starlink, wired internet, USB tethered devices and/or Wi-Fi as WAN.
Peplink Routers can utilize features like auto failover, load balancing and bonding to combine multiple WAN sources.
This article goes into the considerations, limitations and configuration advice on combining multiple internet sources using a Peplink router for creating a highly redundant RV or boat mobile internet setup.
For more on why you want multiple connections: The Importance of Mobile Internet Redundancy
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This Peplink resource article has been created in partnership with MobileMustHave.com, and parts may be offered as a free public resource with additional in-depth content available exclusively for our premium members.
The Mobile Internet Resource Center is proud to be partnered with MobileMustHave.com offering the education, news and guidance on mobile Internet options for RVers and boaters. Here at MIRC, we don't accept advertising, sponsorships and nor do we sell stuff.
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Peplink Redundancy Webinar Archive
Here's a video archive of our July 19, 2024 member-exclusive webinar with our education and action partner MobileMustHave, overviewing how Peplink achieves Multi-WAN mobile internet redundancy. This video and guide are now made available to the public.
The Importance of Redundancy
We preach often here at MIRC the importance of redundancy in a mobile internet setup. Here's some brief reasons why:
- There is no universal “best” way online.
- Even the most reliable connections can fail unexpectedly.
- Depending on your needs - upload speed, download speed, connection reliability, or low latency might matter more at any given time.
- Having two (or more!) connections gives you options.
- Combing two or more connections takes redundancy to the next level.
For more on why you want multiple connections: The Importance of Mobile Internet Redundancy
What Is a WAN?
WAN stands for "Wide Area Network" - basically anything upstream of your router's LAN (Local Area Network).
So in most cases - the WAN connection into a router represents your upstream connection to the Internet.
But what if you have more than one way online, and you want to utilize multiple connections at once?
This is where a Multi-WAN router can be useful.
Unlike traditional residential routers that support just a single WAN source, a Multi-WAN router can juggle multiple ways onto the Internet and give you a lot more robust connection.
WAN Options
Here are some of the potential WAN sources that a mobile user might want to tap into with a Peplink router:
- Ethernet WAN - An Ethernet WAN source, like a cable modem - or Starlink.
- USB Tethering - A Pepwave router with a USB port can often directly connect via USB to a mobile hotspot or to an Android phone. This is a very flexible way to share a connection that you might already have - while charging the phone or the hotspot at the same time.
- Embedded Cellular - Many Peplink routers have one, or even two, integrated cellular modems that can connect wirelessly to a cellular network.
- Wi-Fi-as-WAN - A feature rarely found on traditional residential routers is support for Wi-Fi-as-WAN, which allows you to connect to an upstream Wi-Fi network to get a router online. This might be a campground Wi-Fi network, or a nearby coffee shop, or even the network at a friend's house when you are parked in the driveway.
- Virtual WAN - This new feature became available starting with Peplink firmware 8.3. It allows you to set up an additional Ethernet port on your local LAN as an additional WAN input. This can get you a lot more flexibility if you have more than one Ethernet WAN source you would like to tap into at one time. For more on vWAN, see our dedicated guide.
For more on routers and WAN concepts, see our guide: Mobile Routers
Ways To Combine Connections
Once you have multiple WAN options connected at once, there are three basic ways to use them simultaneously.
- Hot Failover - By ranking connections in priority order on the Peplink dashboard, when the highest priority connection goes down the next highest connection can take over immediately. This is a good option when you have one connection that is much faster than others, but in case it goes down, you want another connection to pick up the traffic.
- Load Balancing - Connections ranked at the same level by default divide up traffic round-robin style. This works great if your connections are roughly equivalent in speed and latency, but things can get weird if you try to load balance a fast and a slow connection.
- SpeedFusion (aka Bonding) - SpeedFusion builds upon load balancing, but actually has a server involved so that the router can split up your outgoing traffic across multiple data streams, and then a server can combine them back into a single connection onto the Internet. This allows for a much more capable way of combining multiple connections together in a way that is more reliable than load balancing alone. This is a great option for VOIP or video calls where any kind of interruption is easily noticed. Even though your speeds may not always be as fast due to some additional overheard, you have a much more robust connection with two or more internet streams being combined into one.
For more information on these various ways to stay connect, consult our guide: Bonding, Load Balancing and Failover.
If you want to dive deeper into configuring SpeedFusion Connect, see our resource article: Pepwave SpeedFusion Bonding which also includes a webinar on the topic.
Peplink Dashboard Overview
The Peplink Dashboard allows you to quickly change the priority of a connection creating a load balance, hot failover, or setting up your SpeedFusion Connect connections.
Connections at the same priority level are load-balanced, and only once there are no connections available at the highest priority will the next highest priority connections be tried via failover.
The settings on this main dashboard override any other rules you might configure in an Outbound Policy (see our guide) - if you have an Outbound Policy set to direct all traffic over a particular connection, but that connection is disabled or at a lower priority level on the main dashboard, that Outbound Policy will not apply.
Related Resources
Here are some related content to explore:
View our Peplink product line overview and articles - co-authored with our education & action partner at MobileMustHave (who offers advanced support, guidance and discounts to our members):
Explore the Resource Center
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