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I am currently switching to Fios from Comcast.  I am considering keeping the internet connection from Comcast as a backup.  What is the easiest way to use this as a fall over (if that is the right term)? I would like to have both cable and fiber optic available and to automatically go to the backup if the primary fails. Or is there a way to have them both active on the same network with different segments?  Is there a recommended inexpensive router that supports two wan connections?  Looking for any and all good ideas that don't break the bank.

Automatic failover is going to be a bitch with consumer gear, and will probably involve a fair amount of hackage.

If you can do without the automatic failover, I would configure both routers for the same LAN subnet, but make sure they have different LAN-side IPs and disable DHCP on the backup. When the primary fails, you'll need to manually change the default gateway address on any system(s) you want to continue using. Alternatively, temporarily disable DHCP on the primary and enable it on the backup.

If you don't mind rolling your own router using a Linux PC, you could put it between your LAN and the two routers, and have some scripts that change the default route for the Linux box based on which connection(s) seem to be up. Anything connected downstream of the Linux box would just come along for the ride and use whichever connection the Linux box is using. (This is the "fair amount of hackage" I alluded to above.)

I've actually got a manual backup now -- Comcast primary, legacy DSL backup. Probably ditching the DSL though, Comcast has been reasonably reliable. Just need to convince my wife to give up the e-mail address she's still using that is associated with the DSL line...

The Ubiquiti routers can do dual WAN. You'll just have to do a wireless AP separate, which is a good idea anyway.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

The Ubiquiti routers can do dual WAN. You'll just have to do a wireless AP separate, which is a good idea anyway.

Ahh, wasn't aware of that. Good to know.

I'll take a look at the Ubiquiti products.  Any particular one I should look at or just look around?

I have an Openbsd firewall that I'm currently just using with Samba, but I used to use it as a router, so I'll check out adding another nic and see what I might end up with that.

thanks,

just brew it! wrote:

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

The Ubiquiti routers can do dual WAN. You'll just have to do a wireless AP separate, which is a good idea anyway.

Ahh, wasn't aware of that. Good to know.

Yah, they have lots of nice, boring equipment.

titan wrote:

Yah, they have lots of nice, boring equipment.

Exactly what network equipment should be.

bigjohn888jb wrote:

I'll take a look at the Ubiquiti products.  Any particular one I should look at or just look around?

I have an Openbsd firewall that I'm currently just using with Samba, but I used to use it as a router, so I'll check out adding another nic and see what I might end up with that.

thanks,

I think any of their EdgeRouters can have a dual WAN. Their UniFI AP access points have been well reviewed. It's really much easier to work with them than it appears.

Skip the UniFI Mesh. The reviews are disappointing.

Less, uh, boring would be Tomato Shibby which has dual-WAN although QoS is flaky.  Completely free if you already have a compatible Broadcom MIPs or ARM chipset router.

My Zyxel USG 50 can do it as well. It's been EOLd and replaced by the USG-60 (or USG-60W if you want wireless too). Not cheap if you buy new, but you might be able to find a used USG-50 for a good price.

--SS

A Netgear FVS336G (check eBay) can do it for well under $100.  The only hitch is that Netgear makes good hardware, but sometimes-sketchy firmware.  When it works, it works.  When it doesn't, you may have to fidget a bit to figure out why. Also, you would need an AP for WiFi.

What I think will work.
I put the following script in my Openbsd firewall in the ifstated.conf. I have both isps connected to different network cards, I only have given a hostname configuration for the fios one. If the ping fails to return from google, it copies the hostname information for comcast to a hostname for that network card. It then deletes the hostname for fios. It also copies the gateway information . Then it reboots to clear everything out of memory. Since I have a SSD, the reboot is pretty quick. The mygoat statement was just to see if it was running.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
init-state auto

net_check = '( "ifconfig egress | grep \"status: active\" && \
ifconfig egress | grep \"inet *.*.*.* netmask\" | grep \"inet 108.18.49.141\" && \
ping -q -c 3 -i 2 -w 1 www.google.com > /dev/null" every 120)'

state auto {
if $net_check {
set-state if_online
}
if ! $net_check {
set-state if_offline
}
}

state if_online {
init {
run "cp /etc/mygate /etc/mygoat"
}
if ! $net_check {
set-state if_offline
}
}

state if_offline {
init {
run "cp /etc/hostem0 /etc/hostname.em0"
run "rm /etc/hostname.re0"
run "cp /etc/backupgate /etc/mygate
run "reboot"


}
if $net_check {
set-state if_online
}
}
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There are a handful of consumer routers that can do WAN failover out of the box now. I *think* my RT-AC56U can do it, but I don't wanna switch it out of AP mode to verify (unless you're really interested)