Controller Software Feature Request - Automatic Load Balancing
Hello,
I'm hoping I'm submitting this in the right place. I'd like to request a feature in the Omada Controller software for automatic load balancing.
High level: The feature would, on a scheduled basis, run a speed test using the user's preferred speed test provider, for each WAN link. It would repeat the speed tests a configurable number of times, then average the results to determine the average upstream/downstream rate for each WAN link. Then, based on these results, it would automatically reconfigure the load balancing values in the WAN settings.
My use case: I live in a semi-rural area and cannot get higher speed connectivity like fiber or moca to my home, so instead I have four wireless ISPs (3 point to point and one cellular) that I connect to via my ER8411 multi-WAN router, controlled by an OC300. Seems like overkill for a residential application, right? I've got six kids and dozens of smart home devices, so at any given moment I have between 40 and 60 devices connected that all want some level of internet access. Being point-to-point, my ISPs aren't always reliable with speed. Lots of factors can affect whether I get the full bandwidth I paid for, or just a fraction of it, many beyond the ISP's control, like weather. Being able to periodically update my load balancing settings without having to do it manually would be huge for me, since it would help ensure that the majority of my traffic is routed through the fastest provider at the time instead of just based on a static value in the load balancing setting.
Alternatives: I'm in the process of building a Python script that will do this for me from my homelab server, by turning off all connections but one via the API, running a speed test, logging the results, then switching to the next. Once the speed tests are done, the script then calls the load-balance API to update the values there. It works fine, but has three drawbacks:
- Because it runs on my homelab, it's still technically one hop away from the optimal distance for the speed test. This shouldn't make much of a difference at all, though
- If my homelab crashes or has any issues, the process falls apart
- It's not built in to the Controller, so it doesn't have a nice UI to work with
So, I'd love to see a section added in the WAN settings, just below or above load balancing, for automatic load balancing. If checked, the user would be able to specify the frequency of the speed tests, the provider(s) through which the tests should be run, and the number of tries for each test (within a reasonable limit).