Broadband woes in lockdown - Archer MR600 4G+ load-balanced solution with ADSL
Hi Guys,
Here is my setup at home if anyone is interested?
I originally only had ADSL at home but because of the lockdown I needed to come up with something else to give me and the others enough bandwidth to use and live with.
I decided on a 4G Max mobile broadband SIM from Vodafone and tried several 4G routers before deciding that the Archer MR600 router was the best for me. I also purchased an Eightwood 4G antenna and installed in the loft with the Archer MR600 router.
The Archer MR600 router has beta firmware installed, so I can configure which bands to use for 4G+.
I then had to come up with a solution to use both of the ADSL and 4G links and make it resilient incase one of them failed. Funny enough the solution was a TL-R470T+ load balancing router. This allows me to load-balance traffic using the bandwidth available on both links. It looks like I currently get 3:1 load-balancing ratio in favour of the 4G. You can also configure online WAN detection for each link, so if one goes down the traffic is re-routed over the other.
I pretty much only use the firewall as an 8 port switch, but it is occasionally handy to look at the firewall logs to work out what's happening when something isn't quite working as expected?
I also have a WiFi mesh setup which works really well
CheerZ
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Thanks for taking time to write these informative posts. I have the same Archer MR600 and TL-R470T+ setup but, due to my ignorance of how networks work, have failed to setup the internet connection. Could you please provide additional details on the configuration on both the TL-R470 and Archer MR600?
What should the settings be for the TL-R470 WAN port connected to the MR600? Dynamic or static? Dynamic does not detect any connection, but when I choose Static, then I'm uncertain of the settings. I've tried 192.168.0.1 and 10.229.84.171 but although they report as connected, I cannot access the internet though the R470 probably because I don't know what to place in the other settings.
Please advise what the settings should be an, if you have the patients, some explanation would be appreciated.
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You have to understand that the R470T+ needs to obtain an IP address within the range that the DHCP server on the Archer MR600 provides.
Your config says that this range on MR600 is 192.168.0.x
However, you can't choose 192.168.0.1 on the R470T+ as it's the address of the gateway (the MR600 modem/router).
So, choose anything else within that IP range.
And forget that 10.229.84.171 because it's the IP address that your MR600 received from the LTE operator.
And what about the Network -> LAN menu on the R470T+? you need to define the DHCP for your R470T+
So in Network -> LAN -> LAN define the IP address for the gateway of the R470T+, it should be in different range from the gateway of the MR600
Let's say, you leave the default IP address 192.168.0.1 on the MR600 as the gateway's address on that device.
And define something else, like 192.168.2.1 in the LAN tab on the R470T+ and on the DHCP Server tab define the starting and ending IP address within the same IP range, e.g. 192.168.2.100 and 192.168.2.199
And why are you using the R470T+ behind (or after) the MR600? Do you have another modem from another internet provider connected to other WAN port on the R470T+?
Be aware that these connections should have different IP ranges, R470T+ does not work with multiple WAN ports in the same IP range, especially if those connected modems have the same gateway address like 192.168.0.1
You should also avoid having the same IP range between the WAN and the LANs.
You have one (or more) internet connection(s) that comes from a modem (in this case from the MR600), it is not just a modem but also a router with the DHCP server that provides IP addresses for devices connected to its LAN ports (and to its WLAN).
Your R470T+ is just a device connected to one of the LAN ports of the MR600.
BUT
the R470T+ is also a router with its own DHCP server feature that provides IP addresses (within its defined range) to devices connected to its LAN ports.
Your computer will be one of them and will get an IP address (dynamically or statically) from the range that is defined by the R470T+.
Actually, R470T+ can provide different IP ranges (and different VLANs) for each of its LAN ports.
Still you can screw things in the VLAN tab on the R470T+, better you leave it on default (VLAN1).
(I see on your printscreen that you defined VLAN 10 for the WAN port, I don't know why, or was it set up by default?)
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Thanks @Arion for your comprehensive answer. I'll take my time to digest and put into action, then let you know how I get on.
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