Combining ADSL and 4g router to one network

[kimjohnsson]

Hi all!

I have an ADSL home internet connection which is rather slow. I watch TV through a set-top box that connects to the service over IPTV through the ADSL, and when it is powered on, there's not really much bandwidth left for anything else.

Today I got a 4g router that I'm trying to set up such that it complements the ADSL router.

The set-top box currently only works with the ADSL router, so that one must stay. There are also other devices sharing the same cable as the set-top box that goes into the ADSL router, and I don't think I can really change that.

This is more hardcore network stuff than I've ever attempted, so I could use some help. What I want to accomplish is that some devices connect to the internet through the 4g router, and others through the ADSL router. These may or may not be two different networks, but in any case all devices currently on the same network should still see each other.

Any and all hints appreciated!

Cheers,

Kim

 

[Mikael H]

Hi all!

I have an ADSL home internet connection which is rather slow. I watch TV through a set-top box that connects to the service over IPTV through the ADSL, and when it is powered on, there's not really much bandwidth left for anything else.

Today I got a 4g router that I'm trying to set up such that it complements the ADSL router.

The set-top box currently only works with the ADSL router, so that one must stay. There are also other devices sharing the same cable as the set-top box that goes into the ADSL router, and I don't think I can really change that.

This is more hardcore network stuff than I've ever attempted, so I could use some help. What I want to accomplish is that some devices connect to the internet through the 4g router, and others through the ADSL router. These may or may not be two different networks, but in any case all devices currently on the same network should still see each other.

Any and all hints appreciated!

Cheers,

Kim

That probably is more hardcore network stuff than you should attempt.

From the top of my head, without introducing load balancers and stuff, the way that has the most chance of working is probably to choose one of the network connections as the default one for most devices, and then manually configure the other one as the gateway for those devices that have to go that way. In your example, set up DHCP on your 4G router and turn it off on your ADSL router. Then configure the TV box to explicitly route its internet traffic through the ADSL router. I may be missing something obvious, though...

 

[Arkku]

There are some routers that offer load balancing between multiple WAN (internet) connections. The Draytek Vigor 2860 series would have the DSL modem built in, and supports up to four total WANs (DSL, external router on RJ45, and two USB modems). However, be warned that the setup may seem overwhelming, as it is not targeted at the consumer (given that multi-WAN etc are not exactly typical consumer features), but for this use you can ignore 99% of the options – the only trouble is you need to locate the 1% that you do need to touch.

Of course there are other options, including setting up a computer as a load balancing router, but I suspect they end up being even more effort.

 

[LDec]

There are some routers that offer load balancing between multiple WAN (internet) connections. The Draytek Vigor 2860 series would have the DSL modem built in, and supports up to four total WANs (DSL, external router on RJ45, and two USB modems). However, be warned that the setup may seem overwhelming, as it is not targeted at the consumer (given that multi-WAN etc are not exactly typical consumer features), but for this use you can ignore 99% of the options – the only trouble is you need to locate the 1% that you do need to touch.

Of course there are other options, including setting up a computer as a load balancing router, but I suspect they end up being even more effort.

To add some to Arkku comment.
Some ADSL ASUS routers offer configurable/optional 2nd WAN and load balancing or switch over in case of no "signal" on WAN1. But I have not tested it. STB if this is IPTV I doubt that will work, unless same provider and they will tell you how to trick that. Just be careful as it will eat your data for breakfast

 

[belvdr]

You could look at Ubiquiti's EdgeRouter X. For $50, it could do what you need to do, including firewalling the IPTV so it only goes out the ADSL line. Of course, you can always get a model with more interfaces to further divide your network.

 

[Longer Lane]

I suggest you do the following:
on your ADSL box, you set up a DHCP server distributing 192.168.1.1
on your 4G router, set DHCP to 192.168.2.1
On your devices, you can select which DHCP network to join. E.g. on a Mac select DHCP with manual IP address.
You can then create a second network interface linking to the other private network and in this way, your machine can be reached from both.
The Apple mac allows you to have different 'Locations' as setup. So if you need to switch quickly, have one with x.x.1.x and one with x.x.2.x as primary networks.

My $0.02

 

[NogbadTheBad]

pfSense

https://www.pfsense.org

 

[kimjohnsson]

Hi guys!

Lots of great advice, thanks! I'll first look into what I can do without load balancers. Currently my setup is that all my desktops connect to both my cabled network and to my 4g router's WiFi network, having that one as the preferred one. Works quite well so far. Not perfect, but covers most use cases. I think the effect of the load balancing stuff would be more like optimization than a radical improvement.

But it'll be interesting to see what I end up with.

Cheers,

Kim