Run dual internet providers at home

[Bloodtick_Jones]

For years, I have wanted a resilient internet solution to endure storms, fiber cuts, weird DNS outages, and all the other bad things that happen. After several attempts and different setups, I ended up owning my own cable modem with Optimum service while using Google DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) and Orbi Mesh WiFi. This setup has been stable for several months. However, when Verizon started offering home internet services with their gateway product at a reasonable price point, it was finally time to figure having dual internet providers in my home.

The Verizon 5G/LTE Gateway was offered in several speed packages, but since I planned to use it for basic needs, I chose the lowest tier, offering 100 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, which works fine for me. The device arrived quickly, and setup was easy. I placed the gateway in a closet with enclosed walls, just before reaching the apartment's exterior walls and windows. Despite this, I still had good 5G/LTE signal strength and was able to achieve the full 100 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds. This was great since I didn’t know what to expect. The latency is slightly higher than the cable modem (20 ms vs. 8 ms), which was expected.

The next challenge was choosing a router with multiple WAN connections that allowed me to achieve my goals. This turned into a research project since costs can range from $50 to $2000 depending on the features. I decided on a $50 option, finding the Cudy R700 for my initial attempt at the project. My goal was to continue using the cable modem while having the 5G/LTE modem provide real-time failover when traffic could not use the primary route. The R700 did everything I wanted.

Verizon 5G Gateway Setup
The gateway needs to be set to IP Passthrough mode. I recommend using the LAN 1 port for the setup process. Once it is in this mode, all Wi-Fi access is disabled, and the gateway can no longer be controlled remotely for reboots or other management, except through the LAN 1 port. The gateway then uses the LAN 2 port to pass all traffic to the R700. Detailed instructions for setting up IP Passthrough mode can be found here.

Cable Modem Setup
If your cable modem does not include routing functions, you should be able to use the default settings and connect it to the R700. However, if the modem has routing capabilities, you will need to enable either “bridge mode” or “modem mode,” depending on the device. Please refer to your modem’s documentation for specific instructions, as this process is beyond the scope of this document.

Cudy R700 Setup
The Cudy R700 arrived with firmware version 1.15.5, which is a later release than what is currently published on the support site.

1. Go to General Settings and configure port 2 as WAN as shown. Make sure to click Save & Apply after each step before proceeding.
   

   

2. Set the interface down/up parameters and WAN2 metric weight to prioritize sending most traffic to WAN1. Navigate to System Status and select “More Details” under Load Balancing.
   

   
   
   Change interface settings down and up to 3 attempts at 10 seconds.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Change WAN1 to Metric 1 Weight 3 and WAN2 to Metric 2 Weight 3
   
   

3. It is recommended to set a reserved DHCP address for your downstream WiFi solution using IP/MAC binding.
   

   

4. [Optional] I use the OpenVPN functionality on my Orbi Mesh WiFi, which requires port forwarding. Once you have a reserved address, you can set up port forwarding to define the necessary ports. Make sure to check your WiFi solution for specific port requirements, as they may vary depending on the device and/or protocol.
   

   

That was pretty much it! I have failed over several times, and it has been relatively seamless with only minor glitches during Zoom and Teams conference calls. I use YouTube TV, which buffers across the switch without showing artifacts. I haven't noticed any software concerns, but I assume that with the 3 * 10-second checks, the worst-case scenario would be a 30-second loss of internet.

I also performed some more advanced configurations to route traffic through specific ports for confidence testing. If you get this working and want to discuss it, I’m happy to help.

Good luck!

[aaiyar]

FWIW, I have AT&T fiber, and got similar reasons, got T-Mobile 5G Home Backup Internet as a fallback about a month ago.

Documented that odyssey here:

T-Mobile Home Internet Backup?

My AT&T fiber unexpectedly went down yesterday; it wasn't for long - rebooting the fiber gateway brought it back up again. Nonetheless, it made me wonder if I should get a backup internet plan. The cheapest plan I could find was from T-Mobile - "Home Internet Backup" is $20/mo, and gives you 130 GB of data per month. If you have this plan, can you share your experiences with it? I am particularly interested in knowing if the WiFi radios in the gateway can be turned off - so I can just plug it …

It has worked well, and for $20 a month was a no-brainer. For anyone interested in doing this, the 2.4G radio in the TMo gateway can be turned off. They recommend leaving the 5g radio running.

I have them both plugged into my Unifi UCG-Max.

[Bloodtick_Jones]

@aaiyar

It has worked well, and for $20 a month was a no-brainer.

Nice that these options are becoming available with prices that make sense. The 100up/10dn with Verzion was unlimited data at $35/month when you have cell plans with them.

[velvetfoot]

As they giveth so can they taketh away, or something like that.

I had the AT&T version of home 5g for 6 months until they took it away.
Not as backup but main service.

It was inexpensive and was fine for my needs, and I didn't lose it when the power went out like the the twice as expensive land line.

So, beware if you live in a place like New York.

AT&T shuts down its home internet service in New York to avoid new...

[Bloodtick_Jones]

@velvetfoot

It was inexpensive and was fine for my needs, and I didn't lose it when the power went out like the the twice as expensive land line.

From the article:

Starting January 15, the Affordable Broadband Act (ABA) will require providers in New York State to offer plans at $15 per month for 25Mbps speeds or $20 per month for 200Mbps speeds. These prices must include all recurring taxes, fees, and equipment rental costs.

The $20 plan at 200Mbps really is a generous amount of bandwidth. Curious if that and not the $15 plan was the economics of the problem with AT&T. To walk away from a deployed market that has sunk costs is interesting. Sorry to hear.

[velvetfoot]

@Bloodtick_Jones

To walk away from a deployed market that has sunk costs is interesting.

If I recall, 20Mbs was pretty good.
Probably easier to do abandon with wireless.
I dropped my "Orb" off at FedEx, and poof, it was gone.
No wires, no utility plant to recover costs for.
Not sure how widely distributed it was either; ATT was slowly rolling it out.
Was helpful I'm sure, in areas where cable broadband has not made it yet.
I got cable only several years ago.
Sad.

[user2164]

Disclaimer: Not trying to hijack this thread, but this may be something that others trying run support dual ISP's may run into...

My primary ISP is Xfinity cable on a 900+ Mbps down and 250+ Mbps up plan. I use a Xfinity XB7 router/modem in bridge mode (wireless disabled). My router is a Fortinet FortiGate 40F firewall/router. Wireless is an ASUS Zen WiFi Pro XT12 mesh with two nodes total running in Access Point mode.

After losing Internet access for a few days during Hurricane Beryl, I signed up for the T-Mobile Home Internet Unlimited plan to use as a backup ISP.

My router (the FortiGate 40F) has one dedicated WAN port and four LAN ports. Supposedly, the LAN ports can be configured to act as WAN ports. Since I only use a couple of the LAN ports (one for the ASUS wireless mesh and one for a managed switch that all devices go thru before getting to the router), my plan was to configure an unused LAN port as a WAN port for the T-Mobile ISP service.

Unfortunately, the T-Mobile modem/router cannot be switched to bridge mode (like the Xfinity modem/router), so I haven't been able to figure out a way to hook all this stuff up.

I know enough about networks to be dangerous, but it looks like this is a little over my head. Any suggestions?

[hubitrep]

@user2164

Any suggestions?

How about configuring an ip for your router in the DMZ of the t-mobile box and turning everything off on it (wireless, dhcp, etc)

[Bloodtick_Jones]

@user2164

Any suggestions?

Sounds like the box doesn't have much for user configuration. There are some ideas here about asking for business solution for same price. But you really are limited to just having 'another' WiFi SSID to fault over if the primary is off.

[aaiyar]

@user2164

Unfortunately, the T-Mobile modem/router cannot be switched to bridge mode (like the Xfinity modem/router), so I haven't been able to figure out a way to hook all this stuff up.

This is accurate. Also TMobile uses CGNAT, but none of this affects its function as a backup internet source.

You do need an opensource app called HINTControl to configure the gateway.

FWIW, my setup is identical to yours, except that I’m using a unifi UCG Max as the router/gateway. I have AT&T fiber as primary and T-Mobile as backup. Details are in this post:

T-Mobile Home Internet Backup?

For anyone else interested in doing this. Just received the T-Mobile gateway, and set it up using the T-Mobile app (as directed in the instructions). When you do that, it disables the ability of the HINT Control app to login as admin. The solution for me was simple. I factory reset the gateway, and directly connected it to my iMac using ethernet. I then used HINT Control on the iMac to shut down the 2.4GHz radio. It is recommended not to shut the 5GHz radio, so I didn't, but I reduced its power…