Multiple (WAN) Networks Traffic Managment for (LAN)

Networking
1

You said on video (A Keyboard on an Android Phone? Checking Out the F(x)tec Pro1) come check out the forums so here I am, I guess I can post this topic on what I’m doing.

I am in the process of setting up a network that has 2 or more WAN connections with numerous LAN
One connection is unlimited bandwidth(CONN1) and the other is metered(CONN2).
The unlimited(CONN1) is slower while the metered(CONN2) is fast.

How/What would the best approach to configuring traffic requests.
For example, A youtube would use (CONN1) while dns would use (CONN2)
That way lightweight request are on (CONN2) and large bandwidth are (CONN1)

2

CONN1 Primary with CONN2 as failover.

How I’d do it is use PFSense or something similar to setup a dual WAN connection.

As to get in-depth, I wouldn’t be able to show you as much as I’d like to.

3

I would set it up to use connection 1 first but if ping or packet loss goes higher than X to send new connections to 2. That way if the speed stays high all the time and traffic to 2 should stay low.

How much traffic goes to 2 would depend on how sensitive you set the ping/packet loss switch over. But this setup works better with large networks.

Would also setup so that only certain traffic types can fail over. HTTPS, VoIP etc.

4

I know this is not what you are asking, however, I think it might help with your root problem.

If youtube is sucking too much bandwidth and you also have admin over computers on the lan, you could try installing extensions that default youtube to 240p or similar. Also, ad-block might help reducing traffic. If this is for a work or school, and not public, blocking some social media might help.

5

That’s a good idea.

6

Your suggestion would be good for a budget.

7

Is the issue that you want to use the faster connection up to its data cap and then switch to the slower unlimited connection?

8

No, the challenge is getting the most out of both connections.
I might have to manual configure the ip routing requests for now.
Currently this is done on the clients. I’m not sure if a switch can do it or I’ll have to set up a server to manage traffic. I know how to do it with a server, but I think a managed switch would be capable.
On a server I would be able to write some software to do the network management such as @StrY suggestion of packet loss
Also I should be able to have a server log bandwidth to prioritize the ip data send and receive. For example, duck.com exceeds bandwidth of 100mb within a day on CONN2 switches to CONN1
If a managed switch is capable of doing the tasks then it would be more suitable for energy consumption. I know some switches are quite capable of many things but it’s been a while since i’ve set up complex networks.

9

Load balancing WAN is a router task, I don’t think a switch is going to be the best option for you.

10
11

Doing load balancing naively like in that video is easy. Look at mwan3 on openwrt for example. It uses connection tracking to set routing marks which determine which routing table is consulted.

The problem, IMHO, is how you detect that a connection is going to a YouTube cdn with https and pfs before a tcp connection is established.

I don’t know if squid ssl peek and splice will help you.

12

Trying out the TP-LINK (TL-R470T+)
It works but not very well, I’m not sure about domain request configuration. Simply a load balance manager.
It seems to get choked up on many request, I dont think it can handle the load or somthing.
Currently running 4 seperate WAN with bandwidth limits configured.
It works but dosnt seem to understand how to work properly.
Each connection has a different latancy and needs to make the intital request through low latancy and large bandwidth through the high latancy/bandwidth.
I suspected will probably have to run a server to manage the network and manually confgure routing protocals.

Futhermore about choked up, I setup failover for two NIC and it seemed to resolved the droped packets but effects the bandwidth speed and latancy.

Additional notes testing. Setting WAN Connection Configuration
it suposidly balances load with a ration. if Downstream Bandwidth WAN1 is 1024 and WAN2 is 2048 it determins to be 1:2 or 2:1 WAN2:WAN1

If you configure to ration of how you want it used, the speed will be limited to max capable of higher configured.
If WAN1 has 5mb connection and set unlimited but WAN2 has a 1g connection then it will trottle to the 5mb connection limit. The ratio configuration can effect it dramatically.

13

Check and see if you have any sd wan features on your router. There are methods, and options for load balancing, but vendor specific feature rang quite Abit.