- Asus Dual Wan Load Balance Problems Solving
- Enable Dual Wan Asus
- Asus Dual Wan Setup
- Asus Dual Wan Load Balance Problems Pc
Important
Hence, if you own an Asus Router (like the Asus RT-AC68U) which is capable of handling multiple WAN connections (aka Dual-WAN routers), it’s best to configure the load balancer mode. Now I have two clients connected to my RT-AC68U routerNexus 5 - LAN IP:192.168.1.42My Laptop - LAN IP:192.168.1.731.
WAN Load Balancing log messages can also be seen from the CLI by using the below command. Show log match wlb unifiadmin@usg:$ show log match wlb wlb: wlb-wanfailover-eth2 Starting wlb watchdog on wlb-wanfailover-eth2 after 20s delay wlb: wlb-wanfailover-eth3 Starting wlb watchdog on wlb-wanfailover-eth3 after 20s delay wlb: group wan. I'm not sure what metric the Asus uses. It could be actual bandwidth, or it could simply be number of individual connections. As an example of how you could see problems. Lets say one ISP is 10x faster than the other. And lets say you set load balancing to 1:1. You would essentially be limited to the slowest ISP.
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All of this was before I bought the Asus RT-AC56U router. The AsusWRT firmware supports something called “Dual WAN” - an option to have two Internet channels connected. Apart from the dedicated Ethernet WAN port, you can either plug in a 3G USB modem, or use one of the 4 LAN ports for a second WAN. In my case, I connected the ADSL modem to LAN. I have recently purchased dual 1Gbps fibre broadband which I am wanting to run via my ASUS RT-AC88U in Load Balance mode with a 1:1 ratio. I utilised LAN port 3 as my secondary WAN (leaving ports 1 & 2 free for NAS Link Aggregation when I purchase my NAS) but that's when some of the problems started.
This section describes some of the most common problems with multi-WANand how to troubleshoot them.
Verify Firewall Rule Configuration¶
The most common error when configuring multi-WAN is improper firewall rules.Remember, the first matching rule wins and any further rules are ignored. If apolicy routing rule is below the default LAN rule in the list, no traffic willever match that rule because it will match the default LAN rule first. ReviewPolicy Routing Configuration and verify the rules arecorrect.
If the rule ordering and configuration appears correct, it may help to enablelogging on the rules. See Troubleshooting Firewall Rules formore information. Ensure the appropriate policy routing rule is passing thetraffic.
Policy routing does not work for web traffic or all traffic¶
When a proxy package that can transparently capture HTTP traffic is used, suchas squid, it overrides any policy routes that are defined for client traffic onthat port. So no matter which gateway is set in firewall rules, traffic for HTTP(TCP port 80) will still go through squid and follow the firewall’s defaultroute.
Failover not working¶
If problems occur when an Internet connection fails, typically it is because themonitor IP address is still answering, so the firewall thinks the connection isstill available. Check Status > Gateways to verify. An IP address on themodem may be used as a monitor IP address, which will still be accessible evenif the Internet connection is down.
Load balancing not working¶
Check that the Gateway Group is properly configured for load balancing, withat least two gateways on the same tier.
Check that the firewall rules being matched direct traffic to the correct loadbalancing gateway group.
Check that all of the gateways in the group show as Online under Status >Gateways. Connections marked as Offline will not be used.
Check the testing methodology. Rather than testing with a web browser, trytesting with curl or similar utilities which do not retain session data.
Check that the traffic is not using a proxy or otherwise being initiated froma daemon on the firewall itself.
A gateway is incorrectly marked offline¶
If a gateway is listed as offline, but the WAN is actually up, several thingscould be at fault:
First, test to see if the monitor IP address responds to a ping from a clientdevice on the LAN, and again from Diagnostics > Ping.
If the device with the monitor IP address or other intermediate hop drops ICMPecho request packets without a payload, manual pings would work but thegateway monitoring would fail. See Advanced Gateway Settings and set thepayload to a value of
1or higher.If the gateway or monitor IP address does not respond to ICMP echo requests,enter a different monitor IP address to use instead.
If the monitor IP address is configured as a DNS server for a different WAN,the static routes could be causing a conflict and the echo requests to thegateway may not be following the expected path. Set a non-conflicting monitorIP address on the gateway.
If there is an outbound NAT rule on the WAN with a Source of any, it cancause problems with traffic on the firewall, including monitoring traffic,because that will also NAT traffic from the firewall itself. This can beespecially problematic if the source address is changed to a CARP VIP. Fix theoutbound NAT.
If all else fails, it’s possible the circuit really is down, but the testingmethodology appears to show it up. Verify the Interface and Gateway settings andrun the test again, and try traceroute to make sure the traffic is leavingusing the expected path.
Ping works by IP address, but web browsing fails¶
In this case, the most likely cause is DNS. If the firewall DNS settings do notmatch those in Interface and DNS Configuration, clients maynot be able to resolve DNS when a WAN is down. Review the settings and fix anyproblems that are found.
Squid doesn’t seem to be using both connections¶
Squid and most other packages on the firewall itself do not understand loadbalancing; They will use only the WAN connection with the default gateway.
Check the Netgate Forum for package-specific alternate techniques.
Unstable or patchy Wi-Fi connection is a real bummer. That is fatal if you can not afford to be disconnected from the internet, even for the tiniest bit. If you find yourself in such a situation very often, it makes sense to get a secondary internet connection as a backup. However, switching to the secondary connection every time you face a downtime, ends up eating too much time and ultimately defeating the purpose.
Hence, if you own an Asus Router (like the Asus RT-AC68U) which is capable of handling multiple WAN connections (aka Dual-WAN routers), it’s best to configure the load balancer mode.
The advantages of load balancing on routers are many. For one, the load is evenly distributed, thus making it easier to route Internet traffic optimally across the connected devices. Secondly, even if a single connection goes down, the load balancing prevents a complete shutdown by rerouting the traffic. Interesting?
Asus Dual Wan Load Balance Problems Solving
Well, let’s get down to see how to configure load balancer on Asus routers.
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Read MoreYou can either set up the secondary connection as an Ethernet connection or even use a USB tethering device such as a phone or a 4G modem.
If it’s the former (which we’ll be seeing below), you’ll have to utilize one of the LAN ports for the secondary connection.
How to Configure Two Ethernet Wired Connections as Load Balancer
First things first, connect the primary Ethernet cable to the WAN port and the secondary Ethernet cable to one of the LAN ports and make sure to note down the port number.
Step 1: Log in to the router interface using your admin username and password. Once done, select WAN from the left menu which will open the WAN home page.
Now click on the tab marked Dual WAN.
Step 2: Next, toggle the switch labeled Enable Dual WAN. Now, you’ll be given the options to choose the primary and the secondary WAN.
Step 3: To set your primary connection, click on the Primary WAN drop down and select WAN.
Step 4: To set your secondary connection, click on the Secondary WAN dropdown and select Ethernet LAN. Now, you’ll be given the option to select the LAN port. All you have to do is pick the port (where the cable is hooked) from the list.
Step 5: Once you’ve done that, select Load Balance from the drop down and specify the Balance configuration.
You should specify a load ratio that corresponds to both the channels’ bandwidth. Do note that load balancing doesn’t work by distributing packets. Rather it works by spreading the connection attempts between the WAN1 and WAN2.
So, if you have both the connections at the same speed, a configuration of 1:1 will enable a 50-50 balancing. That works best if both your connections have the same speed. If not, you can set it up as 3:1.
In this case, if you have to download five files, the first three files and the last one will go through the primary WAN while the fourth one will make use of the secondary WAN.
Once you’ve configured the load balance ratio, hit the Apply button, and that’s it. Congratulations! You have configured load balancer on your Asus router.
Configuring the Secondary Internet Connection
Before you get going, you’d need to configure your secondary connection. If you are not sure about the type of Internet connection (PPIP or PPPoE), please contact your ISP, and they’ll be able to help you with that.
But if you do know, head over to WAN on the left menu, select Internet connection and then configure the settings.
When to Use Fail Over
Load Balancer works best if you want to distribute the load evenly across WAN1 and WAN2. But if you face frequent downtime on one of the connections, load balancing won’t make much sense since there will be a significant delay in routing the traffic through the working port. And that’s when Fail Over comes into the picture.
If you face frequent downtime, load balancing won’t make much sense
Fail Over makes use of the primary connection at all times and switches to the secondary connection only when the primary connection fails. Ideally, you can route the speedier connection to WAN1, while keeping the capped connection as a backup.
If you do happen to choose the Fail Over mode, you have to specify the interval and the fail over detection time. Here, the router will automatically detect the network status by periodically sending DNS queries as per the time you have specified.
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Read MoreBonus Tip: Using Your Phone as a USB Tethering Device
As e mentioned above, you can also set your Android phone (or a 4G modem) as a secondary connection. To do so, follow the steps below,
Step 1: Select USB Application from the left panel and select the 3G/4G option from the USB Application list.
Step 2: Now, Select WAN from the drop down and toggle the Enable USB Mode button.
Step 3: Now, select Android phone from the dropdown. At the same time, connect your phone to the router with a USB cable.
Once done, go to your phone’s settings, search for USB tethering, and enable it.
On Samsung phones, you’ll find it under Settings > Connections > Mobile and USB Tethering. Once done, hit the Apply button. Simple, see.
Get the Most out of Your Router
Undoubtedly, the scope of a router increases by several folds when the Dual-WAN mode is utilized.
In our case, thankfully, it has worked tremendously. Previously, the inefficient method of having independent connections resulted in an uneven distribution of load. While I used to get an overall speed of around 850Mbps in the primary connection, my colleague used to get around 100Mbps on the secondary connection.
Enable Dual Wan Asus
With this setting in place, both of our speed hovers around the 600Mbps mark. Neat, right?
Next up: Did you know you can setup Asus routers for uninterrupted gaming and Netflix streaming? Read the post below to find out how.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextHow to Setup Asus RT-AC68U for Uninterrupted Gaming and Netflix StreamingAlso See#asus #internet
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Asus Dual Wan Setup
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