Wizkid1968

Q: How to create a redundant failover ISP network using 2 Airport Extreme

Hello friends,

 

I have 2 different ISP leased lines bound to my 2 Airport Extreme. Was curious to know if these 2 AEs can be interconnected somehow to create a failover ISP network. Traffic from users connected to AE 1 would be transparently diverted to AE 2 and vice-versa, if corresponding ISP goes down. When the ISP comes up they will be returned back to their primary AE.

 

Thank you.

Posted on Sep 16, 2016 9:30 PM

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Q: How to create a redundant failover ISP network using 2 Airport Extreme

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  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Sep 17, 2016 1:21 AM in response to Wizkid1968
    Level 9 (52,596 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 17, 2016 1:21 AM in response to Wizkid1968

    Not without an intelligent dual wan router. ie does proper load sharing.

     

    Extreme is about as simple a router as you can find.. it has the absolute min of functionality.

     

    Traffic from users connected to AE 1 would be transparently diverted to AE 2 and vice-versa

    You can do it by using some manual intervention.. just a change of gateway is usually enough.

  • by Wizkid1968,

    Wizkid1968 Wizkid1968 Sep 17, 2016 6:17 AM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 17, 2016 6:17 AM in response to LaPastenague

    Agreed that both AE 1 and AE 2 are single WAN router(s), but I was wondering since both AE 1 and AE 2 are also connected to each other, if there is a way by which the routers themselves can transfer the inbound traffic to the other router instead of the usual WAN port  destination.

     

    Thank you so much for your reply LaPastenague.

     

    Also if you could elaborate kindly on my other query How to use Airport Extreme with ethernet leased line

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Sep 17, 2016 8:18 AM in response to Wizkid1968
    Level 9 (54,452 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 17, 2016 8:18 AM in response to Wizkid1968

    Agreed that both AE 1 and AE 2 are single WAN router(s), but I was wondering since both AE 1 and AE 2 are also connected to each other, if there is a way by which the routers themselves can transfer the inbound traffic to the other router instead of the usual WAN port  destination.

    If you are referring to something like VLAN capability, then no the AirPort base stations do not provide this functionality. The only VLAN-like function is the AirPort's guest networking feature.

  • by Wizkid1968,

    Wizkid1968 Wizkid1968 Sep 17, 2016 9:21 AM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 17, 2016 9:21 AM in response to Tesserax

    Tesserax,

     

    No, I am not referring to VLAN. I would like to know if we can configure AE 1 to detect the ISP connected to it has gone down temporarily and so push the inbound traffic coming to it from devices connected to it to AE 2, so that the traffic reaches AE 2 and then onward to the Internet through the second ISP connected to AE 2. To the user connected to AE 1 everything would remain transparent as if he/she is going out to the Internet through AE 1. When the ISP connected to AE 1 comes up, AE 1 will start sending the packets through it's default ISP, instead of pushing it to AE 2.

     

    Thank you. 

  • by Tesserax,Solvedanswer

    Tesserax Tesserax Sep 17, 2016 9:24 PM in response to Wizkid1968
    Level 9 (54,452 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 17, 2016 9:24 PM in response to Wizkid1968

    ...I would like to know if we can configure AE 1 to detect the ISP connected to it has gone down temporarily and so push the inbound traffic coming to it from devices connected to it to AE 2...

    Basically, no. The AirPort base stations neither have a means to configure this nor have the functionality to do so.

  • by LaPastenague,Helpful

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Sep 17, 2016 9:24 PM in response to Wizkid1968
    Level 9 (52,596 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 17, 2016 9:24 PM in response to Wizkid1968

    Buy a proper dual wan load sharing router.

     

    They are not that expensive now. You can get a simple one using a very ordinary router and 3rd party firmware like dd-wrt. It tends to only use round robin type load sharing .. but that is enough for most people.

     

    Or DIY with a router software like PFsense on an old computer.

    Or buy next level SME router.. Mikrotik or Ubiquiti. Draytek have a good reputation although it has become pretty expensive... it is easy to configure cf the more command level devices.

    Or go ebay /second hand dealers hunting for ex-leased equipment. You can buy excellent grade stuff really cheap if you are prepared to shop around. I have bought enterprise level routers like Linksys, Netgear and Dlink. There are usually plenty available because business buy new or more likely lease and they are too complex to setup for typical home user. When I used to do computer support we used snapgear and installed heaps of them.