Two standard gateways???

[TitanOne]

Heyho!

 

I recently got myself a 4G router. It's awesome, WiFi wherever I am.

 

Now I want to use it at home when our DSL internet connection has its classical problems.

 

Problems with that however are:

-I only want specific devices to use the 4G connection

-the devices should automatically use the DSL internet when the 4G is unavailable (I let friends borrow the mobile router occasionally)

-the specific devices should be able to use the 4G connection when connected to the WiFi mesh

 

As far as I know, under Windows you can set an alternative gateway without too much hassle. But what about Android devices? If it's possible I'd like the network to be the one to take care of routing towards the right gateway.

 

EDIT: The DSL modem/router combo (an abomination, I know) is a Fritzbox 7530 variant while the 4G router is a Speedbox 2 (made by ZTE for Deutsche Telekom AG) :EDIT END

 

Thanks!

Edited December 23, 2020 by TitanOne
Put more info in it

[Alex Atkin UK]

It definitely can be done with some routers (you'd connect the Speedbox 2 as if its a second WAN) but not sure about the Fritzbox.

I do this with pfSense, but that's probably more costly/complex than you would be thinking of.

[TitanOne]

6 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

It definitely can be done with some routers (you'd connect the Speedbox 2 as if its a second WAN) but not sure about the Fritzbox.

I do this with pfSense, but that's probably more costly/complex than you would be thinking of.

Problem is that that specific model of Fritzbox doesn't have a WAN port, which already makes it more complicated (and I'm not thrilled about spending 150€ on a used one with a WAN port).

And I'm not really sure if adding a dual WAN router would even work in my case, considering the WiFi Mesh needs the Fritzbox to function at all (will the Mesh still work if piped through another router?) and placing the 4G router next to the Fritzbox is a less than ideal position (external antennas won't get me far as I'd have to fight two load bearing brick walls to get them anywhere close to a window).

 

I could look into getting a fibre optic cable between the ground floor and the second floor where I am pulled for the 4G to DSL connection, but that would be an adventure of its own and I'd probably still have to get another router.

[Falcon1986]

@TitanOne

 

You need to decide on what you want.

 

A WAN port isn't needed on the 4G CPE. It's 4G! That's the WAN! As long as it has a LAN port, it's fine.

 

Based on what you have now and your need to keep the mesh functions of the Fritzbox side of things, setting up a dual-WAN router with load-balancing/failover is going to cause some loss of function if you're to do it properly. Ideally, you'd need to put both the Fritzbox and the Speedbox in bridge mode (essentially disabling their router/switch/AP functions and turning them into simple modems). That means you'll lose the ability to use mesh on the Fritzbox. The dual-WAN router can manage the load-balancing/failover (supported on many of Ubiquiti's EdgeRouters) then, on the LAN side, you can connect different switches or wireless APs or even a completely different mesh WiFi.

 

Clients connecting to these switches/APs will not see a difference in the WAN because this will be managed by the upstream dual-WAN router. But they all need to be connecting through the switches/APs downstream from the dual-WAN router for failover to work properly.