Load balancing speed conundrum

Indian pc builder · March 16

the way load balancing works, if i have WAN's, but one provides 300mbps and one does 150, will all my devices still get 300? or will some get 150

? 150 no a problem for things like my printer and other things like the smart tv but, i'd want 300 on my laptop, also if i have a tplink deco mesh set up in router mode and a load balancing router on the layer above it as a dual NAT situation, will it affect the speeds and latencies? Also again will it be that the speed might become an issue of the load balancing router assign the deco to the slower wan?

basically i need help figuring out how to do netoworks

Falcon1986 · March 16

9 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

the way load balancing works, if i have WAN's, but one provides 300mbps and one does 150, will all my devices still get 300? or will some get 150

Depends on how load balancing is set up in your router.

You should learn how load balancing works, especially as it applies to your multi-WAN router.

9 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

150 no a problem for things like my printer and other things like the smart tv but, i'd want 300 on my laptop...

Watch the section of same video as it applies to policy routing. You can create groups of devices then assign those groups to a particular WAN.

9 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

also if i have a tplink deco mesh set up in router mode and a load balancing router on the layer above it as a dual NAT situation, will it affect the speeds and latencies?

Theoretically, if your internet speeds are slower than the maximum that the Deco can handle, speeds should be minimally affected. At higher internet connection speeds, you might hit a limit since anything plugged in to that WAN port will have to negotiate at least 2 firewalls. Placing a "router" in bridge/passthrough mode or AP mode, releases CPU resources to achieve higher speeds doing other tasks.

Where multiple layers of NAT come in to play is intermittent interruptions from internal IP renewals (DHCP), potential IP conflicts if both networks are within the same subnet, and firewall-related issues (routing from the WAN, through the first network and then the second, etc.).

Unless you have a specific reason to run mesh units in their default mode behind a dual-WAN router, I'd run them in AP mode. I don't think Deco and Omada integrate with each other at this time even if they're both from TP-Link. Using them together will come with compromises.

9 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

Also again will it be that the speed might become an issue of the load balancing router assign the deco to the slower wan?

Again, watch the video.

Technically, if you configure policy routing properly, the chosen WAN should only depend on the client, not the AP through which the client connects. Explore the Omada policy routing interface.

Indian pc builder · March 17

11 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

Depends on how load balancing is set up in your router.

You should learn how load balancing works, especially as it applies to your multi-WAN router.

Watch the section of same video as it applies to policy routing. You can create groups of devices then assign those groups to a particular WAN.

Theoretically, if your internet speeds are slower than the maximum that the Deco can handle, speeds should be minimally affected. At higher internet connection speeds, you might hit a limit since anything plugged in to that WAN port will have to negotiate at least 2 firewalls. Placing a "router" in bridge/passthrough mode or AP mode, releases CPU resources to achieve higher speeds doing other tasks.

Where multiple layers of NAT come in to play is intermittent interruptions from internal IP renewals (DHCP), potential IP conflicts if both networks are within the same subnet, and firewall-related issues (routing from the WAN, through the first network and then the second, etc.).

Unless you have a specific reason to run mesh units in their default mode behind a dual-WAN router, I'd run them in AP mode. I don't think Deco and Omada integrate with each other at this time even if they're both from TP-Link. Using them together will come with compromises.

Again, watch the video.

Technically, if you configure policy routing properly, the chosen WAN should only depend on the client, not the AP through which the client connects. Explore the Omada policy routing interface.

I have parental controls in the deco I need to keep, what if I put one of the routers into bridge mode? That way it’ll be good right?(can the Multi wan router be put into bridge mode)

also how do you find this stuff on YouTube? I just bet directed into a void of useless videos

Falcon1986 · March 17

7 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

I have parental controls in the deco I need to keep, what if I put one of the routers into bridge mode? That way it’ll be good right?(can the Multi wan router be put into bridge mode)

If the TP-Link multi-WAN router has such a mode, that would be a silly mode to have. You'd essentially be turning it into a switch, unless it has the ability to keep all of it's advanced features (such as load balancing).

These multi-WAN routers are purpose-built for small business applications that have specific needs. There's no need to have "alternate modes".

But why don't you examine the router's interface yourself? I'm assuming you have one of TP-Link's multi-WAN routers.

7 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

I have parental controls in the deco I need to keep, what if I put one of the routers into bridge mode?

This is where marrying home user functions and business functions don't always go hand in hand.

Deco is meant for home use. So no surprise that it comes with parental controls that can be managed in the app. Multi-WAN routers are intended for business or advanced home setups where you're likely to have other ways of content filtering and restrictions. In this specific situation, I couldn't find "parental controls" in the TP-Link emulator for the ER605.

If you need both dual-WAN and parental controls with what you have now, then I guess that justifies multiple layers of NAT. I suggest you try the configuration and see if there are any issues to be concerned about at all.

What I think you need here is a multi-WAN mesh home WiFi system. Unfortunately, I don't think TP-Link carries this kind of system. Even the new Archer BE800 with its dual 10Gb LAN/WAN ports will only use 1 for WAN. You'll more likely see these kind of features with Asus/AiMesh and Synology hardware.