Hello,
I am wondering what hardware revisions there are for the Balance 20, the differences between each, and what their release dates were?
Also, any issues updating to the latest firmware regardless of hardware revision? I see references in the past that a device had to be in warranty and then in 2015 that was changed. Curious if an old device on old firmware will be upgrade-able to the latest firmware?
Thanks!
Hi Mystery,
there is an existing update File for your Balance 20
The difference in the HW Revisions is e.g. the Throughput
Regards
Dennis
Thanks. I saw that article but its almost two years old. Did not know if there were any hardware revisions other than 1 & 2. Also saw the firmware posted but references to license keys needed. I guess if that becomes the case it can be obtained via incloud no problem?
Final question, if I want to power via DC, any special power adapter needed or can I just wire a plug that fits directly? DC power could range from ~12-14.5v. I dont want to break anything…
The Original Power Supply has 12V 2A (24W), so it’s not a problem to take a 3rd party DC Power Adapter. Please check that + is in the center from the Pin.
If you are not shure if you Power Adapter is the right one, post the details from this.
I dont’t understand your question to a license key. You can install a Firmware Update for your device.
To use InControl2 (I think you mean this with incloud) your device needs Subscription.
Your local Peplink Dealer can help you getting subscription - if you don’t have one, tell me your country
Regards
Dennis
Thanks.
Regarding the license key, there were some posts I read here on this forum that indicated at one point a license key was needed to do a firmware update. There was a process for existing users to obtain. Perhaps Peplink has done away with that idea and now its simply downloading the firmware package and applying…
A license key is no longer required to upgrade your firmware. If you are on an older version of firmware when that was still required, a key will be required. This can be obtained for free at this time by following the instructions here: https://forum.peplink.com/t/obtaining-your-free-firmware-license-key/7910
Thanks.
Is there confirmation the highest hardware level on the balance 20 is HW2? I have someone telling me they have a HW3… Are all hardware revisions under the same sku/model #?
Also do these devices support hot-ready / hot-standby mode without preventing failback? i.e. i still want to be able to connect to my wan source configs (modem/router) when the wan is not actively failing over.
Finally, I see at one point the Balance 20 had three physical WAN ports. Which HW revision/model/sku represents that?
Thanks again!
According to the firmware download page, Balance 20 is currently at HW6.
The third WAN port may be activated by purchasing an additional license.
Thanks so back to my question: is there a list of differences between each hardware revision? Thank you
I’ve updated the Throughput post from Alan. The Balance 20 has remained largely the same in terms of performance. One of the more customer facing updates that was done is adding the ability to activate a third WAN port.
Thank you. In which HW revision was the third WAN port introduced? I see its a physical change not just a software/license change… was there a model/sku # change for it?
The WAN3 activation was added at HW revision 5.
Thanks!
Do these devices support hot-ready / hot-standby mode without preventing fail-back? Is that the right terminology? I need to be able to connect to both of my wan (modems/routers) admin/config pages when the wan is not actively failing over on the secondary wan (i.e. secondary would not in use because not failure of the primary wan) and then vice-a-versa when it is failing over to secondary, still need to be able to access the primary wan modem/router interface/admin page…
Thank you very much for all of your help!
You can have another WAN that is in standby that is ready to go if the primary WAN goes down. As soon as the primary comes back up, the other WAN(s) will go back into standby and will route traffic out the primary WAN again.
We have a Balance 710 that can be accessed here. The UI will have more features as the 710 is designed for a large enterprise, but it will still allow you to get a feel for the router and some of its features. The login info should be the default admin/admin.
Thank you. So if I do that on a Balance 20, can I access the admin interface on the wan router that is on standby?
If a connection is not active (in standby) you shouldn’t be able to access the unit using that IP address.
Ah. Is there any Peplink product that does hot-ready / hot-standby mode (is that what its called??) without preventing failback so i can connect to my wan source modem/router admin/config page when the wan is not actively failing over?
What I am trying to do is connect a cellular WAN modem/router and WiFi WAN AP/router to a device (i.e. Balance 20) that can support dual WAN. Some times I may need to manually log-in to the cellular modem/router or the WiFi AP/router to connect to the cellular or WiFi network to have internet access. I will be mobile so moving locations is what would likely trigger the need to connect to a different cellular or WiFi network. If I can’t access the interface while its not actively failing over, then I don’t know how I’d get to the modem/router admin/config page to re-connect the modem/router to the internet?
Hopefully I am explaining this clearly but if not please let me know any clarification needed. Thank you so much!
Hello @mystery,
We do this differently, what we do is have at many of our customers locations the LTE Backup always running with the same piority as the wired WAN connection (it could be a secondary WAN connection rather than a LTE backup too). To make thing work, we use outbound policies, piroitising traffic to the required WAN connection, this still leaves the LTE Backup connection accessable.
In many of the Balance & MAX range of routers, we also use a feature for PPPoE modems we run in bridge mode, this allows for the bridged modem to still be accessed for management and support, if this connection is our secondary connection then keeping it active and also using the outbound policies is essential.
Have a go with your out bound polocies, you can create the policies first before changing the piority of your connections if you wish to progrsivly test the changes.
Happy to Help,
Marcus 
@mldowling thank you for the idea. i wonder how having the same priority for the WANs and prioritizing the outbound would work if one of the connections is unstable or unusable? In a lot of these cases, there might be some connectivity but the cellular or the WiFi may be unstable, depending upon the location. Hence the idea would be for me to log-in to the cellular or wifi router admin interface, in the case of cellular perhaps select a different carrier/band or disable, in the case of WiFi perhaps select a different band/ssid or disable, so I am left with the most stable connection. It sounds like if I follow your approach that inbound data (i.e. a download, reply from requesting a website, etc) may then show some packets dropped/lag if I leave one of the interfaces up that doesnt have solid connectivity and I will have to dig deeper to see which it is (versus knowing which interface is active and just switching to the other)?
What is the setting you use for PPPoE modems called to keep the admin page accessible? I would like to research that. Might it work for a non-PPPoE modem?
Have you tried all of this on a Balance 20 or do you think that it will have these capabilities?
Thanks!
Hello @mystery,
The outound policy and the PPPoE on WAN connections is the setup the same across all of the Peplink Balance routers, so creating the rules and policies will be the same. With Wi-Fi WAN, that will be dependant unpon your equipment you use to access the Wi-FI WAN as to how it behaves. What you can do is modify the Health Check Settings of the WAN, these images show the factory defaults for a Wired WAN & USB Modem on the Balance range, if you were using a Pepwave MAX with a built in Celular Modem, the options would be the same as the USB shown here.
Health Check Settings - Wired WAN
Health Check Settings - USB WAN
You can modify these to setup your prefered levels of connection reliability.
Happy to Help,
Marcus
