Hi All,
Could I please ask ( I’m an old IT chap) … for a little guidance.
I currently have a Balance One connected to 2 x BT Home hub 5’s WAN 1 and WAN 2
Everything has been and is working fine. I just got 2 x BT Smart Home hub 6’s and simply want to replace the 5’s with the 6’s
Looking at the Balance One I have:
WAN 1: 192.168.1.114 Default GW 192.168.1.254
WAN 2: 192.168.1.86 Default GW 192.168.1.254
The LAN IP address of the Balance is 192.168.1.1
My question:
Can I simply turn everything off and replace the two Home Hubs and then when I turn everything back on (including the Balance One) will the balance configure the new routers or itself and just work – or will I need to run a setup routine to make it work – or do something manually myself ?
I just can’t remember what I did originally … 2 years ago (getting old now) and don’t really want to mess everything up to the point I can’t use the 5’s or the 6’s through my own fault.
So just wanted to ask you guys please if you could help an old IT guy, now retired.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.
Are you using IP Forwarding or NAT?
Honestly all of your WAN and LAN addresses are in the same address space. I honestly don’t know how it is working as it is, but I am curious…
Under Routing Mode it says NAT (Always on)
IP range is 192.168.1.10 - 192.168.1.200
I do have Port forwarding set up for 1 device (CCTV)
I used to be a MCSE many many moons ago - so remember the phraseology etc. The reason it’s “presumably” working is because I have 2 subnets set up (somehow) - I’m assuming the Balance One did that when I originally set it up as I didn’t.
I have 2 BT Infinity 76mb fibre connections on their own line aggregated via the Balance one. Or at least that was the intention 
Seems to work.
Actually - Just looked at my mask and it’s 255.255.255.0(/24) so that means I don’t have 2 subnets… that’s just one big one of 254 devices.
So does this mean guys that I’m NOT actually using both routers for aggregation ?
I do get notifications when either of the BT routers drops for a min or two?
Just answering my own question about whether I was getting aggregation or not. I am 
I connected directly to one of the Home hub 5’s and downloaded at 8Mb/s
Connected to the other one and downloaded at 6Mb/s
Connected to my switch (and thus the Balance) and got 12MB
So I just have my original query outstanding if anyone could help please. Do I need to do anything when swapping out my Home hub 5;s for the new 6’s ?
Ideally, you wouldn’t have a private IP space on both WAN and LAN. This means that there is double NAT going on. Your “modem” or "optical termination point (fiber) is taking one public IP address and sharing it to many private IP addresses using NAT, then the Balance One is also doing a NAT translation. I really don’t know how your setup is working the way it is. Maybe Peplink is clever enough to determine that there is a conflict and it changes your WAN netmask to /32 under the hood or something.
Ideally, your modems or ODTs would be configured in bridge mode. That means ALL traffic goes to the Peplink without NAT being applied, nor any port forwarders being applied. You would then configure the public IP information on the WAN1 link. Repeat for the WAN2 link. Now, your Peplink has two public IPs for the WAN connections.
At the absolute least, the networks should all be exclusive.
WAN1 - 192.168.100.1 /24 (you will need to change the LAN IP of the modem to be inside this new network - 192.168.100.2 would work)
WAN2 - 192.168.200.1 /24 (you will need to change the LAN IP of the modem to be inside this new network - 192.168.200.2 would work)
LAN - 192.168.1.1 /24
However, since it worked the first time without doing any configuring - you should just plug them up and see what it does. Good luck buddy.
Thanks for your comments Jmjones
I “may” have done something. For example there is a setup wizard available in the menu on the balance one. I’m just not sure if I ran that or not. So trying to find out from the members, if Yes I need to run it or no I don’t
I like you do have the sense that I should perhaps have it set up thus:
Balance 192.168.1.1 (Would keep my LAN all as it is now)
WAN 1 192.168.2.x
WAN 2 192.168.3.x
It’s just that “IF” it’s working - it does seem to be… should I really change anything other than swapping out the 2 new routers ??
Thanks
You can always back up your current configuration as a “backup” if anything goes wrong.
If it were me, I would poke around inside the new BT Hubs before doing anything. Just unhook one modem from the Balance One, swap it out, plug a laptop directly into it and poke around. You want to find any type of “bridge” setting. If there is a setup, it may ask if you have an external router. That answer would be yes. I would get the new “hub” (horrible term for network gear now a days IMO) all configured and functional, then configure the Balance One to match. Hook it up to the Balance One and then start passing traffic. Then repeat for the next one. At the end of the process, you will have swapped out both Hubs with minimal disruption to your network clients. This is the main feature of a multi-wan router after all.
Now, what it sounds like you want is a “go for it, you will be fine” type of answer. Take your configuration backup, swap out the hubs, run the setup wizard, cross those fingers, say a prayer, and then give it a shot. If it works, you are very much luckier than I am If it doesn’t, unplug the new hubs from the peplink, reapply your configuration from backup – then swap the hubs back. You should (emphasis on should) be able to recover if things get screwy. There is always a possibility of locking yourself out of the router. It happens to everyone, and you can recover from it.
I have never used the wizard in the router. I always go and configure my WAN links and LAN settings manually. The UI is very good and will catch you from making any huge oopsies. I am sure that you can “make it work”, by going through the UI, but without logging into the Hubs themselves and configuring them as well – it most likely won’t be optimized for performance or functionality. It will simply pass traffic through less efficient means (double NAT). With links that fast, efficiency is less important; but being inefficient is a bad practice.
Cheers JM. Actually it’s only me at home So I can only mess myself up.
Yes, I think backup the Balance One. Then disconnect both ISP routers - Swap in the 2 new ones, turn the Balance back on and see what happens.
If nothing - then run the Setup Wizard.
If nothing - Try manually configuring the 2 new routers
If nothing - Reload the balance config and reconnect the 2 old routers - and scratch head lol
Then retry something different
Will post up here for everyone’s entertainment/info
Well !
That was a bit of a non event. I backed up the Balance config. Then swapped out both of the ISP Routers, one by one. They both came up as they should - seem to have taken the same IP no as the old ones and they just well … worked.
I have the same 14Mb/s download speed I had before (from 2 x 76Mb/s BT Fibre connections)
So it just begs the question … Is this how it should work - both WAN devices and the Balance one all being in the same subnet ? Can the techies advise please?
If it’s wrong, why is it working.
If I correct it (if it’s wrong) - will it be faster/better ?
Thanks all
Bumping this to see if any Peplink guys can advise me?
Are you managing this through InControl2? If so, you can send me your SN and I’m happy to take a look.
Hi Tim,
It’s at my house. Not managing via anything. But happy for you to have a look if you would be so kind. Would I just need to share my IP address with you … or do I need to do something about InControl2 ?
And thanks for your offer (The product is superb, so is the support)
You can just send me your serial number via PM and I will take a look later.
@Tim_S - attaboy. I bet it didn’t even take you very long, but based on his other post, it made a huge impression. Occurrences like these are what makes me like my Peplink products.
Nice one Jmjones. Actually he supported me across a 3 hour period - almost half a working day, I also appreciate your thoughts and kind suggestions via the forum as well