Can I Use Ethernet Adapters on the USB WAN?

I want to revisit this topic - it’s been 3 years now. Is this feature still experimental or now a permanent established feature of the above mentioned models?

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@Joseph_Lau

The feature is available now 。。。 Balance One is in the supported list. Possible please get the USB Ethernet Adapter as listed above. If you have problem to work on the USB WAN, please open a support ticket for support team to check

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That’s nice, any chance you tested this last year?

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Does this work with Balance 20X?

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@Paul_Barrett

Yes. B20x supported the Ethernet adapter USB WAN feature.

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Are there plans in the works to support any USB 3.0 2.5GBASE-T ethernet adapters?

@carjr159

Do you have more use case info that can share ? 2.5GBase-T ? For such high bandwidth link, better to have fiber connection ?

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Looking at gigabit-capable DOCSIS modems, many have gone the route of dual GbE ports + link aggregation, though there are some with single 2.5GbE ports in the pipeline. I’ve not had a good look at the field of FTTP ONTs though I know of at least one business-oriented model in use at a friend’s business which does have 2.5GbE ports—unfortunately I don’t have the model number to hand, though if it would help you I can ask him.

What I’m looking at now is trying to be sure my hardware purchases now are reasonably future-proof for these gigabit-capable WAN options as I expect to have them in use in at least two locations within the next year. I’m not considering solo GbE WAN ports for gigabit-class WAN options at the moment, so do I need to look at buying Peplink hardware capable of 802.3ad link aggregation on the WAN side (as I know that will work with the current crop of DOCSIS modems I’ve researched), or can I stick with Peplink hardware without 802.3ad support on the WAN ports but which I could deploy with a 2.5GbE (or 2.5/5GbE) USB 3.0 NIC when we move to gigabit DOCSIS or fibre WAN later this year?

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I tried USB/ethernet adapter on a Surf SOHO HW2 and it worked. But on a Balance 20x it did not work. Are there settings that need to be adjusted in the USB WAN definition?

Hmmm. @sitloongs indicated it’s supported. Wondering if you used one of those listed here → Can I Use Ethernet Adapters on the USB WAN?. Or a different one?

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My bad. Did not read whole posting from the beginning. You have to first configure the USB port to work with Ethernet rather than 4G/LTE. After doing this, it worked fine.

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This is a GREAT feature on the Balance 20X. Thank you for the instructions here on how to make it work. I had tried to configure it manually, but it wasn’t working.

Had I not been pointed to this feature before my purchase, I likely wouldn’t have a Peplink at all right now, because the models with dual built-in Ethernet ports were out of my price range, especially with SpeedFusion enabled. I am currently using it to smooth / bond two cellular connections, and I just saw some amazing results.

Note that I am not using the built in cellular modem because my current options are T-Mobile Home Internet which has a plan that only works with their device, and a local MVNO on AT&T. I already have a CAT11 modem for AT&T, and there is no way I am going to go back to a CAT4 modem.

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I searched and came in here just to see if it was possible with a modern B20x and happy to see that it is. :slight_smile:

Does the USB port of latest Balance 20X support any Peplink AP module? I wish to use Balance 20X with primary connection to a home FIOS, then connecting to a hotspot as load balancing (If not; then failover). If both the FIOS and hotspot fail, LTE would be the failover. The Balance 20X USB port is 2.0 or 3.0 or something else?

Chanpakkwong, I don’t have an answer for you, but I am interested in your question, as I may be in the same position. Are you attempting to use the USB and an AP in combination to pick up a wifi signal from a cellular hotspot? If so, that’s what I’m considering doing down the road as a secondary connection to my primary Starlink (WAN). Essentially you’d be trying to create a secondary Wifi-as-WAN connection, correct?

Exactly. I saw the opening post stating a number of Peplink models that support USB WAN but not Balance 20X. Later I discovered the opening post was 4 years ago and after searching the product information page, I THINK the latest Balance 20X is supporting USB WAN. Just want to make sure before putting my investment there.

My understanding is that you are correct.

A further question- what hardware do you intend to use to pick up the Wifi signal? At the moment I am using a Surf SOHO (as it has native wifi-as-WAN capability), but I may move from that in the future to the Balance 20X (or similar). I’m trying to find the best option for feeding the wifi connection to the router.

I know this answer is late, but posting in case it helps someone else. With my B20X, the USB connected ethernet adapter can’t actually achieve even close to 1Gb of throughput. IIRC, it can hit around 100 Mbps. I’m guessing its limited by the CPU load required to handle the USB device. So I suspect that the 2.5Gb adapter wouldn’t fare any better. If my theory is correct, other Balance routers with more processing power may be able to get more speed out of the USB.

BTW, my cable modem does have a 2.5 Gb connection and the download speed to the modem is about 1.5 Gbps. Sadly, there’s no way to get that available bandwidth into the Balance 20X or most other Balance models. I wish Peplink would provide a Balance router for less than $1000 that could accept at least a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet WAN connection and at least one equivalent speed port on the LAN side.

Competitors have models priced below $1000 with 2.5 Gbps and/or SFP+ ports.

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Just making sure I’m following, the limited 100mbps throughput is ONLY on the USB connection, correct? You still get good throughput on the standard WAN connection, right? I ask because if I go that route, that connection would be for LTE, which in my experience is pretty slow.

I really wish that there was a Balance router that supported Wifi-as-WAN. It would simplify things immensely.

Yes, only limited on USB. The Ethernet WAN hits advertised throughput, 900+ Mbps on the 20X.

When I’ve used the USB for LTE, I’ve gotten between 5 and 35 Mbps.

If you really need WiFi as WAN, using an Apple Airport Express set to act as a bridge has worked well for me in the past. The Airport connects to the WiFi and Ethernet carries the traffic from the Airport Express to a wired WAN port.