Dashboard Priority vs SpeedFusion Priority

General
1

Does this sound accurate? The WAN Connection Priority in the Dashboard applies to all traffic except SpeedFusion traffic. Any priorities configured at the SpeedFusion level will override the Dashboard priority list. Is that correct?

In other words, standard traffic follows the dashboard priority, while SpeedFusion traffic adheres to its own rules.

2

Not quite.

Dashboard priority groups (combined with health checks on a per WAN basis) define the availability of a WAN link to be used by any and all network traffic.

How non speedfusion traffic is sent over the available WANs is defined by outbound policy.

How Speedfusion traffic is sent over the available WANs is defined by WAN Priority groups in each tunnel profile.

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3

Thanks, Martin. I have a follow-up question if you don’t mind.

I’m curious why the dashboard prioritization includes multiple priority groups. If the intention is purely for availability, wouldn’t it be more straightforward to design it with just “Priority 1” and “Disabled”?

Attached is a picture of my Balance 20X CAT 4 with a CAT 12 Flex module.

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image1586Ă—1102 105 KB

4

A good question as its not obvious depending on your use case and the connections you have.

LOWEST COST ROUTING
Originally, WAN prioritisation was a automatic lowest cost routing mechanism for fixed installs.

eg :

  1. Use my DSL which is unlimited bandwidth and only if its unhealthy should you
  2. Wake up the cellular modem from cold standby and connect to a 4G network to use that.
  3. Then as soon as my DSL is healthy swap back because I have very limited data or I pay $4/GB.

Very effective.

PERFORMANCE BASED ROUTING
Then it became a highest performance routing mechanism for mobility deployments.

eg:

  1. On my Yacht or in my RV, when I’m at sea / in the desert use vSAT,
  2. Then as we approach civilisation as soon as I have healthy 4G use that instead
  3. Then if I go to a marina / campsite that has WIFI stop using 4G and use WiFi,
  4. Then when I get to my home (marina berth) and plug in my ethernet connection just use that and stop using all the other wireless links.

Today with often a large choice of connection types and a mix of costs and performance characteristics, the need for WAN priorities can get even more complex. Or they can be crazy simple (everything in P1 and use outbound policy and SpeedFusion profile WAN prioritisation).

WIFI WAN AS LAST RESORT
We often deploy Peplink routers with Dual Starlinks and Dual 5G and we bond over the top. In that config all of these WANs are in Priority 1. Then In Priority 2 I have the WiFi-WANs set to connect automatically to a default SSID profile with a known password.

That way, when the router ships to the customer, if they plug it in on their desk without any wired WANs connected and there is no cell signal, they can turn on wifi hotspot on their smartphone (which might have cellular or be on their own wifi SSID) and the Peplink will automatically connect to them and give me remote access via InControl.

MANAGING MULTIPLE 5G CONNECTIONS
When you have multiple modem routers, you might have 2 modems with unlimited vodafone cards in that cost you peanuts and one modem with an EE Sim that has 30GB limit / month and then a forth modem with a roaming SIM in for pay per GB.

So you can have the vodafone modems in P1, EE in P2 (with bandwidth moniotirng enabled to disconnect at 30GB) and then the roaming in P3.

OR

AUTONOMOUS DUMP TRUCK
You might have an autonomous dump truck in a mine with a modem that has a Private 5G SIM (P2) and another with a public 5G SIM (P3) and you only want to use the Public 5G when the Private 5G connection fails, then if there is wifi available (loading bays) then just use that (P1).

And then, and then…

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5

Thank you Martin, for taking the time to write up all these scenarios. I’m starring this conversation for sure. My current scenario involves tinkering in the lab. I’m setting up the other end of my SpeedFusion this weekend and can’t wait to try things out.