I’m considering a Balance 20 for home use as I live in the country and have very limited access to both bandwidth and reliable connectivity. I’ve been using UBNT for my dual WAN for a few years now but the quality of their hardware has caused 2 routers to die on me in 3 years. I’d like to test the Balance 20’s capability but understand that you need to purchase a license for the second WAN connection. Is there any way to get an evaluation license for this?
If you are really referring to the Balance 20, it has two WAN ports and supports 150Mbps throughput.
The 20X is much more capable, highly recommended and a little more expensive. It only supports one Ethernet WAN port. However, you can use the USB port on the 20X with an Ethernet adapter to get a second WAN connection. For example, the TP-LINK TL-UE300 USB 3.0 to RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter. It doesn’t support as high bandwidth as the 1Gbps Ethernet WAN port, but it supports somewhere between 100Mbps to 300Mbps as I remember which should be good enough for your “very limited access to” bandwidth situation.
If you talk to a local Peplink partner, they should be helpful in sorting that out for you. I would however agree with Mark9 that the Balance 20x is the model you need.
You then need the Virtual WAN license, which will allow you to utilize one of the LAN ports as a WAN port. This usually has a MSRP of around 200$.
Thanks for the responses. I was under the impression that to use the second WAN port you had to buy a license for it?considering this is for home use and I don’t have anywhere near 150Mbps service available in my area, what would make you recommend the 20X over the 20? It’s a significant increase in cost for home use.
Yes, you do. Like it’s already mentioned this should cost about 200$.
The main reason you should consider the 20x for your case is that the regular Balance 20 does not have bonding. From what you are describing, it sound like you want to bond 2 WAN connections, correct?
The 20x also have a cellular modem, if you have LTE available for one additional connection.
Check this out:
Okay thanks. Got it. The way I read it was the 20X needed the additional license but it’s the same for both correct?
I’ve never invested in routers that do bonding just because they tend to be significantly pricier. I’ve lived with load balancing on 2 connections and it’s done the job. Obviously bonded connections would be awesome but I’m not sure I can justify the expense for home use. However, I am torn because rumour has it that Starlink will eventually be available here and the 20 won’t handle its max speeds….
OK, let me make a couple of comments after which I’ll “butt out.” ;<) :<)
There are few similarities between the 20 and 20X. @Mark9 and @Odd-Reidar_Fuglestad have pointed this out. Three options vis-a-vis a 2nd WAN, basically:
- If the B20X has a current PrimeCare subscription you have a "full speed’ 2nd WAN available as part of that license, although I am not certain much of Peplink’s literature makes that clear. So, if you are willing to extend the PC license beyond the initial one year (very nominal charge for this model), you will have a license for the 2nd WAN. I think this is new with FW 8.3.0. (Go to https://download.peplink.com/resources/firmware-8.3.0-release-notes.pdf, then search for reference 27546.)
- You always have the option of adding a permanent license for the 2nd WAN. This is SKU LIC-VWAN. It’ll cost you about $200 as @Odd-Reidar_Fuglestad mentioned.
- All current versions of Balance routers support USB-ethernet adapters – as suggested by @Mark9 . Throughput is lower but we’ve found them to be highly reliable. That would give you an additional WAN for the cost of an inexpensive dongle.
As to the difference between B20 and B20X – I’d say there are more differences than similarities. The Balance 20X is also a much newer product. Essentially, it’s an issue of “pay more, get more.” (Personally? I think the 20X is a killer product. My only real wish is that it were to have a metal case and be rack mountable – but I understand why that is not the situation.)
Thanks Rick. All good points. Thanks. No need to “butt out”. I came here to get as much salient info as possible as I’m new to peplink’s products as a whole so I very much appreciate all of you chiming in to answer my questions.
The Balance 20X is a poor substitute for the Balance One. The Balance One supports 5 WANs with the WAN port license. The 20X supports a max of 2 if you use the USB port. The Balance One gets you 5 WANs for future growth opportunities.
Only issue is the Balance One is discontinued now and no product has replaced it.
The Balance one would be overkill for my application though. I just need 2 WAN Connections for my home to ensure better connectivity and reliability.