Background:
- Cellular connectivity from a local network to the internet.
- High Availability employing two cellular-based Peplink routers (HD2 IP67 in the case that brought this to a head)
- Each router connecting to two cellular networks, the two routers employing different carriers, and the carriers requiring specific APNs, which would differ among the two routers.
- Configuration Sync. is active.
Problem:
The cellular configurations get synchronized from the master to the slave, overwriting the carrier-specific settings of the slave (e.g., APNs, the carrier selection (AT&T v. generic v. Verizon…)).
Consequence:
Active synch cannot be employed, since the slave cannot connect given the cellular settings inherited from the master.
To add insult to injury, it seems that without active synch the SpeedFusion connections do not carry over when the slave becomes master - which is not a happy state.
Conjecture:
I expect this to be the case for all WAN settings, and the utility of a redundancy of two HA routers+ISPs is diminished if the two ISPs have conflicting connection settings requirements.
Feature wish/request:
That the WAN settings be optional w.r.t. the active synch feature, i.e., the slave may optionally retain its WAN settings when it is synched, and may benefit from their use when the slave takes on the master role.
Cheers,
Z
This is not expected. May I know which firmware version you are using? Wired WAN config will be synced between master and slave. But this shouldn’t happen to cellular WAN.
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I am glad to hear that this is not expected behavior (though that makes it a problem with my device, doesn’t it?)
The pair consists of two HD2 IP67 HW 3 FW 8.1.1 build 5040.
I’ll restore the heterogenous set-up, recreate the symptoms and report back.
Cheers,
Z
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Hi Sigurd,
After clarified with engineering team, it seems like config sync for cellular WAN is expected. Sorry, my bad. Anyway, we agree this is a valid used case and we should improve this. I have filed this feature and discussion is going on. For the time being, you may need to disable the config sync in the slave device.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.
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We still in a discussion. This is a major change that may affect other features. Currently, the cellular settings are tied to SIM slot. So, you faced this problem when master and slave are using SIM cards with custom APN. We have a plan to make those cellular settings tie to ICCID instead of SIM slot. Again this is not final yet.
Can I confirm your HD2 IP67 comes with dual SIM slots for cellular 1 and 2? If so, can I have a suggestion below as a workaround?
Master device
- Insert SIM card from carrier A into cellular 1 SIM A.
- Configure custom APN for cellular 1 SIM A for master device to connect to carrier A.
- Configure custom APN for cellular 1 SIM B for slave device to connect to carrier B after HA failover.
Slave
- Insert SIM card from carrier B into cellular 1 SIM B.
Hope this helps.
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Confirmed - a total of four SIM slots across two radios.
That should work, but not for our particular use case.
We are employing all four SIM slots in the Master device with a schedule of alternating between A and B for each radio. Unless we reconfigure the architecture a bit (sacrificing one or two slots on the Master to enable the Slave) we do not have a spare SIM slot on the Master.
I like tying the cellular configuration to the ICCID, seems a useful improvement in general, not only w.r.t. the HA scenario.
Cheers,
Z
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