How to set up simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi as WAN

Knowledgebase FAQs
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Pre-requisites:

  • Max Transit models
  • Running Firmware 7

What is it?
On select devices with dual active radios, 2x Wi-Fi-as-WAN connections can be defined, placed into the same connection priority, utilizing both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands simultaneously.

If you’re looking to setup simultaneous Wi-Fi as WAN and Wi-Fi AP, go here.
If you’re looking to set up dual-band failover Wi-Fi WAN, then please see: How to set up dual-band failover for Wi-Fi as WAN

Example:
You are in a RV. The campground you’re parked at broadcasts “Campground WiFi 2.4Ghz” and “Campground WiFi 5Ghz”. You use the “Campground WiFi 2.4Ghz” as the WAN source on the 2.4GHz frequency and at the same time, use the second “Campground WiFi 5Ghz” Wi-Fi SSID from the campground as the WAN source on the 5GHz frequency.
When placed in the same connection priority, these two Wi-Fi WAN connections can be active at the same time and load-balanced.

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How to set up?

From the Dashboard tab, in WAN Connection Status, you’ll see Wi-Fi WAN and Wi-Fi WAN on 5GHz.

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Click Details, enter a WAN Connection Name or leave as is, then Save and Apply at the bottom.

Back in the WAN Connection Status tab, drag and drop the newly named Wi-Fi WAN connection into Priority 1.

Click Wireless Networks and choose the available Wi-Fi you wish to connect to as WAN, then enter the password.

You have just created one Wi-Fi WAN Connection on 2.4Ghz.

To create a second Wi-Fi WAN on the 5GHz frequency for load-balancing, repeat the steps above for “Wi-Fi WAN on 5GHz” and be sure to drag this connection into the same connection priority as the previous i.e. Priority 1.

The resulting setup:

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I use this in my RV with a Surf SOHO and it works very well except for one rather large caveat that I think you guys need to at least document.

If the WiFi WAN network goes down for any reason, like say driving to another campground, the WiFi LAN on the same frequency will start experiencing more than 10% packet loss due to the router re-scanning for the WAN network every few seconds. You must disable WiFi WAN to allow your LAN to work properly.

This could be made much better if Peplink lowered the scan interval when a WAN network is not in range, like say 60 seconds, even better would be a setting that adjust the scan interval defaulted to 60 seconds.

The best solution is two separate WiFi radios such as a MAX HD2, but just lowering the scan interval would resolve nearly all issues, causing a little packet loss every minute or two is not bad, every few seconds is very bad.

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Thanks for the feedback. We will have an option to adjust scan intervals for a single radio operating in dual modes.

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Excellent news, it has so far been the only issue I have run into with my SOHO Mk3, otherwise it performs very well and very reliably running directly off RV 12v power connected to my AC791L hotspot.

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For some reason the router will not allow me to keep 2 WAN connections under priority 1. This used to work. Was the functionality removed with the latest firmware or am I don’t something wrong.

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Can the Pepwave Max BR1 MK2 work for this? Does it support dual-band simultaneously and if so, can the WiFi as WAN function as described in this post where both 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi can be used as a priority 1 WAN source along with cellular as priority 1 as well? Will Speedfusion smoothing/etc work with in conjunction with all three at the same time? Or is the Max BR1 MK2 dual-band capable but cannot do both 2.4 AND 5 GHz at the same time and one or the other would have to be selected?

Thank you

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@mystery, BR1 MK2 supports dual radio and dual band. Please find the screenshot below.

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Thank you. And all four connections can work with speedfusion? If so, what is the max speedfusion speed if I have smoothing enabled for instance? Do I need any special vpn or additional hardware to use smoothing or hot failover? I see the MK2 does not support bonding… will I miss out on anything not having that?

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@mystery, I believe the SpeedFusion Technologies page should able to address your questions.

If you are looking at the device that gives you bandwidth bonding (SpeedFusion) over multiple WANs (wired, Wi-Fi & Cellular), then you should look for the MAX HD series.

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I am still confused unfortunately. I made a post in the following thread trying to explain what I am looking to do: WAN Smoothing vs Bonding

I think a Max HD is overkill… I do not need 2-4 modems/radios… I just need 1… I also don’t have the space to mount such a large device…

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So I think I understand how Speedfusion works now and will setup a Fusionhub Solo. Out of curiosity, why does the MK2 not support Speedfusion Bonding but it does support Speedfusion hotfail over and Speedfusion smoothing? Is it something that may be added in the future? This would be the perfect device if it included all the Speedfusion technologies… Thank you

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@mystery

BR1 series (Single Cellular) doesn’t support Speedfusion Bonding.

If you require SpeedFusion Bonding, you can consider HD2 Mini (Same form factor with BR1) or MAX transit .

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Thank you but the HD2 mini does not have WiFi so then no WiFi as WAN which I am trying to achieve. I also looked up the Transit and the MAX-TST does not offer any Speedfusion and the MAX-TST-DUO says its optional but with an already pricey device another $1,200 for the license to enable Speedfusion is too much $. So it appears there is no solution that offers dual band WiFi as WAN and Speedfusion Failover/Smoothing/Bonding at a reasonable price for use in a vehicle/RV? Is there a hardware limitation as to why the BR1 series doesnt support Speedfusion Bonding but does support Speedfusion Failover/Smoothing? Or is it just for marketing purposes to move people to buy a more expensive device at thousands of dollars more?

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Sorry a couple more questions regarding WiFi as WAN on the MK2…

Can signal thresholds be set for 2.4 and 5ghz? If so, independently for each band or by SSID? I.e. so WiFi will not connect if signal is out of a set signal range. If it does not connect does it show the WiFi as WAN interface as down for that specific band?

Can I save a multiple SSIDs and passwords for the MK2 to connect to whichever has the strongest signal automatically on both bands 2.4 and 5 ghz? I.e. if moving from site A where I am connected to both SSID SiteA_2.4ghz and SiteA_5ghz when I arrive at site B which has SSID SiteB_2.4ghz and SiteB_5ghz it will automatically connect to both those SSIDs at SiteB?

I am assuming that there should be no issue with a single SSID and moving about and the unit will just connect to the access point with the strongest signal? I.e. if I save SSID “Cablewifi” and move from location A to location B it will keep connecting to that SSID provided signal is available? I won’t have to manually disconnect and reconnect (the access point MAC address would vary but SSID would stay the same)?

Thank you VERY much for all of your help!

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Anyone have any thoughts?

And to add a new question: can you connect to two SSIDs on the same band for WiFi as WAN? I.e. SiteBprimary_2.4ghz and SiteBbackup_2.4ghz? or you can only do one 2.4 and one 5 network/ssid?

Thank you!

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Hello @mystery,
The routers currently available that are most suited to what you are attempting to do are:

  • Pepwave MAX Transit DUO with a SpeedFusion Licence
  • Pepwave MAX HD2
  • Pepwave MAX HD4

All of these then need to be connected back to either another router with SpeedFusion or a cloud based FusionHub. There is lots of supporting information through the forum on these.
Happy to Help,
Marcus :slight_smile:

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Thanks I am going to test with MK2. Just trying to figure out some specifics:

Can signal thresholds be set for 2.4 and 5ghz? If so, independently for each band or by SSID? I.e. so WiFi will not connect if signal is out of a set signal range.

Can I save a multiple SSIDs and passwords for the MK2 to connect to for WiFi as WAN? How does it decide which to connect to? Whichever has the strongest signal? Will it automatically switch between APs and/or SSIDs to get the connection with the best signal?

Can you connect to two SSIDs on the same band for WiFi as WAN? I.e. SiteBprimary_2.4ghz and SiteBbackup_2.4ghz? or you can only do one 2.4 and one 5 network/ssid?

Thank you

21

After two years still no sign of a scan interval option, I have helped quite a number of people here and on other forums that were having WIFI issues due to WifI wan scanning, its not helping your reputation out there.

Now Airstream is using your product and people are having the same issue, what makes it worse is Airstream locks down router access prevent them from disabling wifi wan when needed to avoid the issue. Very frustrating to end users.

I would suggest re evaluating this behavior I have learned to live with it using your iOS app to enable and disable wifi wan as needed.