Pepwave Max Active / Active

Here is a document to demonstrate how to setup 2 Max devices in an Active / Active pair to combine their total connections. The document shows the step-by-step setup for 2 x BR1’s, with guidance for 2 x HD2’s and 2 x HD4’s.

On the LAN side of each device you would either have Access Points or a switch with Access Points connected. The recommendation is that each AP from both devices would have the same SSID’s / Password, with the latest 3.6.0 firmware on the AP’s you can enable the setting to disable / stop broadcasting the SSID if the AP loses connection to the Internet. With this configured, and the setup shown below, client devices which are connected to an AP which loses connectivity would then automatically connect to an AP supplied by the other Max device in the Active / Active pair.

BR1 Active / Active

Configuring the 1st BR1 (BR1-1)

Change the Network Settings, so the router’s IP address is 192.168.10.1 (255.255.255.0/24) Enable VLANS – see image below:-

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Create the VLAN:-
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Add Port Settings, as below:-
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Setup the WAN port (BR1) as shown below – note the IP address is the static IP address from VLAN_1 of the 2nd device:-
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Configure the Outbound Policy:-
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Configuring the 2nd BR1 (BR1-2):-

Change the Network Settings, so the router’s IP address is 192.168.20.1 (255.255.255.0/24)

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Create the VLAN:-
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Add Port Settings, as below:-
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Setup the WAN port (BR1) as shown below – note the IP address is the static IP address from VLAN_1 of the 1st device:-

Setup the Outbound Policy to force traffic over Cellular:-
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Physical Cables:-

Cable 1 = BR1-1 WAN -> BR1-2 LAN 1 Cable 2 = BR1-2 WAN -> BR1-1 LAN 1

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Step by Step – HD2 Active / Active

  1. Login to the 1st HD2 (HD2-1)

  2. Set the Network IP to:-
    a. 192.168.10.1
    b. VLAN1 – 192.168.11.1
    c. VLAN2 – 192.168.12.1

  3. Change the Port Settings
    a. LAN1 = Access VLAN1
    b. LAN2 – Access VLAN2
    c. LAN3 – Access Untagged
    d. LAN 4 – Access Untagged

  4. Advanced Outbound Policy
    a. Force 192.168.11.1 network to use Cell 1
    b. Force 192.168.12.1 network to use Cell 2

  5. Set WAN Connections
    a. WAN1 = 192.168.21.2 (Gateway = 192.168.21.1 / DNS = Google)

  6. WAN2 = 192.168.22.2 (Gateway = 192.168.22.1 / DNS = Google)

  7. Login to the 2nd HD2 (HD2-2)

  8. Set the Network IP to:-
    a. 192.168.20.1
    b. VLAN1 – 192.168.21.1
    c. VLAN2 – 192.168.22.1

  9. Change the Port Settings
    a. LAN1 = Access VLAN1
    b. LAN2 – Access VLAN2
    c. LAN3 – Access Untagged
    d. LAN 4 – Access Untagged

  10. Advanced Outbound Policy
    a. Force 192.168.21.1 network to use Cell 1
    b. Force 192.168.22.1 network to use Cell 2

  11. Set WAN Connections
    a. WAN1 = 192.168.11.2 (Gateway = 192.168.11.1 / DNS = Google)
    b. WAN2 = 192.168.12.2 (Gateway = 192.168.12.1 / DNS = Google)

Physical Cables:-

Cable 1 = HD2-1 WAN 1 → HD2-2 LAN 1
Cable 2 = HD2-1 WAN 2 → HD2-2 LAN 2
Cable 3 = HD2-2 WAN 1 → HD2-1 LAN 1
Cable 4 = HD2-2 WAN 2 → HD2-1 LAN 2

Step by Step – HD4 Active / Active

NOTE – LAN as WAN Licence will need to be applied to both HD4’s

Configure the 1st HD4

  1. Login to the 1st HD4 (HD4-1)
  2. Set the Network IP to:-
    a. 192.168.10.1
    b. VLAN1 – 192.168.11.1
    c. VLAN2 – 192.168.12.1
    d. VLAN3 – 192.168.13.1
    e. VLAN4 – 192.168.14.1
  3. Change the Port Settings
    a. LAN4 = Access VLAN1
    b. LAN5 – Access VLAN2
    c. LAN6 – Access VLAN3
    d. LAN7 – Access VLAN4
    e. LAN8 – Access Untagged
  4. Advanced Outbound Policy
    a. Force 192.168.11.1 network to use Cell 1
    b. Force 192.168.12.1 network to use Cell 2
    c. Force 192.168.13.1 network to use Cell 3
    d. Force 192.168.14.1 network to use Cell 4
  5. Set WAN Connections
    a. WAN1 = 192.168.21.2 (Gateway = 192.168.21.1 / DNS = Google)
    b. WAN2 = 192.168.22.2 (Gateway = 192.168.22.1 / DNS = Google)
    c. WAN3 = 192.168.23.2 (Gateway = 192.168.23.1 / DNS = Google)
    d. WAN4 = 192.168.24.2 (Gateway = 192.168.24.1 / DNS = Google)

Configure the 2nd HD4

  1. Login to the 2nd HD4 (HD4-2)
  2. Set the Network IP to:-
    a. 192.168.20.1
    b. VLAN1 – 192.168.21.1
    c. VLAN2 – 192.168.22.1
    d. VLAN3 – 192.168.23.1
    e. VLAN4 – 192.168.24.1
  3. Change the Port Settings
    a. LAN4 = Access VLAN1
    b. LAN5 – Access VLAN2
    c. LAN6 – Access VLAN3
    d. LAN7 – Access VLAN4
    e. LAN8 – Access Untagged
  4. Advanced Outbound Policy
    a. Force 192.168.21.1 network to use Cell 1
    b. Force 192.168.22.1 network to use Cell 2
    c. Force 192.168.23.1 network to use Cell 3
    d. Force 192.168.24.1 network to use Cell 4
  5. Set WAN Connections
    a. WAN1 = 192.168.11.2 (Gateway = 192.168.11.1 / DNS = Google)
    b. WAN2 = 192.168.12.2 (Gateway = 192.168.12.1 / DNS = Google)
    c. WAN3 = 192.168.13.2 (Gateway = 192.168.13.1 / DNS = Google)
    d. WAN4 = 192.168.14.2 (Gateway = 192.168.14.1 / DNS = Google)

Health Check for ALL WAN (Cellular & cabled) – DNS Lookup using 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

Physical Cables:-

Cable 1 = HD4-1 WAN 1 -> HD4-2 LAN 4

Cable 2 = HD4-1 WAN 2 → HD4-2 LAN 5
Cable 3 = HD4-1 WAN 3 → HD4-2 LAN 6
Cable 4 = HD4-1 WAN 4 → HD4-2 LAN 7

Cable 5 = HD4-2 WAN 1 → HD4-1 LAN 4
Cable 6 = HD4-2 WAN 2 → HD4-1 LAN 5
Cable 7 = HD4-2 WAN 3 → HD4-1 LAN 6
Cable 8 = HD4-2 WAN 4 → HD4-1 LAN 7

Diagram showing HD4 connections:-

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Here is a document which you can download.

Pepwave Active Active.pdf (1.7 MB)

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