4G/5G cellular backup for Virgin Media SuperHub

[Mark-Guildford]

Can anybody recommend a good, automated 4G/5G cellular backup solution for Virgin Media SuperHub?

If I'm at home, I can use my smartphone's wireless hotspot mode to connect my laptop etc. to the internet.  But I also have lots of other devices which are connected to the internet - home alarm system, security cameras, Hive devices etc., and I they only connect to my regular home wireless network.  I don't want to lose the internet connectivity on all of those devices if my Virgin Media broadband goes down, or if somebody decides to maliciously cut my my Virgin Media coax cable, which is very easily visible.

I have a SuperHub 5, and it works fine.  But I can't see any way to add an additional backup internet connection.  My Virgin Media service has been relatively stable in the past few months, but I remember in the past when it was constantly dropping its internet connection, and I want to be prepared for that.  Some routers have a USB port which can be used to add a cellular USB dongle for backup internet service, but the SuperHub 5 doesn't have one.  Now that Virgin Media are under the same ownership as O2, hopefully this is something which we'll see in the future.  They are apparently already offering something like that for Business customers, but not for those of us on Consumer contracts.

I see that some wireless routers from companies like TP-Link now have a nano-SIM slot which can be used as a backup, with the router switching automatically from the WAN port to the nano-SIM if it loses its internet connectivity on the WAN port.  Right now, I'm thinking that my best option is probably to buy one of these kind of routers from TP-Link, Asus etc., take out a separate monthly subscription for a nano-SIM card to go in it, put my Virgin Media SuperHub 5 into modem-only mode, and connect the new router to the SuperHub just for modem functionality.  Is there any reason why this would not work with Virgin Media broadband?  Does anybody have any alternative suggestions?

[Mark-Guildford]

Yes. That is how I have configured it. So hopefully, there should never be any interruption. I did test it, by removing the coax cable from my Virgin Media SuperHub, and the Draytek router did indeed then switch over to the 5G as the automatic back up.

[jpeg1]

Looks like you got it sorted then. The Draytek devices are quite complex, as they are intended for business use, but it's worth persisting with the settings. Have you taken advantage of the automatic backup? A memory stick in the USB socket will record every time you change settings, so if you are unhappy with anything you have done you can choose an old setting to go back to. 

Have you signed up to their DDNS service? It's free and very reliable.

Sorry if I sound like an advert for Draytek. I'm just a happy customer having bought many of their devices for business and home use. I'll shut up now. 

[Tudor]

I've always found it pays off  if you buy move expensive ‘business grade’ equipment.

[Adduxi]

I use a Draytek 2927 in load balancing mode and it works great. If one WAN falls over, I wouldn't even notice, it just works.  Again, it's a wired only and I use PoE access points for wifi. Agree with @Tudor  it might cost a bit more, but it tends to work as expected.  Last I looked the uptime on the Draytek was over 110 days and counting.

[Mark-Guildford]

That’s a good idea about backing up the settings on a USB stick. I didn’t realize that was possible.

What is a DDNS service?

I’m more than happy to hear any and all advice!  This device is more complex than any router I’ve used in the past, so I need all the help I can get!

It’s a shame that more of the “consumer” type routers don’t offer the possibility to offer a basic dual WAN / failover type capability, without necessarily offering all the bells and whistles of a Draytek type professional device.

[Adduxi]

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@Mark-Guildford wrote:

<snip>  It’s a shame that more of the “consumer” type routers don’t offer the possibility to offer a basic dual WAN / failover type capability, without necessarily offering all the bells and whistles of a Draytek type professional device.

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It's all down to costs, and besides 99% of users don't even think of failover needs.  In my case it was a necessity for working from home at times, especially in the wee small hours of the morning !

[jpeg1]

There is an option to point settings backups to a USB so that every time you hit Save it copies the full setup automatically.  You don't have to remember to do it.  If you don't like the new setting, or you have totally mucked it all up, you can copy back the previous settings, or the ones before that, or ones from a month ago. It keeps them all with date labels. Very useful if you want to play and learn. 

DDNS - well it's probably best to Google that than have it all spelled out here. 

[golightlygl]

Jumping in late with you great experts here.  I too want a Vigin service backed up by a 4G SIm and was looking at boththe Vigor 2620ln (with buildin SIM) or a cheaper D-Link DWR-921/B 4G/3G LTE.  I'm not worried aboyt 5G speeds as it's only alarm system and home control that I'm worried about (like the OP).  Also happy to look at the Draytek 2927. 

However, I then want this device to alsowork in bridge mode, not as a router, as I already have a Huawei mesh system very successfully keeping my whole house connected.  I'd rather not lose that as my main network control.  Should I be able to meet these failover units into bridge mode too?  I had tried the Netgear LB2120 which seems designed for this purpose but just couldn't get it to work.

[legacy1]

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@golightlygl wrote:

However, I then want this device to alsowork in bridge mode, not as a router, as I already have a Huawei mesh system very successfully keeping my whole house connected.  I'd rather not lose that as my main network control.  Should I be able to meet these failover units into bridge mode too?  I had tried the Netgear LB2120 which seems designed for this purpose but just couldn't get it to work.

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Due to how fail over mostly works you can't like you can have a ARP fail over but if gateway stays up you don't fail over or by ping fail go to next route which I use 194.168.4.100 but if over part of VM network goes down you don't fail over.

bridge mode can't work by way it is for fail over If a device has 192.168.0.2 to go to a gateway 192.168.0.1 this is where the choice is made as to where traffic should goes if ping is good goes to VM if ping fails goes to backup connection.

but maybe if the gateway was directly to the bridge interface instead of goes through then that might work   

[jpeg1]

On the Draytek, the cable and 4g dongle are parallel WAN inputs which it will select according the priorities you have set. I expect the cheaper device will work the same, but you'd need to check. 

You then have two choices, you can set the Draytek to bridge mode and leave your existing mesh to do the routing. Or you could use the Draytek as the router if the mesh's routing can be turned off. The Draytek has many security features, which you may or may not need.