[SOLVED] Fail Safe Internet connection for home

[Dimitrz]

Hi
I hope this is the right forum to ask this question

So I have a Windows 10 HP laptop

I have a broadband/cable internet connection - which I have connected to my laptop using a long ( 20 meter) cat 6 Ethernet cable ( because I work from first floor and since WiFi router is in ground floor at times the WiFi strength is not great)

I also have another Internet connection ( different ISP) this time from a WiFi dongle.

Problem :

I have to give 2 -3 online exam in couple of weeks time and need to ensure that I have a failsafe internet connection - because even a momentary disconnection can end the exam session.

My broadband connection has the best bandwidth close to 30 Mbps, however the connection is not reliable and sometimes there are 5-10 minuties internet failures once every hour.

The internet from the WiFi dongle is stable but it has low bandwidth ( due to distance of the transmitting tower from my house) but usually say I manage to get around 2-3 Mbps bandwidth, which is sufficient from exam point of view.

Requirement:
So what I need is to use my WiFi internet connection as primary because its a stable and incase the WiFi connectivity drops , I want the wired internet connection to take over immideatly .

Is this possible ?

I heard of a paid app called "speedify" , however since its a paid app and my requirement is only very short , I was wondering if there is any other solution to my problem other than buying this app.


Note: I cannot move downstairs because , with the Ethernet connection I have taken care of my broadband signal issue, trouble with broadband is its unexpected ISP downtime.

If I was in any other location the WiFi dongle would have been enough because its capable of giving speed upto 8 Mbps however due to the location of my house , I have to keep the dongle on the roof - thats how dongle is giving me better speed/connectivity - but as you would have realized even this is not fool proof hence my need to rely on both these connections.

 

[USAFRet]

however the connection is not reliable and sometimes there are 5-10 minuties internet failures once every hour.

Where does this "internet failure" happen?
If it is from your ISP, then ethernet vs WiFi to your home router makes no difference.
The problem is not in your house.

 

[kanewolf]

because even a momentary disconnection can end the exam session.

There will be a disconnection IF you failover. You have two different public IP addresses with the two internet providers. I would be no different than if you had connected from your house and then instantly changed to being connected at a coffee shop. It is a disconnection.

 

[bill001g]

That is one of the few things speedify does well. They like to try to sell it as combining internet connection and only in the fine print do they admit the out or order packet problem.

Since you are running a vpn your IP will not change. BUT you will still get quite a bit of data loss. It depends on how much data loss the application will take. The problem is it takes some time for software to detect that one line is down and move to the other.

I am not sure how fast speedify will switch but there are fundamental problems when you expect instant fail over on internet or even wide area private line.

As examples if you use OSPF which is the very common routing protocol used by private enterprise networks. Failover in a lan where router can waste lots of bandwidth sending hello messeges is at least 10 second and many times more than 30.

On internet connection BGP is use to move from a primary to a backup connection. The default timers use mean it can take up to 3 minutes to switch to a backup.

It technically is possible for example to do something similar to speedify vpn and run a router with extremely low OSPF times set. You could get switch over in less than a second but this only works when the latency is fairly low. When you set the timers very low and the data takes a long time to transit the network you can get a flapping condition. Still this is not a option for you since it is a massively more expensive and complex than speedify.

 

[Dimitrz]

Where does this "internet failure" happen?
If it is from your ISP, then ethernet vs WiFi to your home router makes no difference.
The problem is not in your house.

Thanks ,
The connection downtimes for broadband happens at ISP end , however I think you didnt get my question

 

[Dimitrz]

There will be a disconnection IF you failover. You have two different public IP addresses with the two internet providers. I would be no different than if you had connected from your house and then instantly changed to being connected at a coffee shop. It is a disconnection.

Thanks,
what I meant was a disconnection of maybe 2-3 secs should be okay , I am talking about Prometric type of exam , intent is the backup link should pickup within seconds before the effect is felt .

I do get your point though , so are you saying that app Speedify is the only solution, because as per their claim they keep both ISP active. ?

 

[USAFRet]

Oh.
I thought you were WiFi connected to the same router.

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks,
what I meant was a disconnection of maybe 2-3 secs should be okay , I am talking about Prometric type of exam , intent is the backup link should pickup within seconds before the effect is felt .

I do get your point though , so are you saying that app Speedify is the only solution, because as per their claim they keep both ISP active. ?

I have never used the app. If it were me, I would test it before depending on it. Start a ping to 8.8.8.8 with a 1/2 second delay. Then verify which connection is actually sending traffic. Then disconnect that method. See what happens to your pings.

 

[Dimitrz]

That is one of the few things speedify does well. They like to try to sell it as combining internet connection and only in the fine print do they admit the out or order packet problem.
.......

Thanks , so are you saying considering all factors speedify is the best bet in my case ?

 

[Dimitrz]

Oh.
I thought you were WiFi connected to the same router.

Nope, the broadband is what is coming from router , and just to be on safe side instead of using WiFi I decided to buy a big Ethernet cable to connect my laptop to router for ISP1

ISP 2 comes via a WiFi dongle and is connected using WiFi

this is what the dongle looks like ( https://www.amazon.in/Reliance-Wi-F...5&hvtargid=pla-501749088712&psc=1&ext_vrnc=hi )

 

[Dimitrz]

I have never used the app. If it were me, I would test it before depending on it. Start a ping to 8.8.8.8 with a 1/2 second delay. Then verify which connection is actually sending traffic. Then disconnect that method. See what happens to your pings.

Thanks this sounds like a good idea , just one question how do I figure out which ISP is sending the ping ?
I am not a technical person but I know how to go to Ipconfig in cPromt and I know how to ping , I mean I just have to type "Ping 8.8.8.8 " in cprompt right

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks this sounds like a good idea , just one question how do I figure out which ISP is sending the ping ?
I am not a technical person but I know how to go to Ipconfig in cPromt and I know how to ping , I mean I just have to type "Ping 8.8.8.8 " in cprompt right

You should be able to tell from Windows task manager by looking at the traffic activity.

 

[scout_03]

since your lan is from a router it might overheath did you try to connect pc directly to isp modem to see if connection cut .