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Old 11-12-2020, 03:43 PM   #1
Jimmy Stang
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Calgary
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Default LTE backup/failover for office internet

Alright nerds - help me out here. I am the tech guy by default for the small business that I work for, and I am reasonably proficient in networking - or so I thought! Please let me pick your brains with my conundrum.

Our office has Shaw and it is mostly reliable. But because our business has shifted to hosting a lot of webinars, I set up an LTE backup using an LTE modem/hotspot that connects to the router via USB. Our router will automatically switch to LTE when Shaw goes down for more than a minute, and then switch back when it comes back up for longer than 10 minutes. Works like a charm - as long as you're in the office. And if they're hosting a webinar and Shaw goes down, this provides them with redundancy.

What doesn't work well is trying to get in from the outside via our VPN. I have DDNS set up, and it successfully resolves to the new IP on failover. I also have a public IP added on with Fido/Rogers for $5 month. Since I work from home about 95% of the time, and I anticipate that others will be doing so more in the weeks ahead, I'd like to be able to VPN into the network in the event that Shaw goes down for any length of time.

I think that I am encountering a "double NAT" situation where the traffic can't make it through both the LTE modem and our main router. The settings on the LTE modem are limited, but I have tried disabling DHCP, setting up a DMZ, fiddling with port forwarding, etc. The main problem, I believe, is that because it is connecting to my router via USB, it isn't being assigned an IP by the main router and isn't being seen as a network device, but rather just a USB modem. Which it is, I suppose. The LTE modem has no RJ45 ports, although my router would support dual WAN with an RJ45 port if I was to acquire a different LTE modem/hub.

My questions are:
- Am I wasting my time? Especially for a "nice to have" redundancy like this.
- Would I ultimately be successful if I got a different LTE modem with an RJ45 port and more customizeable features? Something I could connect to my router as a network device and not just a USB LTE modem?

Because I only go in once every couple of weeks, I'd like to maximize my visit with a few things to try next time I go in.

Thank you in advance if you've got any suggestions for me!
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