LTE Failover for Network

[ejn1]

Anyone using a service/device for LTE Failover?   Trying to get a feel what solutions are out there in addition to Unifi LTE.

Thanks!

[Jayaredoubleu]

I cannot get the UniFi LTE failover to work for the life of me.  Had 4 different people look at it.    Its extremely unreliable.  Works sometimes and completely freezes the whole system (requiring reboot) others.  Also the LTE failover takes about 30 seconds to switch over, which is quite slow. 

Right now I am just using a Luxel Epic 5 router with the failover.  Works great, but I am unable to be notified when a failover occurs (Which is why I wanted Ubiquiti). 

[ejn1]

18 minutes ago, Jayaredoubleu said:

I cannot get the UniFi LTE failover to work for the life of me.  Had 4 different people look at it.    Its extremely unreliable.  Works sometimes and completely freezes the whole system (requiring reboot) others.  Also the LTE failover takes about 30 seconds to switch over, which is quite slow. 

Right now I am just using a Luxel Epic 5 router with the failover.  Works great, but I am unable to be notified when a failover occurs (Which is why I wanted Ubiquiti). 

Thanks,  what is your current failover source?   Also, what router were you using the Unifi LTE with?

[C4 User]

Some routers allow usb hotspots for fail over which allows you to use any 3rd party hotspot. I have a Sonicwall router with a Verizon hotspot. The sonicwall notifies me if failover occurs. 

[eddy.trochez]

Works like a charm:

https://www.netgear.com/home/mobile-wifi/lte-modems/

[Dueport]

FWIW I use a UniFi security gateway pro which supports dual wan in failover. I have cable as primary and satellite for backup. Switches perfectly between both - primary fails, switches right over to satellite, sends notification, then falls back to cable when that comes back, sends another notification. This was actually the the primary reason I first looked into UniFi because I’d tried a tplink router that was awful at this. UniFi has been perfect - built out from there for all UniFi with APs and switches great coverage and rock solid network for us. I found satellite internet to be a more reliable backup because lte towers get overwhelmed and slow to a crawl here in any emergency. 

[ejn1]

55 minutes ago, Dueport said:

FWIW I use a UniFi security gateway pro which supports dual wan in failover. I have cable as primary and satellite for backup. Switches perfectly between both - primary fails, switches right over to satellite, sends notification, then falls back to cable when that comes back, sends another notification. This was actually the the primary reason I first looked into UniFi because I’d tried a tplink router that was awful at this. UniFi has been perfect - built out from there for all UniFi with APs and switches great coverage and rock solid network for us. I found satellite internet to be a more reliable backup because lte towers get overwhelmed and slow to a crawl here in any emergency. 

I have the UDM Pro and have fiber as primary and xfinity broadband as failover.   Works great but Xfinity is dead to me from this day forward!

[ejn1]

6 hours ago, eddy.trochez said:

Works like a charm:

https://www.netgear.com/home/mobile-wifi/lte-modems/

Thanks,  seems like a similar concept as the Unifi LTE option albeit modem a tad cheaper and looks to be able to take more than one provider sim.    

[cdepaola]

Cradelpoint is the go to for us when a client requires an LTE failover for their network, these are generally the best on the market. 

[ejn1]

38 minutes ago, cdepaola said:

Cradelpoint is the go to for us when a client requires an LTE failover for their network, these are generally the best on the market. 

Cool stuff.   What would be the model you would put in a home environment?  Their website is dizzying! 

[JR2]

CBA550 / CBA850

[ejn1]

16 hours ago, JR2 said:

CBA550 / CBA850

Thanks both,  I see huge discounts on those second hand... Is it fairly plug and play with a sim card to get it up and running?

[JR2]

9 hours ago, ejn1 said:

Is it fairly plug and play with a sim card to get it up and running?

Yes and no.

First consult https://www.cellmapper.net/

Verify that the Bands that your tower/provider/carrier uses are supported by the model that you are interested in.

Make sure that the optional modem is included in the purchase and that it is compatible with your carrier.

Check and see if your carrier is CAT 3, CAT 6, etc.  Verify that the modem supports all of their modes.

My modem is CAT 3 but my carrier services CAT 3 and CAT 6 in my area.  You don't want to purchase a Ferrari when a Kia will do just fine.

The Importance of CAT 6 LTE (westbase.io)

Higher the CAT the more MIMO you get and increase the likelihood of good service when the system has high traffic.  

 

Be careful with SIM cards.  Some carriers only provide one size for broadband  services and you may get a unit that you cannot activate.

User equipment Category	Max. L1 datarate Downlink (Mbit/s)	Max. number of DL MIMO layers	Max. L1 datarate Uplink (Mbit/s)	3GPP Release
NB1	0.68	1	1.0	Rel 13
M1	1.0	1	1.0
0	1.0	1	1.0	Rel 12
1	10.3	1	5.2	Rel 8
2	51.0	2	25.5
3	102.0	2	51.0
4	150.8	2	51.0
5	299.6	4	75.4
6	301.5	2 or 4	51.0	Rel 10
7	301.5	2 or 4	102.0
8	2,998.6	8	1,497.8
9	452.2	2 or 4	51.0	Rel 11
10	452.2	2 or 4	102.0
11	603.0	2 or 4	51.0
12	603.0	2 or 4	102.0
13	391.7	2 or 4	150.8	Rel 12
14	3,917	8	9,585
15	750	2 or 4	226
16	979	2 or 4	n/a
17	25,065	8	n/a	Rel 13
18	1174	2 or 4 or 8	n/a
19	1566	2 or 4 or 8	n/a

[ejn1]

16 hours ago, JR2 said:

Yes and no.

First consult https://www.cellmapper.net/

Verify that the Bands that your tower/provider/carrier uses are supported by the model that you are interested in.

Make sure that the optional modem is included in the purchase and that it is compatible with your carrier.

Check and see if your carrier is CAT 3, CAT 6, etc.  Verify that the modem supports all of their modes.

My modem is CAT 3 but my carrier services CAT 3 and CAT 6 in my area.  You don't want to purchase a Ferrari when a Kia will do just fine.

The Importance of CAT 6 LTE (westbase.io)

Higher the CAT the more MIMO you get and increase the likelihood of good service when the system has high traffic.  

 

Be careful with SIM cards.  Some carriers only provide one size for broadband  services and you may get a unit that you cannot activate.

User equipment Category	Max. L1 datarate Downlink (Mbit/s)	Max. number of DL MIMO layers	Max. L1 datarate Uplink (Mbit/s)	3GPP Release
NB1	0.68	1	1.0	Rel 13
M1	1.0	1	1.0
0	1.0	1	1.0	Rel 12
1	10.3	1	5.2	Rel 8
2	51.0	2	25.5
3	102.0	2	51.0
4	150.8	2	51.0
5	299.6	4	75.4
6	301.5	2 or 4	51.0	Rel 10
7	301.5	2 or 4	102.0
8	2,998.6	8	1,497.8
9	452.2	2 or 4	51.0	Rel 11
10	452.2	2 or 4	102.0
11	603.0	2 or 4	51.0
12	603.0	2 or 4	102.0
13	391.7	2 or 4	150.8	Rel 12
14	3,917	8	9,585
15	750	2 or 4	226
16	979	2 or 4	n/a
17	25,065	8	n/a	Rel 13
18	1174	2 or 4 or 8	n/a
19	1566	2 or 4 or 8	n/a

Thanks!   Do you know if any risk buying used other than obvious stuff?   They now try to force a subscription model for NetCloud which I don't need but heard it may still operate without it.

 

[JR2]

5 hours ago, ejn1 said:

They now try to force a subscription model for NetCloud which I don't need but heard it may still operate without it.

I read the same thing.  I have not made up my mind.  I am in the market for an 4G LTE modem/access point for my vacation home.

DSL once was an option but is over subscribed in my area and during the summer months the service grinds to dial up speeds.

I then switched over to LTE and it was excellent for one season.  Now it is over subscribed. 

I need a leg up by purchasing an CAT 6 or greater unit that can have multiple LTE connections.

The service package that I have bundles voice with data. VoLTE  Voice over LTE.  

It is nice to have a land line, but, this requires an specialized AP with a phone jack.

Now that I think of it I will likely purchased a used Cradlepoint for testing before spending big money for my VoLTE unit.

 

[ejn1]

7 hours ago, JR2 said:

I read the same thing.  I have not made up my mind.  I am in the market for an 4G LTE modem/access point for my vacation home.

DSL once was an option but is over subscribed in my area and during the summer months the service grinds to dial up speeds.

I then switched over to LTE and it was excellent for one season.  Now it is over subscribed. 

I need a leg up by purchasing an CAT 6 or greater unit that can have multiple LTE connections.

The service package that I have bundles voice with data. VoLTE  Voice over LTE.  

It is nice to have a land line, but, this requires an specialized AP with a phone jack.

Now that I think of it I will likely purchased a used Cradlepoint for testing before spending big money for my VoLTE unit.

 

Agree.   A used CBA850 for $100 with no subscription fees is lot more attractive that a new one pushing $650 with $100/yr fees.

[ejn1]

On 4/12/2021 at 12:07 PM, eddy.trochez said:

Works like a charm:

https://www.netgear.com/home/mobile-wifi/lte-modems/

Thanks,  this one pops up a lot.  Does it do straight IP passthrough or does it try to act like its own router?  I was reading on the new Netgear 5G LTE Modem but it looks like a router solution .

[ejn1]

19 hours ago, JR2 said:

I read the same thing.  I have not made up my mind.  I am in the market for an 4G LTE modem/access point for my vacation home.

DSL once was an option but is over subscribed in my area and during the summer months the service grinds to dial up speeds.

I then switched over to LTE and it was excellent for one season.  Now it is over subscribed. 

I need a leg up by purchasing an CAT 6 or greater unit that can have multiple LTE connections.

The service package that I have bundles voice with data. VoLTE  Voice over LTE.  

It is nice to have a land line, but, this requires an specialized AP with a phone jack.

Now that I think of it I will likely purchased a used Cradlepoint for testing before spending big money for my VoLTE unit.

 

FYI,  I called them today and basically they try to scare you off that if you dont buy new,  they dont allow you to register it and then basically its extremely limited or may not even work.   The sales guy did imply that some have raised a stink and they allowed it to be registered but its a big risk and then if you get past that,  the cheapest service package is $150/yr for stuff a home owner would not use.   Awesome looking hardware but clearly not a target market for home users.

[eddy.trochez]

12 hours ago, ejn1 said:

Thanks,  this one pops up a lot.  Does it do straight IP passthrough or does it try to act like its own router?  I was reading on the new Netgear 5G LTE Modem but it looks like a router solution .

It can be used as a modem only.

[JR2]

15 hours ago, ejn1 said:

Thanks,  this one pops up a lot.  Does it do straight IP passthrough or does it try to act like its own router?  I was reading on the new Netgear 5G LTE Modem but it looks like a router solution

5G units are all in one but you can DMZ  and disable the Wi-Fi.  Now its a modem and connect via ethernet.