FYI Pepwave Balance 20X

[Joe Hogan]

Over the last year or so I have been struggling with Bonding two internet sources to provide seamless internet to my residence. The two sources are Xfinity and Starlink. Occasionally I exceed the 1T monthly cap on Xfinity (typically some 4K video [watching and producing] and moving large file packets) but prefer the Starlink just because I am a fan of All things Tesla.
After trying a few different managed Dual Wan switches, I am trying the Pepwave Balance 20X, again, with the new firmware 8.3. According to Eric at 5G this is a solution for my issues. And if I get overly ambitious, there is a cellular radio included which can be bonded or fall-over.
Do I "need" this, no. Do I want to have reliable internet during heavy electrical storms, absolutely. Starlink starts to struggle when there is significant electricity in the atmosphere. Starlink has mostly resolved rain and cloud interference. Heavy lightning takes it offline.

Mostly my home is immune from storm events. Power outages are a thing of the past. Just two days ago FPL was trying to restore power and blew a transformer in the area. The blast shook the house and rattled the windows but the lights did not even blink. Thank you Tesla Powerwall+.

 

[Neal]

As you know I use 2 x BR1 Pro 5G's with Starlink coming into Pepwave 2 and cellular served on Pepwave 1, i.e. 2 x WAN sources. This allows me to use my FusionHub. Pepwave 1 has both cellular and WAN in priority 1. Pepwave 2 feeds into Pepwave 1 via the WAN port over ethernet cable.

 

[Neal]

You could actually do the same as I'm doing with 1 x Pepwave come to think of it. Starlink could feed in via WAN (ethernet preferred) or Wi-Fi 5G. Then you could bond cellular + wan that way. You originally asked in another thread about bonding 2 x cellular wan's with a Pepwave that only has one cellular radio. You can bond multiple WAN sources in a Pepwave. I just happen to have Starlink ethernet connected to Pepwave 2 as it's in the half bath cabinet with the ethernet dropping to the basement below. Some have reported issues of using Wi-Fi incoming at the same time as broadcasting such as in your coach. I have not experienced this but a fix would be using your own external Wi-Fi router or isolating 2g and 5g Wi-Fi. Yeah, sounds fun doesn't it. KISS is what I ended up doing, my network got too complicated and less reliable.

 

[Joe Hogan]

The Balance 20X has a space for an additional 5G radio ($600?) which would allow the two cell radios to be bonded, but this unit is for the house, no need. Starlink/Xfinity should be plenty.
In the RV I am going to start with the old BR1 Max HD2. When or if I get Starlink for the RV, I'll use the BR1 and just bond the one cellular and Starlink (wan) feeds.

Hopefully having just the Balance 20X router managing the internet sources will be less complex than my current managed switches.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Here is a detailed explanation of Balance 20X

Peplink Balance 20x Expandable Mobile Router

The Peplink Pepwave Balance 20x offers advanced features and rock-solid reliability at the heart of your mobile or rural home internet/connectivity solution. This modem is capable of supporting up to 3 cellular WAN connections with optional accessories making it a true powerhouse at an...

mobilemusthave.com

 

[Joe Hogan]

Finally finished setting up Balance 20X with dual WAN connections. Rather than Bonding, the unit is set to test for fastest (least Latency) WAN link and use that one. Should either go down it will automatically use the other. This works better than Bonding in my case, these two WAN sources can have wildly different speeds and Latency throughout the day, and/or weather event.

Received help from Josh at 5GStore. He was very helpful explaining the various nuances of the Balance 20X.