Spectrum's new Cellular Backup Doesn't Work!
Exploring one of my experiences with a client who recently had this installed. (Again)
Spectrum now sells cellular backup internet services (their MVNO is using Verizon's reseller network) [Ok, so do I, but there is a point, I swear.] as well as mobile phone service.
Their cellular backup is usually included in a bundle when you set up a business account. (Business owners pay attention. I will give you one quick tip to determine if your backup internet works, but that's later.)
The included Cradlepoint E100 should be set up in a certain way for failover to work. However, when speaking with Spectrum, it doesn't seem that even customer service can explain the network topology.
Spectrum has rolled this new feature out so fast that I don't think they provided their installers with the QuickStart Guide in the package, which I've read a few times as a Cradlepoint dealer and installer.
So here's what I want you to do, business owners. Here's your quick tip for testing your cellular backup:
Unplug the power on your cable modem.
And if you have a Cradlepoint for "Backup Cellular Internet" and you still can't reach Google or any other website after a minute or two. I want you to grab your bill and see the line item cost for the backup internet. (Don't worry, I'll wait)
Then schedule a call if you want your business's network set up correctly.
Ok, you've done the test, and it's broken now. What now, you ask?
If you're savvy, the QuickStart Guide I linked above should get you well on your way. But here are a couple of notes:
Your Cable Modem's WAN port should be plugged into the WAN port of the Cradlepoint (it's just managing your external Wide Area Network connection between the cable modem and Spectrums LTE connection through Verizon)
The Spectrum Wi-Fi Router's WAN port should be plugged into one of the Cradlepoint's LAN connections. (The Spectrum Wi-Fi router will report an internal address where you usually expect an external one. If you need port forwarding, this can be achieved using IP passthrough on the Cradlepoint. [Which won't work over the backup unless you get static cellular addressing from us])
But CellPhoneDude, how can you be so sure your right?
With the above setup, the Cradlepoint won't be able to provide LTE internet when the cable modem's connection fails. The Spectrum Wi-Fi Cloud Router won't handle failover as there is no way to tell it one of the LAN ports is used as a secondary WAN. The only thing in this topology that can do failover is the Cradlepoint.
So how do you set up failover internet correctly?
The above network topology is how it should be set up. The Cradlepoint becomes the edge device for your network (What I don't cover in this article too well is the additional configuration needed if you require port forwarding for services hosted internally.). In the event of a failure on Spectrum's DOCSIS network, the Cradlepoint will automatically fail over to the internal Verizon cellular connection.
If you're already not comfortable handling that, consider reaching out to a Managed Service Provider like ours (Not only do we cover Los Angeles, but we have technicians in most major cities nationwide.)
Here's the video where I document the experience, including my call with Spectrum to try yet again to word them up that their techs are still doing it wrong.
Things I couldn’t figure out:
Their cloud-managed Wi-Fi router at first (beginning parts of the video) didn't appear to want to connect to Spectrum's endpoint over LTE, even after several restarts. Curiously while I was on the phone with them, the internet started to work at some point, with their Wi-Fi router finally being able to connect to their cloud endpoint. Chop that up as strange.
The failover policy failed on the LTE connection just fine, but it wouldn't failback. I would have fixed it, but...
The default password printed on the Cradlepoint didn't seem to work. I tried admin and user, and I didn't bother reading the manual to see. Still, I'm sure if I spent five minutes looking at the config for the failover, I could have fixed the default failover policy to use the WAN as the primary connection when available and not degraded (there are a couple of nice options there to make sure the connection is solid before it fails back).
Why the lengthy post?
At this point in the article, if you are still reading, you may wonder why I care so much. For one, I don't particularly appreciate seeing people get ripped off. And not in a mean intentional kind of way, but in a gross negligence nobody knew. The other reason is to bring awareness that a large networking company needs help setting up business networks. That alone is worth pointing out.
Sure, I spent the better part of the first bit of lockdown making an LTE failover router that can sustain VoIP calls even admits a failure. And sure, I built an MVNO with priority two access to Verizon's and T-Mobile's networks. So not only is our LTE failover faster than the one Spectrum provides, it provides instantaneous access to the internet all the time, with no lag, unlike what you see in the video of Spectrum's solution.
Our demo for our failover is done in the middle of a speed test, never showing a connection error, even amidst a failure. And we're the only firm that can say that. (I know because I tried. I built a NetMaxX because everyone else's solution sucked.)