Is there really no network failover software for windows?

[ComputerRepairTech]

Is there really no network failover software for windows? Just a small piece of software that checks for active internet connection and if not detected enabled wifi adapter and disabled lan adapter?

I bought a peplink balance router for dual wan to avoid my computers going out and what happens today? my switch dies.

I feel like this software should already exist but i can't seem to find it.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Haven't seen 'em, but what if you just leave em both on?
"Metrics" has Windows use the LAN adpater first, and if it can't..it will turn to the wifi adapter.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Windows will automatically start using an active wifi if lan can no longer reach internet?

Edit: Oh i see what you're talking about. I'll test it and see if this switch problem will trigger the automatic metric.

 

[Markverhyden]

Yes, M$ defaults to LAN and will auto switch to 802.11 as long as it has credentials stored.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

This would only work if network connection shows up as disconnected right?

 

[nlinecomputers]

If your WIRED internet connection drops why would your WiFi be any better? They would both converge on the same broadband pipe would they not? And if your wired connection keeps dropping then you need to replace the router or the NIC. Or find the fault in the wiring.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

If your WIRED internet connection drops why would your WiFi be any better? They would both converge on the same broadband pipe would they not? And if your wired connection keeps dropping then you need to replace the router or the NIC. Or find the fault in the wiring.

Something went wrong with the switch, the peplink router i have is 100mbps ethernet so I use 1000mbps switch. So ethernet went down but wifi did not. The internet is still working fine I just thought it would be nice to have yet another failover method. I'm already in the process of replacing the switch but doesnt hurt to be prepared in the very unlikely event it happens again.

 

[AliceKlaar]

Business continuity plan ideally would have 2 ISP connections belt and braces style and perhaps a GSM just in case option. Which is nice to have or even wish for, but if you are rural or outside of a decent infrastructure I guess it ain't going to happen.

eg Billion ADSL + 3G http://www.billion.com/product/3g/LTE-4500NZL.html

 

[Markverhyden]

This would only work if network connection shows up as disconnected right?

Yes. From what I have seen it will only switch over when there no cable detected.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Something went wrong with the switch, the peplink router i have is 100mbps ethernet so I use 1000mbps switch. So ethernet went down but wifi did not. The internet is still working fine I just thought it would be nice to have yet another failover method. I'm already in the process of replacing the switch but doesnt hurt to be prepared in the very unlikely event it happens again.

For a freak occurrence that your computer would have to magically know that it's connection to the outside world is lost yet assume that it's second connection using the same pipe isn't? That would be a heck of program and would tie up traffic trying to ping or what ever check you used to verify connections. As @AliceKlaar points out there are devices that can do that for you for more than one pipe.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

For a freak occurrence that your computer would have to magically know that it's connection to the outside world is lost yet assume that it's second connection using the same pipe isn't? That would be a heck of program and would tie up traffic trying to ping or what ever check you used to verify connections. As @AliceKlaar points out there are devices that can do that for you for more than one pipe.

I already have what alice is suggesting with the peplink balance router. It would operate off pings more than likely yes but it wouldnt tie up traffic. It should be pretty easy to make im just kind of shocked it doesnt already exist.

 

[Markverhyden]

Business continuity plan ideally would have 2 ISP connections belt and braces style and perhaps a GSM just in case option. Which is nice to have or even wish for, but if you are rural or outside of a decent infrastructure I guess it ain't going to happen.

eg Billion ADSL + 3G http://www.billion.com/product/3g/LTE-4500NZL.html

I've seen plenty of sites with a fail over circuit. If the data needs are low many go with a 4G/LTE WWAN option. One problem with having, say a DSL and cable setup, is that if the failure is due to a pole going down chances are both may go down as well. Of course that may also mean power loss. A gen set solves that problem and you can get the voice providers to reroute calls to a cell. Having the WWAN allows the Internet connection to come back up.

 

[NETWizz]

Why not have two(2) network adapters on different sub-nets constantly connected, with two (2) default gateways? It should work perfect.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Why not have two(2) network adapters on different sub-nets constantly connected, with two (2) default gateways? It should work perfect.

That would require two separate drops in the same room to two separate networks. Who the hell does that? If the wiring inside your own building is that faulty then you need to figure out how to control your rat problem.

 

[NETWizz]

That would require two separate drops in the same room to two separate networks. Who the hell does that? If the wiring inside your own building is that faulty then you need to figure out how to control your rat problem.

I have had several Government contracts who do just exactly this!

Generally speaking they bring both subnets over to the same network switch. It is NOT uncommon to have a wiring closet uplinked via two (2) subnets either... yet they host one or more completely different networks.

 

[putz]

Is there really no network failover software for windows? Just a small piece of software that checks for active internet connection and if not detected enabled wifi adapter and disabled lan adapter?

I bought a peplink balance router for dual wan to avoid my computers going out and what happens today? my switch dies.

I feel like this software should already exist but i can't seem to find it.

I dont believe there is but I guess I don't see the urgency for it. The only places you are going to find the perimeter router/firewall also has wireless is going to be in a smaller office. Not really a big deal if you ask me to manually switch on wireless in a smaller setup like this. Plus if you have servers on the network you still aren't accessing them until your switch is back online.

In a larger network where it could be useful, the wireless access is usually provided by many AP's that bridge to your wired network, so again if your switch goes down you still aren't going anywhere... Of course like others stated you can leave both connections enabled. I've ran into issues still when end users try to access their client-server apps where the wifi connection would still cause issues so I don't really recommend it myself. Its one button click normally to turn wireless on if you need it.

 

[NETWizz]

Guess nobody wants to hear it from me, but the simplest solution is to deliver two LAN subnets and plugin two (2) network adapters... one to each subnet. You CAN do this over the same router simply having it host two default-gateways. It's commonly done.

Though admittedly, I usually do this when I have a Data and Voice gateway.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Though admittedly, I usually do this when I have a Data and Voice gateway.

Yes that I see all the time. Much of the time the voice is also POE to power the phones.

 

[HCHTech]

Yes, M$ defaults to LAN and will auto switch to 802.11 as long as it has credentials stored.

I was catching up on this thread, and this statement made me do some googling, but I haven't found a clear answer. My own internal best-practice has always been to disable or turn off wireless when using a LAN connection. I KNOW this has solved intermittent connection problems in the past, both for me and for customers. I have always reasoned that "giving Windows more than one way to get to the internet confused it." Giving it only one way out at a time seems to make the connection more stable.

When desktops started appearing with built in wireless, I have always disabled the adapter if they were connecting over Ethernet.

For customers with laptops who use them primarily at a desk sitting next to the router, I show them how to turn the wireless on and off an advise them to turn it off and use the cable when at their desk. Wired is ALWAYS faster then wireless, not subject to interference, more secure, etc. etc. Then, turn the wireless on only when using the computer away from the desk.

Now I'm wondering if that is really the right thing to do. Hmm.

 

[Markverhyden]

I was catching up on this thread, and this statement made me do some googling, but I haven't found a clear answer. My own internal best-practice has always been to disable or turn off wireless when using a LAN connection. I KNOW this has solved intermittent connection problems in the past, both for me and for customers. I have always reasoned that "giving Windows more than one way to get to the internet confused it." Giving it only one way out at a time seems to make the connection more stable.

When desktops started appearing with built in wireless, I have always disabled the adapter if they were connecting over Ethernet.

For customers with laptops who use them primarily at a desk sitting next to the router, I show them how to turn the wireless on and off an advise them to turn it off and use the cable when at their desk. Wired is ALWAYS faster then wireless, not subject to interference, more secure, etc. etc. Then, turn the wireless on only when using the computer away from the desk.

Now I'm wondering if that is really the right thing to do. Hmm.

I also strongly recommend that they use copper where ever possible, with wireless disabled. On occasion I've seen some issues with both enabled.

On the auto switching from copper to wireless. I just did a test on my D630 running W7 Pro. Has the Broadcom ethernet and a Intel 802.11 wireless card. With both interfaces enabled and connected I launched wireshark and looked at the 2 interfaces. Both were processing packets but the ethernet had greater traffic volume. Not a huge difference, but noticeable. Started a continuous ping and pulled the cat5 after a few seconds. One ping failed immediately after I pulled the plug but then ping responses resumed.