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TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.

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TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.

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TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-11-07 01:15:52 - last edited 2023-11-07 01:17:26
Tags: #WAN Setup #Load Balancing
Model: ER605 (TL-R605)  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 2.0.1 Build 20220223 Rel.68551

So I've spent a few hours looking into a situation that I feel should not be.  There are 2 things wrong with the ER605, and TP-Link needs to address them.  Fist of all "Enable Load Balancing" should be renamed to "Enable Load Balancing or Failover" with a note stating failover is achieved using a rule.  VERY misleading for most people, myself included when I first started using these devices.  

 

I've compared the behavior of the ER605 to that of the older TL-R600 which is more or less the same device, minus the Omada functionality and the additional USB/WAN port.  

 

I've clearly shown in the video below that failover works on the ER605, but not as expected.   When using a 5G metered backup, the ER605 is not an option as it constantly uses data on the backup WAN and will result in a high bill.  The TL-R600 demoed in the video shuts the backup WAN off when the primary is healthy, which is what we would expect based on the rule enabled in the Link Backup section of the Load Balancing config page.  (*Shrugs*)

 

https://youtu.be/BxpOyAFTW0k

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#1
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13 Reply
Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-11-07 03:28:22

Hi @Corbryant 

Thanks for posting in our business forum.

1. This is not the latest firmware.

2. Backup WAN is not active during the failover mode.

3. Link Up only means the physical connection.

Troubleshooting Online Detection and Link Backup (Failover) Don't Take Effect

Best Regards! If you are new to the forum, please read: Howto - A Guide to Use Forum Effectively. Read Before You Post. Look for a model? Search your model NOW Official and Beta firmware. NEW features! Subscribe for the latest update! ☛Download Beta Here☚ ☛ ★ Configuration Guide ★ ☚ ☛ ★ Knowledge Base ★ ☚ ☛ ★ Troubleshooting ★ ☚ ● Be kind and nice. ● Stay on the topic. ● Post details. ● Search first. ● Please don't take it for granted. ● No email confidentiality should be violated. ● S/N, MAC, and your true public IP should be mosaiced.
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#2
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-11-07 22:34:15

Clive_A wrote

Hi @Corbryant 

Thanks for posting in our business forum.

1. This is not the latest firmware.

2. Backup WAN is not active during the failover mode.

3. Link Up only means the physical connection.

Troubleshooting Online Detection and Link Backup (Failover) Don't Take Effect

 

Just updated firmware, same behavior.

 

I clearly show in the video that the ER605 keeps both primary and backup WAN active all the time.  If you aren't comprehending the video, go fire one up and try it yourself, then get back to me.  

 

I know what link up and link down mean.  The ER605 does not switch the backup to LINK DOWN when the primary is alive and healthy.  

 

The different models are behaving differently and the ER605 is using data on the backup WAN when the primary is alive and healthy.  Sorry, but nothing about this is hard to understand and it's clear to see something isn't right with this.  

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#3
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-11-08 01:52:27

@Corbryant 

Bruh, feel free to return it if you think the firmware is buggy.

 

First, you said in the video, timestamp 1:08, the WAN Status should show the WAN/LAN1 down.

Clearly, you don't understand my previous reply and how it works and being reluctant to admit that you don't know what Link Up means.

 

Timestamp 1:12, It should completely disable the WAN/LAN1 port.

Nah. The failover is based on the load balancing. If you don't know what load balancing is, you may search it. When you have more than 1 WAN, if you tend to use them at the same time, you should use load balancing. And if you want a failover, then it is a subfunction of the load balancing. The benefit of load balancing is creating a backup when one of WANs fails.

 

Timestamp 1:31, if in a metered connection, you wouldn't be using the data.

https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/618736

 

Timestamp 2:53, my goal is that no data being used.

You can return the product now. It does not meet your expectations. It will use but a very small amount for NTP-related and other basic services.

 

Timestamp 3:18, ... not true(about the failover that TP-Link offers), I am gonna prove that now.

OK. https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/621018?replyId=1251914

Refer to this.

Run a traceroute and see where it goes and post a new video of that. If you know everything, you should know the proper way to verify it.

Stats are calculated regardless the WAN is up or down. As long as it is connected, it got packet flow, more or less.

 

If you seek zero, zero flow in the backup WAN, sorry that we don't have a product that is capable of what you said. (True zero traffic should be that you monitor it by Wireshark with Port Mirror. Let's see a brand with zero packets flowing through its backup WAN when it is inactive in backup mode.)

You can try other brands and share the information here.

Best Regards! If you are new to the forum, please read: Howto - A Guide to Use Forum Effectively. Read Before You Post. Look for a model? Search your model NOW Official and Beta firmware. NEW features! Subscribe for the latest update! ☛Download Beta Here☚ ☛ ★ Configuration Guide ★ ☚ ☛ ★ Knowledge Base ★ ☚ ☛ ★ Troubleshooting ★ ☚ ● Be kind and nice. ● Stay on the topic. ● Post details. ● Search first. ● Please don't take it for granted. ● No email confidentiality should be violated. ● S/N, MAC, and your true public IP should be mosaiced.
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#4
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-11-10 07:08:11

@Corbryant 

I am still waiting for further replies from you about this issue. We can go further in a discussion about if there is a problem or not with the "true failover" you talking about.

Best Regards! If you are new to the forum, please read: Howto - A Guide to Use Forum Effectively. Read Before You Post. Look for a model? Search your model NOW Official and Beta firmware. NEW features! Subscribe for the latest update! ☛Download Beta Here☚ ☛ ★ Configuration Guide ★ ☚ ☛ ★ Knowledge Base ★ ☚ ☛ ★ Troubleshooting ★ ☚ ● Be kind and nice. ● Stay on the topic. ● Post details. ● Search first. ● Please don't take it for granted. ● No email confidentiality should be violated. ● S/N, MAC, and your true public IP should be mosaiced.
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#5
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-11-10 19:59:10

Clive_A wrote:

Bruh, feel free to return it if you think the firmware is buggy.

 

 

 

 

This is a classic... laughlaughlaugh

I can not teach anyone anything - I can only make them think - Socrates
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#6
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-11-11 17:30:49

Clive_A wrote

 

If you seek zero, zero flow in the backup WAN, sorry that we don't have a product that is capable of what you said. (True zero traffic should be that you monitor it by Wireshark with Port Mirror. Let's see a brand with zero packets flowing through its backup WAN when it is inactive in backup mode.)

You can try other brands and share the information here.

  @Clive_A Finally!  A response that makes sense.  The ER605 can't do what I'm wanting.  So, my point here is that the TL-R600VPN absolutely is capable, and does exactly what I want, which is zero data flow on the backup WAN.  I literally show this in the video buddy.  We've deployed the TL-R600VPN at 4 client sites and since the day of my original post  in this forum, guess how much data has flowed on the backup WAN... ZERO!  If I unplug the primary WAN, data begins to flow on the backup.  When I plug the primary back in, data stops flowing on the backup. 

Weird.  The TL-R600VPN does exactly what you say is not possible.  Must be magic.

I thought I clearly demonstrated in my video that the TL-R600VPN was doing exactly what I wanted but maybe it was beyond your comprehension level, or maybe I'm just bad at explaining things.  If you'd like for me to make a video that is dumbed down, and only focuses on the TL-R600VPN capabilities and actual behavior once deployed, I'd be happy to.

 


 

 

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#7
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-12-08 01:36:00

  @Corbryant 

 

I had the same issue with my new ER605 v2, the fail over link backup configuration was using too much data from 3G USB modem. I did a firmware update, and tested some configuration and I achieved almost zero traffic on USB modem after this. What I did:

 

1) Updated firmware to 2.2.2 Build 20231017 Rel.68869, before I was using some 2.0.1 build xxxxx

 

2) This part was the most important part, I would even try this config before updating firmware. Configurate like this:

 

on menu: Transmission -> Load Balancing -> Basic Setting

Check "Enable Load Balancing"

Uncheck "Enable Application Optimized Routing" (later I will try to re-check this to see if this parameter really affects)

Uncheck "Enable Bandwith Based..."

 

on menu: Transmission -> Load Balancing -> Link Backup

Click add

Primary Wan: Wan

Backup Wan: USB Modem

Mode: Failover(Enable backup link when ANY primary WAN fails).

Status: Enable(Checked)

 

Now the most important part I think

 

on menu: Transmission -> Load Balancing -> Online Detection

 

On ID 1 - Port Wan - confirm that it's on "Auto" mode, with Ping and DNS Lookup on 0.0.0.0 - doing this the link will check status pinging the original DNS from this link wan port

 

On ID 2 - Port USB Modem - select "Manual" mode, and insert Ping and DNS Lookup in 1.1.1.1 (or another famous DNS that is your favourite) - doing this, the USB Modem Port Status keeps "offline" under normal condition, and it refreshs the Port Status only when Wan Port 1 goes "offline".

 

To me... this worked like a charm. I achieved an almost zero traffic on USB Modem port (few megabytes a day), and when WAN main link goes down, the ER605 tooks about 20 seconds to put USB Modem online and redirect Traffic.

 

The picture(Traffic Statistics) shows that USB modem used some few Bytes (300k) while WAN main link used about 430MB, this table was printed about 20 minutes after I did the mentioned configuration and cleared the traffic statistics..

 

 

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#8
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-12-11 18:55:45

  @ajornada 

 

Glad this makes sense to someone else.  I've still got a couple of 605s laying around so I'll run through your setup and give it a shot!  We've deployed a few more of the TL-R600 models in a similar configuration as yours, and they are working as expected and are only using negligible data on the backup WAN.  Since the ER605 is what the vendor I install for sends out, I'd love to be able to use those when I need a backup WAN deployed.  

 

I'll post back when I test.  Thank you!

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#9
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-12-11 21:35:25

  @Corbryant 

 

Hi... finally, here I'm operating as desired. I posted five days ago, and the USB Modem Link keeps consuming few megabits a day (17.6 Megabits during 5 days, see pic), while main WAN link carried 14.1 Gigas. I will paste the traffic statistics down, it represents exactly the time between my last post (5 days ago) and now.

 

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#10
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Re:TP-Link Omada ER605 is NOT capable of true failover.
2023-12-12 03:25:10

Hi @ajornada

Till now, several cases I witnessed were reporting back to me that they don't experience much data used on backup(WAN/USB modem). So, if you'd like to discuss this part, I can follow it up.
I've also explained all symptoms the OP mentioned in the link below.

Knowledge Base Common Questions About the Load Balancing & Link Backup(Failover)

Best Regards! If you are new to the forum, please read: Howto - A Guide to Use Forum Effectively. Read Before You Post. Look for a model? Search your model NOW Official and Beta firmware. NEW features! Subscribe for the latest update! ☛Download Beta Here☚ ☛ ★ Configuration Guide ★ ☚ ☛ ★ Knowledge Base ★ ☚ ☛ ★ Troubleshooting ★ ☚ ● Be kind and nice. ● Stay on the topic. ● Post details. ● Search first. ● Please don't take it for granted. ● No email confidentiality should be violated. ● S/N, MAC, and your true public IP should be mosaiced.
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#11
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Information

Helpful: 1

Views: 3824

Replies: 13

Tags

WAN Setup Load Balancing
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