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    T-Mobile 5G as second WAN

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • C
      converge
      last edited by

      Hi,

      I’m currently using a Netgate 3100 with Xfinity for my now rock stable home network. T-Mobile’s new unlimited 5G for 50 bucks is pretty tempting as backup or load balanced additional WAN. My knowledge about networks is limited and not sure if it easily possible with the proprietary hardware or in general worth the effort.

      https://www.t-mobile.com/support/public-files/attachments/T-Mobile%20High-Speed%20Internet%20Gateway%20End%20User%20Guide.pdf

      Thanks for any reply and apologies if this has been asked before and I missed it.

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      • S
        SteveITS Galactic Empire @converge
        last edited by

        @converge You can have multiple WANs. See https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/multiwan/index.html

        As to whether it's worth the effort, how often does your Xfinity go down in a year, and what is the impact? For a business one can rationalize $x per hour in downtime pretty quickly.

        Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
        When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
        Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

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        • A
          akuma1x
          last edited by

          Yeah, if you've got it in your budget, it looks good to me. The gateway box has a network port on it, so ideally your pfsense machine needs 3 ports - 2x WAN and LAN. Then, simply follow the directions on the link above to set it all up. This would work good for a failover situation, if your Xfinity service went down.

          Like @SteveITS says, how many times does that happen for you?

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            converge @SteveITS
            last edited by

            Thanks @steveits and @akuma1x. I think my question is more about connecting to those proprietary gateways. Do those require a firmware that allows some kind of bridge mode (you see my knowledge is indeed very limited)? Or either way, you simply connect to the Opt port and follow the pfsense manual?

            Xfinity is usually fine, 1-2 major blackouts > 1 hour a year during working hours, at most. Occasionally slow, but mostly peace of mind I guess.

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            • S
              SteveITS Galactic Empire @converge
              last edited by

              @converge The capability is built into pfSense. There are varying ways to set it up, routing certain traffic over one or the other, or prioritizing one over the other. Budget/estimate yourself a few hours to go through it and decide if that is worth setting it all up. :)

              Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
              When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
              Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

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