Tag: SpeedFusion

Peplink B One

As technology continues to evolve, so does the Peplink product line of routers. The Peplink B One (B-ONE-T-PRM) has just emerged and is already showing off to be a powerhouse. It seamlessly combines the best features of Peplink’s renowned Pepwave Surf SOHO and Peplink Balance 20 routers. The Surf SOHO MK3 in particular was one of the most reviewed products here at 5Gstore.com. Even with such a great following, the Surf SOHO MK3 was discontinued in the fall of 2022. 

Unlike the next best thing, the Peplink Balance 20X, the Surf SOHO MK3 lacked a built-in cellular 4G/5G modem. This made more sense to users looking for a low-cost, reliable, multi-WAN solution. So with the Surf SOHO, as well as the Balance 20 gone, it leaves room for the B One to come in and provide a SOHO like solution for those in need. The Peplink B One stands out above the Surf SOHO MK3 with its improved speeds, enterprise software features, and robust connectivity options. 

Improved Speeds and WiFi Excellence

The Peplink B One boasts impressive throughput speeds of up to 1Gbps, catering to the needs of 1 to 150 users. It’s equipped with built-in WiFi 6 technology, providing advanced wireless capabilities for both WiFi WAN and/or WiFi AP connections. This ensures a fast and reliable internet experience for all connected devices. If we compare this to the Surf SOHO, it’s quite an increase in speed from 120 Mbps up to a full gigabit. The SOHO also only supported WiFi 5 technology, so users planning on upgrading should see better performance overall.

Enterprise Software Features for Enhanced Control

Efficiently separate devices into Virtual LANs, which enhance network management and security. 4 total LAN ports are available for these connections, but note one of the WAN ports is convertible into a 5th LAN Port (this requires special firmware from Peplink). If WiFi connections are required, you may further secure your network by creating multiple SSIDs for different purposes such as personal, guest, and IoT. 

The B One also has a built-in WiFi access point (AP) that supports 2×2 MiMO connections. If you find this doesn’t provide enough range for your location, seamlessly integrate external WiFi APs. Through the WLAN Controller, you’ll not only have extended coverage and performance, but enhanced control over your wireless local network.

Robust & Reliable Connectivity

Aside from the 2 wired WAN ports, you can provide your network redundancy by connecting a USB cellular modem or a nearby WiFi hotspot (using WiFi WAN – 2.4GHz or 5GHz). This can even be an Android phone or iPhone hotspot. Note that unlike the previously mentioned Peplink hardware, the B One uses a USB-C type port rather than type A. While most USB cellular modems use type A, modern cell Android, iPhones and Peplink’s own MAX Adapters utilize type C.

Be aware that not all USB cellular modems are created alike. If you find you cannot connect yours to the B One, Peplink support will work with you and attempt to get it functioning. For more information on modems that are known to work with the Peplink routers, check out Peplink’s supported list of USB modems. 

With the inclusion of PrimeCare warranty, the Peplink B One supports SpeedFusion technology. This enables the use of Hot Failover, WAN Smoothing, and bonding of multiple internet connections for a more reliable and faster internet feed. This can be any combination of Internet connections, whether it be a wired WAN, USB WAN or WiFi WAN. That’s a total of 5 WAN connections that the Peplink B One can support right out of the box! It is unknown at this time if a LAN port can be used as a 3rd WAN port, but we will update this article accordingly.

Easy Integration with Starlink and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)

The router supports dual WAN ports, which is where you can connect your Starlink dish or Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) cellular modem/ router. Note that the Peplink does not have an integrated satellite or cellular LTE/ 5G modem, but can connect to them externally. Simply take an Ethernet cable from your Starlink dish, or fixed wireless modem, and connect it to one of the WAN ports on the Peplink B One.

When utilizing multiple WAN connections, you may optimize your network by bonding multiple Starlink connections together, or even one Starlink and one FWA connection. Keep in mind that this requires SpeedFusion connectivity, which is included with the PrimeCare warranty plan. 

If bonding is not necessary to your application, you can still achieve optimal performance by using Load Balancing. Balance Starlink with other internet services like 5G/LTE, Cable, Fiber, and Fixed Wireless Access.

Included Management and Cloud Integration

Effortlessly manage your router locally or through Peplink’s cloud manager service, InControl 2, included for 1 year with the PrimeCare warranty. When linked to your devices, InControl 2 consolidates data to produce informative reports covering every facet of your network. With just one screen, you can deploy configurations to all your endpoints. For a more in-depth analysis, you can remotely connect to the web admin of any device within your network.

InControl enables you to streamline configuration processes, reduce the need for on-site visits, monitor your network’s status efficiently, and proactively address emerging issues with speed and accuracy. Furthermore, with the InTouch feature, you can easily access devices connected behind your Peplink B One router. 

That’s not all the InControl 2 cloud management offers. With regular backups of your configuration, you can always rest assured that any changes can quickly be undone as needed. In a future update, you may even be able to upload saved configurations from different Peplink models onto the B One. We’ll update this article as we find out more information. 

Additional Specifications and Notes

  • Dimensions:
    • 10.31 x 6.33 x 1.31 inches (262 x 161 x 33.5mm)
  • The Peplink B One package includes:
    • 2x Dual Band Wi-Fi Antennas 
    • 1x 12V 3A 4 Pin Power Supply
  • PrimeCare warranty renewal for 1 year is available for $49
    • In addition to SpeedFusion features, PrimeCare (PRM-A-1Y / PCP-A-1Y) includes a hardware warranty, support and cloud management. Without PrimeCare, the router functions normally, less these features and cloud control.
    • For those looking to renew the PrimeCare for longer periods, check out product code PRM-A-2Y or PCP-A-2Y for 2 years, and either PRM-A-4Y or PCP-A-4Y for 4 years.

In conclusion, the Peplink B One router delivers on its promise of exceptional speed, reliability, and flexibility. Whether you’re looking for a replacement to your Surf SOHO or Balance 20 router, advanced enterprise features, or multi-WAN connectivity, the B One stands as a versatile and robust networking solution. With its compact design and easy management options, it’s a reliable choice for businesses and users seeking top-tier performance. 

Reach out to the 5Gstore sales team today to place your order for the Peplink B One and be sure to check out our Peplink B One FAQ!

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Accessing Peplink Cloud Services from Private Networks

Peplink routers are renowned for their robust connectivity solutions, and for users venturing into private APNs, it’s essential to configure firewall rules to ensure seamless access to Peplink services. This guide outlines the steps to modify inbound and outbound firewall rules on the APN firewall/gateway, allowing a clear path for Peplink services to function efficiently. Those services include:

  • InControl
  • SpeedFusion Connect
  • Remote Web Admin access & InTouch services
  • Remote Access (for Peplink support)
  • Push Notification services (for the Router Utility app)
  • Automatic firmware check in

Here’s a guide to configuring firewall rules for specific Peplink services:

Refer to this JSON file for details on the services. Find the corresponding section where “system” refers to the service you require. 

For example, if you want to allow the InControl service, you’ll need to set up firewall rules to allow for the following:

  • Host Names*: ac1.peplink.com and ac2.peplink.com
  • Port: UDP 5246

*If specific IP addresses are required, the list is provided as well.

Configuring firewall rules for Peplink routers on private cellular networks is crucial to ensure uninterrupted access to essential services. By following these detailed steps for each specific service, users can optimize their Peplink experience while maintaining the security and integrity of their private APN connections. Stay connected with confidence using Peplink routers on your private cellular network.

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Peplink Firmware 8.3.0: What’s Different?

It’s official! After several months of testing, Peplink is finally releasing new firmware, version 8.3.0. With this upgrade comes many new features as well as fixes. There’s quite a bit covered on this firmware so we’re going to only highlight some of these changes. For a detailed list of release notes, see here.

Among the new features Peplink is adding the following:

  • SpeedFusion – Dynamic Weighted Bonding (DWB) made the default traffic distribution policy, and TCP Ramp Up mode added
    • Peplink engineers have completed several tests using multiple types of WAN connections. They have made DWB the default policy for routing your SpeedFusion traffic because of the results seen. Faster speeds can be obtained due to the more intelligent detection of bad links and packet loss. Essentially, it is better at handling more diverse connections like cellular and satellite. TCP Ramp Up mode improves the handling of Upload/ Download TCP traffic, which is important because satellite connections like Starlink use TCP acceleration. This also helps with congested LTE networks. It is the initial duplication of traffic and allows for more bandwidth.  
  • Synergy Mode – Cascade multiple devices and combine the number of WANs to a single device virtually
    • Peplink’s Synergy Mode allows you to use multiple routers as one. This requires one Peplink router with an active Care plan to act as your synergy controller. This will be your main router that all secondary routers will connect to. These secondary routers are known as the synergy devices. The first one you connect does not need a care plan, but any additional devices will. The connection between these routers is known as the synergized link. Once the synergy device is activated, it will act as a modem or client device without a management or configuration option. This instead will be handled by the Synergy Controller. Note that the controller will display all the Synergized Device’s WAN interfaces, including Ethernet WAN, Wi-Fi WAN, and Cellular. It also will NOT work with Virtual WANs. Use this where your main router may be limited with regards to its supported WAN connections. If you need more cellular connections, or something that supports WiFi as WAN because your main router does not, or you simply want to have one place to manage all your hardware, Synergy Mode can be a great tool.
  • Virtual WAN on VLAN – Added Virtual WAN on VLAN
    • If you’re lacking WAN inputs, you can create a virtual WAN on a specific VLAN. For example, you simply need to trunk a VLAN (for each WAN) on your main router, connect an Ethernet switch, and then connect multiple WAN sources to that switch. The main router then allows this connection to be used on the WAN or LAN. This can be helpful for those utilizing a High Availability (HA) setup because WANs are treated differently than LANs with HA. If the switch in this example were to fail, it would not be recognized. This feature allows it to be. It’s also helpful if you’re limited on how many cables you can run to your router.  
  • MAX Adapter – When the MAX Adapter is connected to a Balance or MAX device, it will become a Cellular WAN instead of a USB WAN
    • This update makes it easier to recognize and manage your connection as a cellular one. Just like embedded modems, the MAX adapter will be displayed with detailed cellular information. Management of cellular settings such as the APN is now configurable.
  • InTouch & USB – Supports USB to serial adapters
    • With Peplink’s firmware version 8.2.0, they released a feature called “InTouch.” It allows folks to access IP based devices that sit behind their Peplink router. It works by leveraging SFC Protect (previously called SpeedFusion Connect), which means you must have an active SpeedFusion connection with data available. 8.3.0 firmware will allow you to connect to devices on the USB connection that are using a USB to serial adapter. This can be extremely useful for those who do not have a router model that has serial ports built in. Things that use RDP or VNC will now be supported.  
  • 5GH & Cat-20 Devices (product code contains -GLTE-S or -5GH) – Added 2x antenna mode for a cellular module
    • These modems typically use a 4×4 MiMO connection per modem. With this feature, you can now choose either 2 antenna mode or 4 antenna mode and that’ll allow you to use your existing Peplink Mobility antennas and take advantage of 5G. Of course, this means you will lose two of your antennas so you might lose a little bit of performance and signal capabilities or band capabilities. Still, this is helpful for users that are just starting to make the switch from a 2×2 MiMO modem.
  • Outbound Policy – Now supports client type as the source
    • The outbound policy rules are a way to control how the outgoing traffic on your network is routed over your WAN connections. Prior to the update, you could only specify the source as: Any, IP address, IP Network, and Client’s Associated SSID. With “Client Type” as an option, you can now create a rule that tells all smartphones to use your primary WAN only. This can help alleviate usage on a possibly limited backup Internet connection. 

Among the many improvements made, the one our team finds the most exciting is WiFi WAN has been added to the Balance 20X – just make sure you have a valid PrimeCare warranty. This Balance router is definitely becoming more versatile with this addition. WiFi WAN makes it possible to use a WiFi source as another WAN connection on your Balance 20X. This means if you have access to your neighbor’s WiFi network, you can use it as a backup if your own network fails to connect to the Internet. This of course is most helpful when your neighbor is using a different Internet service provider. If you have a mobile hotspot and need to extend its WiFi coverage and/or increase its device connections, WiFi WAN can help with that too. IP Forwarding is also now supported on WiFi WAN, in addition to BSSID steering on certain MAX models. 

With regards to cellular, 5G devices now have signal threshold settings and carrier selection. Peplink has added Band Channel Width details, SIM card priority settings, and support for SNMP on UTRAN Cell ID. 

Other improvements that we’re excited about include: 

  • GPS – An option to turn off GPS and GPS Forwarding services
  • OpenVPN WAN – Added site-to-site VPN mode
  • QoS – Added Application Queue – Bandwidth Control for Application
  • USB WAN – When USB Ethernet adapter or USB Dongle is plugged in, the USB WAN will connect automatically (rather than having to unhide this option)

Some minor improvements were made with name changes. Those include: 

  • PepVPN – Now called “SpeedFusion VPN”
  • SFC – “SpeedFusion Connect” is now called “SpeedFusion Connect Protect.” And “Home Sharing” is now “Relay Mode.”

Like with most firmware, there were of course some issues that needed to be resolved. Some that were covered include:

  • Cellular – Cellular firmware might fail to upgrade on LTE-US devices
  • Cellular – Device might not connect to InControl after upgrading the cellular firmware
  • SpeedFusion – Dynamic Weighted Bonding might drop packets unexpectedly for handling bufferbloat
  • SpeedFusion – UDP traffic might route to wrong sub-tunnel
  • Balance 20X – Setup Wizard configured IP Passthrough instead of Drop-in Mode
  • BR1 Mini HW3 – 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio might not work after applying new changes
  • Cellular & 5GH – Cellular interface did not work on Verizon with custom APN settings on the device
  • System – HTTP Health Check might fail
  • System – YouTube blocking may not work

This firmware release supports the following devices: 

  • X Series EPX / SDX Pro / SDX / PDX / MBX / MBX Mini / 580X / 380X / 310X / 20X 
  • Balance 20X / 20 HW7-8 / 30 LTE / 30 Pro / One / Two / 210 / 310 / 310 Fiber 5G / 310 5G / 310X / 305 HW2 / 380 HW6 / 580 HW2-3 / 710 HW3 / 1350 HW2 / 2500 
  • MAX BR2 Pro HW4 / BR1 Pro 5G / BR1 MK2 / BR1 HW2-3 / BR1 Slim / BR1 Mini / BR1 Mini Core / BR1 M2M / BR1 ENT / BR1 ESN / BR1 PRO / BR1 IP67 / BR2 / BR1 IP55 HW2-4 / BR2 IP55 HW2-3 / HD2 / HD2 IP67 / HD2 Mini / HD1 Dome / HD1 Dome Pro / HD2 Dome / HD4 / HD4 IP67 / Transit Pro E / Transit 5G / Transit / Transit Duo / Transit Mini / Transit Core / Hotspot / On-The-Go HW2 / 700 
  • UBR UBR LTE 
  • Surf SOHO HW2 / SOHO MK3 
  • MediaFast 200 / 500 / 750 / HD2 / HD4 
  • SpeedFusion Engine SFE / SFE CAM 
  • FusionHub FusionHub
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What is SpeedFusion Connect Relay from Peplink?

If you have a WAN connection at your home that you wish you could use while you’re traveling, then Peplink’s SpeedFusion Connect Relay is the solution. As long as your hardware is running firmware 8.2 or higher, this allows you to connect your mobile Peplink router to your home Peplink router and use its Internet connection to connect to the Internet. This essentially makes it look like you’re at home rather than connected through the mobile network or VPN connection you’re using. So, it might allow you to connect to things like streaming services more easily.

To learn how to set this up on your own, check out our video at YouTube. You may also follow the steps below. 

Configuring the Relay Server

Start by connecting to and logging into your home router. This will act as the Relay server in the connection. We’ll be using a Peplink MAX BR1 Mini in our example. 

Navigate to the SpeedFusion Connect tab. Click on setup relay mode. A new screen should appear. Click where it says cloud location and select the location closest to your home. 

When done, click on the green checkmark to the right, followed by the apply changes button at the top right. 

Once applied, your SpeedFusion connect name will appear with a relay sharing code to the right. Copy this and then apply the changes before moving on. 

Configuring the Relay Client

Now that we have configured the server connection, we’re going to log into the client router. In this case we will be using a Peplink Balance 20X.

Navigate to the SpeedFusion Connect tab. Select choose cloud location and a new screen will appear. Refer to cloud location here and click where you see the blank field. A drop down should appear. Select home sharing and then paste in the code you copied from the server router. Click the green checkmark to the right, followed by apply changes at the top right. 

Navigate back to the Dashboard to check the status of the changes. Once applied, we will see the SpeedFusion connection appear. Wait while it cycles through the connection process. After a moment, it should say established. 

Routing All Traffic Over the SpeedFusion Relay

At this time, we need to configure the client router to send all traffic over our newly connected Speed Fusion relay. Navigate to the network tab, although for some Peplink routers, this will be under the advanced tab. Select Outbound Policy on the left. Click on Add rule here. 

Give the custom rule a unique name such as SpeedFusion Relay. Confirm the enable checkbox is checked. Source and Destination should be set to Any. Set the algorithm to priority and then drag and drop your SpeedFusion connection into the WAN list. It should be positioned at the top of the list so that all traffic routes over this connection first. If this fails for some reason, it will fail over to the WAN connection or connections you have in place. 

Leave the remaining settings as is. Click save, then apply changes. We’ll then go back to the Dashboard page again to confirm changes are applied and our SpeedFusion is still established. 

Checking the Connection

We can also check the connection at the server router and then verify our configuration is working. Once logged back into the server router, first verify the Speed Fusion connection shows it is established here with 1 out of 1 relay clients. Note that additional client connections can be purchased if needed. 

At the client router’s web admin page, navigate to the status tab and click on client list. This is where we can confirm the IP address our computer is receiving from the router’s private network. Now that we’ve noted this, we’ll go to active sessions on the left. Click on the search tab at the top of this page and then scroll through the outbound sessions list. This is where it tells us which Internet or WAN service our computer is connecting to the Internet over. As we can see here, it shows our SpeedFusion relay connection, which confirms our configuration is working correctly. 

If you have more questions, or you’re interested in purchasing additional relay connections, contact our team by phone, email, or chat!

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How Can Peplink’s SpeedFusion Technology Improve Starlink Performance?

Starlink is a satellite internet service developed and operated by SpaceX, a private American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company founded by Elon Musk. The service aims to provide high-speed internet access to remote or underserved areas around the world by using a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites. 

The company has launched several batches of satellites into orbit since 2019, with the goal of eventually having thousands of satellites in its constellation. Their aim is to provide internet speeds of around 100 megabits per second (Mbps) with latency of around 20 milliseconds. This is significantly faster than current satellite internet services, which can have latency in the hundreds of milliseconds and speeds of around 25 Mbps. However, just like with cellular connections, throughput and latency are not guaranteed. 

So, you may be wondering, how might you make your Starlink connection more reliable? Enter Peplink SpeedFusion Connect (SFC). Peplink is a company that specializes in developing networking solutions for businesses and organizations. They offer a range of products, including routers and other networking devices, that can help connect computers, devices, and networks together. Their SpeedFusion technology runs just like a VPN tunnel. It is used to combine multiple Internet connections together to create a single, fast, and reliable connection for use with a Peplink router. 

The goal of SpeedFusion is to provide a way for users to improve the performance and reliability of their Internet connection by using multiple connections from different providers, such as broadband, cellular, and satellite. SpeedFusion can be used to load balance traffic across multiple connections, seamlessly failover to a secondary connection in the event of an outage, and bond connections for more bandwidth, all while providing improved security and privacy through the use of encryption.

Seeing that cellular and satellite connections can be sporadic and unreliable on their own, Peplink technology helps them to behave more like wired services. Congestion on the network and latency spikes are the biggest factors to consider with wireless services. Ways to mitigate these issues include increasing the number of WAN connections that you are using. Though, even if you are only using two WANs, there are still ways that the Peplink SpeedFusion can be configured to improve performance. 

Here are some tips: 

  • Avoid bonding multiple Starlink connections together as this could create more issues with performance.
  • Important part of the SFC connection is how to get it connected and how to route your traffic
    • The default configuration is already optimized for best performance, but it is a matter of making changes to the WAN connection priority. This is what controls whether the SFC tunnel runs with just Hot Failover between connections, or bonds them.
    • With connections in different priorities, you have Hot Failover. With connections all in priority 1, you have bonding. This is what allows you to have connections active simultaneously so that bandwidth can be bonded and real time/ mission critical traffic can be routed over this connection. 
  • If you would like to have the benefits of both Hot Failover and bonding, simply create sub tunnels (i.e. one for Hot Failover and one for Dynamic Weighted Bonding).
Sub-Tunnel #1: Hot Failover
Sub-Tunnel #2: Dynamic Weighted Bonding
  • To get the traffic routed as needed, this is where the outbound policy comes into play. This can be done at the local admin page or through InControl 2.
    • The big difference is that SaaS is only possible via InControl 2. 
    • Add more redundancy by using the priority algorithm and prioritize your tunnels
    • Use your Dynamic Weighted Bonding tunnel to protect your real time traffic. Route regular traffic over single WAN with hot failover tunnel.
    • Local configuration is the same as on InControl 2, but does NOT support SaaS or regional based routing. 
Default Outbound Policy Rule for Regular Traffic
Custom Outbound Policy Rule for Mission Critical Traffic
Viewing Outbound Policy Configuration from the Local Web Admin
  • Use WAN smoothing over Dynamic Weighted Bonding when seeing high packet loss. Otherwise Dynamic Weighted Bonding can be more helpful without increasing your data usage.
  • Firmware: Upgrade to version 8.3.0 to use TCP Ramp up. This improves the handling of Upload/ Download TCP traffic, which is important because Starlink uses TCP acceleration. This also helps with congested LTE networks. It is the initial duplication of traffic and allows for more bandwidth. 
  • If Starlink goes up and down, elongate the health check interval.
  • MTU for Starlink is 1500.

Have more questions about using Starlink and Peplink together? Reach out to our team via phone, email, or chat!

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How Much SpeedFusion Cloud Usage Do I Get with My Peplink Care Plan?

In November of 2020, Peplink added SpeedFusion Cloud (also known as SpeedFusion Connect) to their Care plans (EssentialCare, PrimeCare, SmartCare and TotalCare). This means any Peplink model under a Care plan can take advantage of the global infrastructure of their SpeedFusion network. 

SpeedFusion Cloud is a VPN technology. It utilizes Peplink’s infrastructure that provides access to a global network of SpeedFusion endpoints and technology without requiring additional hardware. This includes Bandwidth Bonding, Hot Failover, WAN Smoothing, and Bandwidth Overflow features. Simply enable the SpeedFusion Connect VPN on your Peplink device and you’re ready to go.

Each Peplink model comes with a different SpeedFusion Cloud package. Check out the chart below to see what your model includes. 

Still have questions? Check out Peplink’s FAQ here. 

Want to know more about the SpeedFusion configuration? Watch our setup video here. You may also reach out to our team by phone, email, or chat!

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How Can Peplink SpeedFusion Connect VPN Help Me?

As Peplink experts, 5Gstore receives questions everyday about SpeedFusion. What is it? How does it work? How can it help my business? We’ve put this information all in one place to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about this exciting technology. Do you need to know more or want to discuss if a SpeedFusion deployment is right for you? Contact the experts at 5Gstore and we’ll come up with a solution for your business’s unique needs.

What is SpeedFusion?

SpeedFusion is Peplink’s patented technology that powers enterprise grade VPNs. By tapping into the bandwidth of any WAN link – cable, DSL, cellular, etc – SpeedFusion turns your multiple connections into a single bonded connection.

What can SpeedFusion be used for?

SpeedFusion has three technologies designed to address specific problems.

SpeedFusion Hot Failover

In the event of a WAN disconnection, Hot failover will transfer your traffic to another connection while maintaining session persistence. For example, if a WAN connection breaks during a video conference, the video conference can still continue without having to hang up or call again.

5Gstore utilizes SpeedFusion Hot Failover in our day to day operations at our warehouse. Our primary internet connection is a wired Comcast connection, and we use Verizon LTE as our backup connection. We’ve created a SpeedFusion Hot Failover connection and run all of our traffic through that connection. All of our data flows over the wired connection first so we don’t use any unnecessary cellular data, but the instant that the wired connection fails, Hot Failover seamlessly switches all of our traffic to the LTE connection.

A traditional failover or load balancing router would lose all of the network traffic on the internet connection that fails dropping calls with our customers, interfering with our ability to ship products, and preventing us from running our business. Thanks to SpeedFusion Hot Failover, if an internet connection fails, no customer or employee is even aware there was an outage. 5Gstore holds quarterly ‘fire drills’ where we’ll purposely disconnect our primary connection to ensure our systems all function in the event of a real outage.

SpeedFusion WAN Smoothing

WAN Smoothing utilizes intelligent algorithms to fill in connectivity gaps, trading bandwidth for greater connection resiliency. WAN Smoothing minimizes latency and reduces the impact of packet loss. This is useful for times when you need connection reliability and responsiveness more than speed.

WAN Smoothing uses two or more internet connections simultaneously for the purpose of increasing reliability and consistency of a connection. If you can’t afford dropped packets or need minimal latency for applications such as live streaming audio/video, WAN Smoothing makes that possible.

SpeedFusion Bandwidth Bonding

Bandwidth bonding combines data at the packet level, enabling you to combine the speed of more than 18 connections (dependent upon which router model you’re using). This is useful for situations where bandwidth is scarce, such as at a remote site or in a moving vehicle. This technology also enables branch offices to connect to the head office at greater connection speeds.

If you are opening a branch office in a location where internet connectivity is slow or unreliable, Bandwidth Bonding can save the day. By bonding the speeds of multiple DSL lines, offices can experience increased reliability by utilizing multiple connections at once, and aggregate the bandwidth of multiple connections into one faster pipe.

What makes SpeedFusion different from Load Balancing?

Load balancing allows a single router to have multiple active internet connections, however load balancing has its limitations. First, load balancing doesn’t allow a single user to take advantage of the speeds of multiple connections. If you have three 10Mbps DSL lines, all a single user would ever see is 10Mbps. If the internet connection that user is being balanced to drops, that user would lose connectivity completely while the router fails them over to another available connection. VoIP phones would be disconnected, web sessions would sign out, and any downloads in progress would be dropped. Load balancing provides more bandwidth across an entire network, but does NOT combine the speeds of multiple connections or allow for session persistent unbreakable internet connectivity. Only SpeedFusion can provide this!

For some users session persistence is not required and failover between multiple links of a load balancing router is enough. Peplink provides 7 incredibly powerful load balancing algorithms and customizable rules that put you in complete control of network data priorities. Just set your traffic priorities, including VoIP and custom application traffic with a few clicks and let Peplink take care of the load-balancing and optimization details. Peplink load balancing routers support PepVPN instead of SpeedFusion. PepVPN allows a simple VPN connection to other Peplink routers, although without the benefits of SpeedFusion. Branch offices that don’t require SpeedFusion performance can still connect up to a SpeedFusion capable router at the headquarters and still participate in the larger mesh network for remote connectivity.

What is required to create SpeedFusion Connections?

In order to create a SpeedFusion connection you’ll need a minimum of two pieces of Peplink technology with SpeedFusion capabilities. This typically consists of a primary unit, installed at a headquarters or data center location with access to a high speed internet connection, and a second unit that is mobile (in the case of cellular bonding) or installed at a remote or branch office. A SpeedFusion VPN tunnel is created between the two locations, and using the powerful outbound policy settings on the Peplink router, all or specific traffic is routed over the bonded connection.

Let’s use the diagram above to show how SpeedFusion can make VoIP calls unbreakable for a business. The headquarters location has a Balance 710 router installed. Each branch office for the business located across the country gets a Balance router with SpeedFusion capability, spec’d based on the office size and throughput requirements. The remote office routers are easily set up to route all VoIP traffic over the SpeedFusion connection to the main headquarters router. Because each remote office has at least two internet connections, if one connection were to fail, VoIP traffic would seamlessly continue on the second internet connection uninterrupted!

This sounds great, but is SpeedFusion easy to set up?

Yes! SpeedFusion setup takes minutes, compared to the time and effort it takes to configure a typical VPN between multiple sites. Just check out our setup videos here. The Peplink user interface is graphical with easy to understand options. Helpful icons provide more information where it is needed without making deployment a burden.

SpeedFusion deployments are even easier when leveraging InControl 2, Peplink’s cloud based management tool. InControl 2 can automate SpeedFusion deployments for hundreds of sites simultaneously in just a few minutes meaning you don’t have to configure each router individually! InControl 2 is free for the first year with every Peplink router, included with the extended warranty, or a low yearly cost per device.

SpeedFusion and InControl 2 are part of a larger concept called SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network), a revolutionary way to approach the simplification of branch office networking and assure optimal application performance by using centrally controlled and managed WAN virtualization. SD-WAN is WAN virtualization, which allows for intelligent, secure, and centrally managed and monitored connectivity. Read more about SD-WAN here.

VPN Feature Comparison

What if I want to take advantage of SpeedFusion but don’t have a second location for a second router?

Simply Bonding

5Gstore has created SimplyBonding for exactly those situations. SimplyBonding uses Speedfusion technology to bond multiple 3G, 4G, DSL, or cable connections into one fast/reliable/unbreakable connection. Utilizing Speedfusion typically requires a Peplink router on both ends of the connection – one at the location where you need the bonded connection, and another at another location with a high-speed internet connection to bond the connections and send the data back to the primary location via VPN. SimplyBonding eliminates the need for this dual-router setup. SimplyBonding requires just ONE router, which will be configured to connect to our hosted service – WE handle the bonding and VPN for you!

SpeedFusion Connect – SpeedFusion Cloud

SpeedFusion Cloud is Peplink’s infrastructure that provides access to a global network of SpeedFusion endpoints and technology without requiring additional hardware. Leverage the global reach of public clouds to ensure that you get the fastest response time and the most reliable connection. Enjoy Bandwidth Bonding, WAN Smoothing, and unbreakable connectivity from any compatible router. There’s no need to invest in core hardware, setting up, or even maintenance. 

FusionHub

Peplink’s FusionHub virtual appliance is much like a virtual router. It is used as an alternative to running SpeedFusion on router hardware. It’s also an alternative to Peplink’s SpeedFusion Cloud service. It’s important to note that unlike a hardware only SpeedFusion connection, a public IP address is not needed. This is because a public IP address can be supplied from the cloud service running the FusionHub appliance. Of the supported cloud services, Amazon Web Services seems to be the most popular, but Peplink supports multiple services.

SpeedFusion Considerations

SpeedFusion Bonding does have limitations that are important to understand before considering a deployment. First, you must have enough bandwidth at the headquarters site, to support the total bandwidth of the remote site(s).

Consider The Speeds On Both Sides of Your SpeedFusion Connection

Example: You have a headquarters location with 50Mbps download, and 10Mbps upload speed. Your remote site has three 10/5 connections. 5 + 5 + 5 = 15 Mbps – 19% = 12.15 Mbps maximum upload speed. The headquarters only has 10 Mbps of upload speed available, so that is your upload capacity for the remote site if you are sending traffic to the internet. You still have the benefits of bonding for reliability, session persistence, and speed, you just can’t use the full capacity of the remote site links due to the bottleneck on the headquarters router connection.

Cellular users should note that bonded cellular connections suffer from “flow control” of TCP traffic at the carrier level, and 5Gstore cannot guarantee that bonding multiple cellular connections will result in faster speeds (however, the other benefits of SpeedFusion bonding remain, such as unbreakable VPN, session persistence, and 100% uptime as long as you have 1 healthy WAN). Cellular users must also consider tower capacity if bonding multiple connections from a single carrier. For the best results, we recommend bonding no more than two of the same carrier’s connections together, favoring bonding multiple networks together instead to ensure the highest availability of bandwidth.

What if I need support or have more questions?

5Gstore provides one year of technical support by phone on every purchase. We also have an extensive online support portal which includes manufacturer user manuals and documentation, along with 5Gstore created tip-sheets that go over specific features and troubleshooting. We have multiple Peplink Certified Engineers on staff who can help you with every step of your SpeedFusion solution from concept to deployment, and assist with any questions you may have before and after the sale. Contact 5Gstore for more information – give us a call, send an email, or reach out on our chat!

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Where to Find Information About Peplink’s InTouch for Remote LAN Management

With Peplink’s release of router firmware 8.2.0, they added a new feature called “InTouch.” For remotely accessing LAN devices on your network, no longer will you need a public IP address, costly VPN services or Out of Band Management (OOBM) licenses.

There has not been much information surrounding this feature, but the company will be publicly announcing it on April 19. 

Peplink describes the feature as a service that allows remote management of any device, anywhere. InTouch leverages SpeedFusion Cloud and InControl2 by extending your reach to any device UI backed by a Peplink router. 

InTouch is easy to set up and all you need is the following:

  • a valid InControl2 subscription
  • a SpeedFusion Cloud data plan
  • a Peplink router running firmware 8.2.0

Want to see just how easy it is? Check out our instructional walk-through here.

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How Does Peplink’s New InTouch Feature Work?

With Peplink’s new firmware version 8.2.0 comes a new feature that has been long awaited by many users, including our team. That feature is called “InTouch” and it allows folks to access IP based devices that sit behind their Peplink router. It works by leveraging SpeedFusion Cloud, which means you must have an active SpeedFusion Cloud connection. 

We wanted to test this out to see how well it works. Outlined below are instructions. In our example, we are accessing our Remote Power IP Switch, model UIS-622b. This device helps to monitor our router’s WAN connection as well as local devices on the network. If the Internet connection fails, or a device drops its connection to the network, a reset to the router or other device’s power is triggered. This usually resolves the connection issue. 

  1. Log into your InControl2 account at https://incontrol2.peplink.com
  2. Select the Organization, then Group of the router you want to access devices behind
  3. Click on the router device from the group to open the Device Details page
  4. Hover over the Settings tab and select InTouch
  1. From this page you’ll add devices you want to access. Click Add
  1. Enter a name for the device and its local IP address – you can obtain this from the cloud app or Cloud4UIS.com for your Switch OR you can typically find this from your router’s client list. 
  2. Click OK 
  1. Click Save Changes on the next screen
  1. Now that we’ve added our device, we can access it from the Device Details page or Group Overview page. 
  1. Shown here is the Device Details page. Note the new InTouch button. 
  1. We’ll click here to select the IP Switch we just added. 
  1. A new page will open and we’ll be connected to the web administration page of the IP Switch. 
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5Gstore’s Giving Back Success Story

5Gstore would like to congratulate Christopher and the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team (IMERT) in Urbana, IL.

Introduction 

IMERT, the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team, is comprised of hundreds of volunteers from every region of IL.

Challenge

The primary mission is to provide interim medical care by supporting local and regional resources as directed by the Incident Commander. Conditions are often austere, requiring responders to be self-sufficient.

IMERT has responded to numerous emergencies, disasters, and high-risk/high-profile events around the state. One of the issues we find during deployments is bandwidth is at a premium.

Solution

IMERT leveraged the benefits from Pepwave Max HD4, to allow better connectivity during remote operations and to further enhance our telemedicine component during times of disaster response. Being able to utilize the power of bonding multiple carriers into one unit and harnessing the power of the SpeedFusion Cloud service to provide this can be an enormous asset when our communities need medical care.

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