We've set up a second WAN connection on a FVS336Gv2 (fw 4.3.3-6) and have set it as a secondary failover port. (WAN1 is connected to a Netgear/AT&T B90-755025-15 [fw 06.04.29] DSL modem; WAN2 is connected to a Netgear LB1120 [fw up to date] AirCard modem.)
Initial testing shows that the failover function is working. It takes a few minutes to kick in, but if WAN1 suddenly goes down, eventually the router switches traffic onto WAN2. And when WAN1 comes back up, within a few minutes the router redirects all traffic back onto WAN1.
What I'm having a bit of a problem with is that, when WAN1 is active, the router seems to disable WAN2 (it shows as "DOWN"). And when the router rolls over to WAN2, it seems to disable WAN1 (it shows as "DOWN"). This might be the router's way to properly get traffic out, but it completely blocks my access to the modem on the failed connection. If WAN1 is determined to have failed and the router rolls over to WAN2, I cannot connect to the modem behind WAN1 to determine what the problem is. Acess to the modem's Web interface fails, and trying to ping the modem's address results in a "Destination host unreachable" error.
How do I get around this (or fix whatever I set up wrong)?
Thanks
CL
Model: FVS336Gv2|PROSAFE DUAL WAN GIGABIT FIREWALL WITH SSL & IPSEC VPN
This is normal with the FVS336Gv2. Since Auto-Rollover is configured, when WAN1 port is active, WAN2 shows as "down." Then, if the internet connection fails on WAN1 port, it will roll-over to WAN2 connection making the WAN 2 port active and this will make WAN1 port "down."
Also, if the WAN1 port is down, you really cannot access the modem connected to it because its down. Same goes with the WAN2 port, if it is down, you cannot access the modem connected to it. I suggest you to connect a PC directly to the modem so that you could access its web-GUI.
It's not that simple ... This unit is in an IDF rack inside a locked closet, and I'm not necessarily on premises. I can't just go over and plug a PC straight into the modem. I need to come up with another solution. (Currenltly my workaround has been to switch the router's operation mode to Load Balance, but that's not without its own set of problems.)
Is there some way to force a route through the "DOWN" line in failover mode, i.e. setting up a specfic VLAN? The only reason the modem on the failed line is "down" is that the router is blocking access to it. In almost all cases, a failed Internet connection is not the result of a failed modem, and many times all that's needed to get the connection back up is to tell the modem to reset and/or reconnect.
