Backup broadband connection - suggestions?

[TheHyperTechie]

Hi all,

 

I am looking for some suggestions on backup broadband connections for a couple of my schools that rely heavily on cloud services, such as Google workspace, Arbor, etc. I though about 5G but as we are located in Cornwall, it is pretty much pointless. Both schools main broadband lines are with SWGfL but I am not sure if they offer any redundancy options?

 

Does anyone else mind sharing if they have a back up line, FTTC, FTTP?

 

It doesn't need to be great, just something that could keep them going for essential work.

 

TIA.

[DGardiner]

Hi all,

 

I am looking for some suggestions on backup broadband connections for a couple of my schools that rely heavily on cloud services, such as Google workspace, Arbor, etc. I though about 5G but as we are located in Cornwall, it is pretty much pointless. Both schools main broadband lines are with SWGfL but I am not sure if they offer any redundancy options?

 

Does anyone else mind sharing if they have a back up line, FTTC, FTTP?

 

It doesn't need to be great, just something that could keep them going for essential work.

 

TIA.

 

its fairly pointless unless your going to the effort of pulling things in from seperate ducts/cabinets as a digger going theough the duct is gonna cut most cables in both instances - id say the easiest would be a starlink backup line or equivalent service as it wouldnt break the bank!

 

in 10 years of leased lines the only time it would have helped us is when VirginMedia had a nationwide outage from a coure router going pop.

[Mr.Ben]

Agree with the comment above when Physical damage is involved, but data flow should be considered.a

 

We have backup lines going into all schools now to supplement our leased lines.

 

Our leased lines go through our filtering system (backhauled traffic) and using the feature set of our on site firewalls the backup lines are used with a whitelist.

 

All VOIP and management traffic goes over them on a day to day basis.

 

If the leased line (or any part of the infrastructure) fails, all traffic to our Azure and Office 365 tenancies is allowed over the backup line.

 

If the backup line fails, then VOIP and management is moved to the leased line connection.

 

It's worth having the discussion with SLT about what is essential for the operation of the school(s) and ensuring that that works.

 

That way you can keep the costs of the backup down/in line with the risk and meet the minimum needs of the school to run.

 

A side note on the physical part - if your leased line and backup are damaged and use the same duct, a 4 or 8 hour sla on the leased line will reduce this risk to an acceptable level.

[CHiLL]

We have a FTTP line from a supplier using Virgin's network and another FTTP line from a supplier using OpenReach's network, that way we aren't limited to an an area issue with a single ISP.

 

The main issue that we're experiencing at the moment is 100% CPU on our Sophos XG, which knocks out all Internet traffic, including MIS (Bromcom), telephony (3CX), etc. It looks like a DDoS attack, but we aren't seeing the interfaces being flooded, only the CPU. Our supplier is investigating the issue, but as of yet, no resolution. One possible solution would be an additional unit in failover or loadbalancing mode, but who's to say that wouldn't also suffer the same issue or also be overwhelmed?

 

There's always going to be a point of failure and it can cost an absolute fortune to mitigate, so it's a case of doing the best we can with what we have/can afford.

[robintech]

Dependent on the size of course but 4G covers our backup needs @ 100Mbit down for a 1Gbit leased line , even had it running accidently on 4G after the initial install as they hadn't switched it back and things still worked if slower. Our traffic is tunnelled to the same provider with the same IP so hard to notice initially.

 

If you have nothing then getting 4G could be a cheaper instant coverage before the top level options.

[Aprice]

With our customers we tend to go for an FTTP connection. Starlink could be an option though, especially if getting connectivity in general is difficult in your area.

[timbo343]

Hi all,

 

I am looking for some suggestions on backup broadband connections for a couple of my schools that rely heavily on cloud services, such as Google workspace, Arbor, etc. I though about 5G but as we are located in Cornwall, it is pretty much pointless. Both schools main broadband lines are with SWGfL but I am not sure if they offer any redundancy options?

 

Does anyone else mind sharing if they have a back up line, FTTC, FTTP?

 

It doesn't need to be great, just something that could keep them going for essential work.

 

TIA.

We run 2x FTTP lines. One at 250mbps down / 200mbps up and the other 900mbps down 100mbps up.

 

One line with NyNet and the other with TTB.

 

I would look at https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/ and see what is available. If you get On Demand FTTP as a result you might not be able to get FTTP. Fortunately for us we have 2 entrances, one entrance road can take FTTP, the other side has no FTTP at all.

 

StarLink is okay if you stay in their monthly Data Limits otherwise you'll end up paying a fortune.

[Jcx500]

We usually install a 1gb as a primary and then a slower speed eg 500mb or 250mbps as a secondary , try to go with a different provider for secondary and different dns etc

[PotNoodleTech]

Been there had someone chainsaw through the openreach duct and take our fibre out.

 

I suppose any extra local broadband options would have been taken out too in that instance as it would all come from the local exchange in the same ducting?!