Best Dual WAN Router (for Business Office and Home)

Some of you may be looking for a router that’s going to be more reliable than the norm. A router that has more than one connection to the Internet – a dual Internet router.

There are quite a few routers on the market that can connect to more than just a single link to an ISP. Today we are going to have a look at the best dual WAN routers, as well as explain how they function and what their benefits are.

What Is A Dual WAN Router? Do I Need One?

In a nutshell, a dual WAN router is for those who require connectivity to the Internet with as little disruption as possible.

The idea is that you would have at least two Internet connections into your home, or more likely office. It is more common to see more than one route to the Internet within an office environment than in a home. The reason being that businesses are much more dependent on having a connection to the outside world.

If there is only a single connection to utilize, then if the Internet goes down, your business cannot function and not only is money not being made, but employees are potentially being paid to do nothing! Not a good scenario.

And of course there are people who need to have a solid connection to the outside world from their homes, so although it’s less common to see 2 or more ISP connections there are home users who still require them.

Depending on the router, you can choose to set up Failover or Load Balancing of the Internet connections on your Dual WAN router.

Failover Capabilities

This is when a primary connection is used until it goes down. If and when it does go down, a secondary connection kicks in and takes over. When the Primary connection comes back up again it should once again take over like before.

Load Balancing Resilience

This is when 2 or more Internet connections are utilized at the same time. If one connection happens to drop, the other one will stay live and carry on being utilized. It is very important to be aware that if you are using both connections concurrently, that if a link goes down you need to thing about bandwidth utilization, because of course, the bandwidth availability of the two links will now only be that of the remaining live link (in the case of a failure).

Dual WAN vs Multi WAN Routers

This is pretty straight-forward. Dual WAN routers cater for up to 2 WAN links. Multi-WAN routers (sometimes known as multiple WAN routers) can cater for 2 or more links.

Best Dual WAN Routers

Here are some of the top rated dual & multi WAN routers available today. Some have dual WAN load balancing functionality…

1. Linksys Dual WAN Gigabit VPN Router (LRT224)

The Linksys LRT224 is a WAN link redundant firewall, load balancing router & VPN box…and with Gigabit ports too! The firewall can cater for up to 900Mbps and on the VPN you can have up to 50 tunnels.

– Up to 900Mbps speeds through firewall
– Dual WAN which supports load balancing
– VPN tunnels of up to 110Mbps
– Site to site VPN functionality
– Client VPN also supported (up to 50 VPN tunnels)
– Up to 5 OpenVPN tunnels for iOS & Android users

2. Peplink Balance 20 Dual-WAN Router

A dual port WAN router for those a little more serious about their gateway to the outside world.

– 4x Gbps LAN ports
– 2x 100Mbps WAN ports
– Suitable for up to 25 business users
– Up to two Site-to-site VPNs and 15 client VPNs
– QoS & Web Blocking

Peplink have two other highly rated multi WAN routers:

Peplink Balance 30 Dual-WAN Router – BPL-031
Peplink Balance 305 Multi-WAN Router – BPL-305

Best Dual WAN & Multi WAN Wireless Routers

1. Peplink Balance One 600Mbps Dual-WAN Router

This is a high-end Wi-Fi router with that all important backup WAN functionality. Definitely a router to look at if you are a business owner and want reliable resilience.

– Up to 600Mbps Throughput
– Dual WAN with your choice of either failover or load balancing
– Simultaneous Dual Band Wi-Fi
– 8x Gbps LAN ports
– Enterprise functionality (AP Controller, Remote User VPN, QoS)

2. TP-LINK TL-ER604W

This a cheap dual WAN router for those on a budget. It has a backup Gbps WAN port, that also doubles as a LAN port. It also supports IPSec, PPTP & L2TP VPN tunnelling.

– Wireless N router supporting up to 300Mbps theoretical
– Restriction of Instant Messaging and peer to peer software to help staff productivity
– Supports 30 IPsec tunnels as well as 8 PPTP and L2TP tunnels concurrently
– Multi WLAN guest networks
– Up to AES256 bit encryption
– Supports Load Balancing

3. UTT AC750W Enterprise Wireless VPN Router

Another budget dual ISP router, but this one however is Wireless AC. It has three detachable antennas with 750Mbps data rates.
A great little SOHO router…

– Dual WAN router
– Wireless AC – up to 750Mbps
– Dual Band wireless
– IPSec & PPTP VPN support
– Also has a USB port