Misc. Ramblings

The purpose of having a dual WAN router is to make the process of switching between inputs transparent. That is, should the primary access go down, the secondary should come on line with little or no intervention from users. At the most, those online at the time of switch over might have to reboot to refresh the DNS/email/news server IP addresses.

So when I got home yesterday I noticed the RoadRunner cable modem was not online. Great, I thought, a real world test of the Hawking Technology FR24 dual WAN router. So I booted up a PC and was disappointed that there was no Internet access.

I logged into the FR24 via browser and saw that it was still indicating no problems with the primary connection. So I unplugged the modem from the router, rebooted the router and the PC I was using and found the same problem. As far as the FR24 was concerned, the cable modem was still online, even though it was now physically disconnected from the router.

The next thing I did was unplug the Verizon ADSL modem from WAN2 and plug it into WAN1 at the same time manually configuring the DNS address in the FR24. Rebooted the router and the PC I was using and still no connection.

As a final step, I reset the router to all its default settings and then inputed the correct settings for the ADSL modem. Rebooted the router and the PC I was using and still no connection.

At that point, I unplugged everything from the FR24 router and plugged them back into the CoyoteLinux-based router I had been using prior to getting the new router. I booted the CoyoteLinux router and rebooted the PC I was using and all was well.

I sent off an email to Hawking Technology last night at around 9:00 p.m. local time asking them about this problem. It is now 7:00 a.m. (10:00 a.m. PST, 1:00 p.m. EST) and I do not have a response. I'll let you know if and when I hear anything. But if you are considering purchasing this router, please be aware there may be problems.

Aloha!