Imagine your internet goes down in the middle of the workday. The payment terminal, the e-shop, the cameras and the phones all stop. For a company this means direct losses. The solution is a backup internet connection with automatic switching, so-called failover. Let us explain how it works.

Why one internet is not enough

Any connection can go down: a fault at the operator, a cut cable, a power outage in the area. If your whole operation rests on the internet, a single connection is a single point of failure. When it falls, everything falls.

For a household an outage is annoying. For a company that sells, invoices or communicates over the internet, it is directly a loss of money and credibility.

What failover is

Failover means automatic switching to a backup connection when the main one goes down. You have two internet connections and a special device (a router with dual WAN support) watches whether the main connection works. If it goes down, within a few seconds it switches traffic to the backup and you keep working, often without anyone noticing.

When the main connection is restored, the router automatically returns to it.

How it works in practice

  • The main connection is your usual one, typically the fastest (for example fiber).
  • The backup connection is from a different operator or a different technology, so the same outage does not affect it. A mobile LTE connection is often used.
  • A router with dual WAN constantly checks the status and switches in case of an outage.

It is important that the backup connection is independent of the main one. Two fiber lines from the same operator on one route will not help you when the cable is cut.

Failover versus load balancing

  • Failover keeps the backup connection ready and switches to it only during an outage.
  • Load balancing spreads traffic across both connections at once, increasing total throughput.

A combination can also be set up according to the needs of the operation. The principle of prioritizing important traffic is complemented by the article on QoS.

Who it is worth it for

  • E-shops and stores, where an outage means stopped sales and payments.
  • Restaurants and hotels with ordering and reservation systems.
  • Companies with a camera system and remote access.
  • Offices dependent on the cloud and online communication.
  • Any operation that cannot afford to be offline.

For an ordinary household one connection is enough, and mobile internet from a phone serves as a backup. But for a company an automatic and reliable solution pays off.

Conclusion

A backup internet connection with failover is an insurance that keeps your company online even when the main internet goes down. For operations that rest on the internet, the investment pays back with the very first outage you do not feel.

Can your company not afford an internet outage? Get in touch, we will design and set up a backup connection with automatic switching to measure.