Wireguard

Recently, I faced an issue with mwan3, a package on OpenWrt routers that is designed to manage multiple internet connections, either for load balancing or a failover.

At work, we have two fibre connections, where the main one is used primarily and the second is online, but only activated when the first goes down – typical failover approach.

First connection (lets call it fibre) is with metric 10 wheras second connection (fibre2) is with metric 20.

For tech guys, first fibre is uncontended with static IP, whereas our backup fibre is contended over PPPoE.

My main policy in mwan3 is fibre_fibre2.

fibre_fibre2 policy contain fibre_m1_w3 (Metric 1, Weight 3) and fibre2_m2_w2 (Metric 2, Weight 2) member.

When fibre is down, the fibre2 takes over and all traffic flows through nicely, almost.

If you follow my website and posts related to OpenWrt you have probably come across my post about installing a VPN server on an OpenWrt router using WireGuard.

WireGuard is one of the fastest protocols available for creating a VPN connection. Thanks to it, from the Internet, we can easily connect to our network and use it, either for local purposes (access to a printer or network drive) or to limit regional restrictions. Being outside the country, I can connect to my router at any time and my device will appear on the Internet as if it were where the router is, i.e. in the UK.

Cloudflare is known for being the next Google and providing us with high-quality services, many of which can be used for free without any compromises. Fortunately, unlike Google, it is not so eager to kill its services.

From domain management, to SSL certificate for your website, secure and fast DNS, to turbocharging your internet connection with WARP (or WARP+ for those who want more).

If you have your own router with OpenWrt software, you have probably thought more than once about how to set up a VPN server on it so that you can connect to your local network from outside your home/office and have access to local data, such as a network drive or printer.