using a cable connection as fallback for T1

[encinitas]

hello- (sorry if this is the wrong forum!)
the pres. of my company has a T1 to his house (MCI) and also a cable connection (COX) to the guard station on the property. The other day SBC had to be called out to repair the line, so the T1 was down for a day, which is not acceptable, so I've been told.
So I'm wondering what the best option would be, maybe using the cable connection as a backup plan, as seemless to the user as possible, so he won't be bothered.
Maybe bridging the two connections, or using dual nic's on his pc??
Really simple setup at the house. T1 goes to Lucent router, to a Cisco switch, to his pc. Cable connection attached to security guard pc.

Any thoughts? Money is not really an issue if it will solve the problem.
thanks in advance.

 

[wasisnt]

We have a T1 with a DSL line for backup. If the T1 goes down I have the DSL on a DSL router and plug the DSL router into our network switch. I just have to enable DHCP on the workstations though since we use static IPs.

http://www.onlinecomputertips.com

 

[NEXCOMPAC]

I would perhaps try duplexin the line. There are routers out there that can balance the two lines and he will never know the difference. This way, he might even get a boost in his download since typical T1 lines are 1.5 up and down and typical cable lines are 3 meg. down. This will balance the load between the lines, not double the lines through-put. This will also eliminate any problems with static ip's inside the network or with the isp provider.

 

[58sniper]

firewall both. Configure your servers for the T1 line as the default gateway, and the cable line as a secondary gateway. Configure the DHCP scope to hand out both gateways in the correct order. Problem solved. I just did this at a client site with 50 machines. Works great.

Pat Richard, MCSE(2) MCSA:Messaging, CNA(2)

 

[NEXCOMPAC]

Oh yea, and one more thing, I wouldn't add a second nic to do this. Rely on the router to do this.
Look at these for examples:

HERE

HERE

 

[encinitas]

oh, thanks a bunch nexcompac!
i'll look at those.

 

[encinitas]

I have a "managed VPN" by MCI/Verizon on that T1 line. Would that be affected if I put that dual WAN Linksys in there to share with the Cable connection?

 

[NEXCOMPAC]

Contact your vendor. They will answer any of your technical question as far as routing that might need to take place. They may even have a specific piece of equipment they recomend for thier network. Afterall, if they were given the oportunity to bring in 2 T1 lines, and duplex it, they would.