8 hours ago
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I've been a network administrator and work from home, so I should have known better. But there I was -- working my rump off on deadline -- when my AT&T Internet Fiber connection went down. That was the end of my work for the day. The next day, it was back on again and then down again. The day after that, it returned and stayed on… until the next day. Enough already!
Also: How I upgraded to Wi-Fi 7 home internet with the easiest router setup yet
When you depend on the internet for your small office/home office -- aka SOHO -- work, you can't afford this kind of downtime. Can anyone really? I understood this in the early days of home internet, so I had a modem backup to my 128 kilobit per second (Kbps) ISDN and later my fractional T1 frame-relay 384 Kbps internet connection.
Back then, I knew darn well my internet connection could flake out on me at any time. Over the last few years, though, I got lazy. Sure, my cable and fiber connections would fail occasionally, but never for very long -- except when major disasters like the Asheville flood of 2024 knocked out all connections. In cases like that, though, almost all internet is out except for satellite connections.
So it is that in 2025, I added a backup internet connection to my SOHO for the first time in over a decade.
The easiest way: Hotspot
The easiest way to do that for most of us is to use a wireless 4G/5G option. In a pinch, you can always use a smartphone hotspot to make a connection. AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile, and Verizon all offer these services. However, hotspot services can be pricey, and they eat smartphone batteries for lunch. Besides, while a phone hotspot is fine for supporting a single computer, they don't work well with home networks. For example, even when I'm working with just one computer, my work is gathered over three servers on my home network, Google Drive, and a remote Nextcloud Hub server. One overworked smartphone isn't up for the job.
Also: The best hotspots you can buy
Instead, I opted for a dedicated hotspot device that takes a 4G/5G connection and converts the signal into Wi-Fi. ZDNET's favorite hotspot devices include the $549.99 Netgear Nighthawk M6, which works with all US cellular services; the $139.99 Verizon Jetpack MiFi 8800L; and the $159.99 Simo Solis Lite.
However, I went with the $249.99 Verizon Wireless Jetpack Inseego MiFi M1000 for my office. Why? It came with a Gigabit Ethernet port, which enables me to plug into my Netgear Orbi 970 mesh router's Wide Area Network (WAN) port and hook up my entire SOHO's worth of over 50 networked devices.
Regardless of which hotspot you pick, you'll probably need to pay for service. For instance, with my Inseego and Verizon, I pay $20 a month for 50 gigabits of data at 5G speeds, which runs at around 120 Mbps in my area. It's not nearly as much as my 2 Gbps fiber connection, but it's fast enough for an emergency backup connection.
Why didn't I use an AT&T wireless hookup?
Easy. When you're looking for a backup internet connection, the last thing you want is one that links into the same internet service provider. When my AT&T fiber connection is down, there's an excellent chance the AT&T wireless will also be down.
Also: Slow Wi-Fi at home? 3 things I always check first for faster internet speed
Another alternative is to use another local ISP. Unfortunately, in most places, there's only one wired ISP choice.
Get a dual-WAN router
Next, ideally, you want a dual-WAN router. This allows you to connect your primary and backup internet connections to the same router. Most dual-WAN routers can automatically switch to the backup if the primary connection fails, a functionality called failover.
Unfortunately, even high-end consumer routers like my Orbi 970 don't support dual-WAN connections. Some consumer routers, like many from Asus, support dual-WAN and failover. One that I haven't tried -- but I've heard friends recommend -- is the $449.99 ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000 Pro. Business users might want to check out the $259.99 TRENDnet TEW-829DRU, $119.99 Ubiquiti EdgeRouter 4, or $149.99 Synology RT2600AC. These last three require networking expertise to deploy and manage properly.
Also: Bye bye, Wi-Fi: This low-cost adapter lets you set up a wired network without running ethernet
Me? I elected to take the laziest approach. When my connection flakes out, I pull the plug from the defunct service and plug in the other. It's not automatic, but it works!
Test it
Once you've got your equipment up and running, test it by manually disconnecting your primary internet connection to see if the backup kicks in automatically. Or, in my case, plug in the secondary Ethernet plug and make sure it works. When you do this, don't just check your main PC; ensure all your devices recognize the new connection and can access the internet.
Also: My home internet was frustratingly slow - so I checked these 3 things first for faster Wi-Fi
I'm glad I went to all this expense and trouble, because only a few days after I set up my emergency Verizon connection, guess what happened? Yes, that's right, my main internet circuit blew out yet again. This time, though, I returned to work in less than a minute.
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