We are looking to implement a cost effective fail-over internet connection solution.




Currently we use Shaw to connect our four store locations to the Internet and looking for a cost effective fail-over solution for our internet connection. Each store location run a dual WAN router with seemless fail-over. The usage requirement is quite low with connection failure usually twice a week for 15 min per incident. I have searched Telus' website but cannot fine a solution that fits a reasonable budget. Can anyone provide a custom solution?

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There a numerous ways to approach  this solution depending on your budget, equipment, route you want to take (wireline vs wireless solution) and the IP networking requirements of your current office setup.


TELUS provides internet services for business customers over Wireless (mobility) and Wireline (ADSL depending on it's availability in your area).


** Mobility/Wireless Solution**


For basic information on the (wireless) mobility modems, you can find here:




Coverage is also something consider. Mobile internet coverage has the same footprint as cellphones as it uses the same infrastructure.




The current Smart hubs (mobile internet modems) have a built gateway in them that supports basic gateway functions (DMZ, port forwarding, firewalls). One thing to note is that these currently available modems do not have bridge mode/pass through mode capabilities and if you are running multiple VPN tunnels, they are very limited (less than 20 simultaneous connections).


If you do require a more rugged and geared towards Medium Business/Enterprise modem, the BlueTree or Raven X modems might be able to meet this requirement. These modems do support bridge mode should it be a requirement for you.




The speeds varies depending on the location, coverage and number of users on a specific location. But in general, HSPA/HSPA+ users can expect between 3-7mbps download speeds with 2-3 mbps uploads whilte LTE customers will hover around 12-24mbps download and 5-10mbps upload. There are many factors that can impact speeds and the best way to gauge your expected speeds would be to run a speed test on a smart phone. 


Last but not least, there are different IP solutions you can also add to your mobility account should you decide to go this route.


TELUS provides the following products:


Public Static IPs

Public Dynamic IPs

Private Static IPs

Private Dynamic Ips





As for the data plans, here's a link for the current pricing





** Wireline/ADSL Solution**



If you want to use ADSL service (connection through wireline phone jack), the service availability is also dependent of your area. The speeds are 3mbps, 6mbps, 15mbps and 25 mbps. All except the 25mbps service have 1mbps upload. The 25/5 solution offers 5mbps uploads.
TELUS offiers 2 types of ADSL modems (stand alone ones or gateways)
Public dynamic IPs and Public Static Ips are available depending on your requirement.
Also, note that it is possible to bundle both wireline/wireless services to save on your monthly plan.
All in all, TELUS doesn't have a modem that does automatic failover/rollback (yet) on it's current hardware available to customers but if you have a modem that has dual wan, the above solutions should work. Note that if you get a modem (wireless mobility/wireline adsl) that has a built in gateway, you would be doing a double NAT which might require more configuration depending on your setup's needs.
I personally have a dual WAN setup at home with ADSL as my primary line (WAN1) and loadbalancing on a SmartHub (WAN2). The router i'm using is a CISCO RV042. This solution is a low cost solution/setup that would be ideal for customers who require Internet to be up 99.9999% of the time. 
The advantage of having 1 Wireline service and 1 Wireless service is that both are on different infrastructure therefore it would be rare that an outage on 1 impacts the other.
Hope this helps!