How to Set Up a Failover Internet Connection for Your Business with Multiple Locations (Step-by-Step Guide)

Tom Daly

July 2, 2024

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Set Up Internet Failover for Multiple Locations

Failover Is Easier Than You Think

Too often, businesses assume internet failover requires months of planning and specialized networking teams. But as we explored in Internet Resilience Is Broken, the real risk is doing nothing—and leaving your organization vulnerable to outages that break productivity and trust.

The cost of downtime isn't just lost connectivity—it's lost customers, stalled revenue, and time your IT team can’t afford to waste. The Hidden Cost of Downtime makes the case clear: every business needs a failover plan.

Setting up internet failover doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need BGP sessions, MPLS tunnels, or racks of enterprise gear to ensure business continuity.

With modern cloud-managed hardware and LTE-ready options, any organization—from a single-site warehouse to a distributed retail chain—can deploy reliable failover in under an hour.

This step-by-step guide walks you through the planning, setup, and validation process.

Step 1: Choose Your Primary and Backup Connections

You’ll need two internet connections from different sources. Ideally:

Primary: Fiber, cable, or high-speed broadband
Backup: LTE/5G, Starlink, or second wired ISP

The goal is diversity—not just in provider, but in delivery type (wired vs. wireless) to avoid common-mode failures like fiber cuts or regional outages.

Step 2: Select the Right Router or Edge Device

Modern businesses—especially those with multiple sites—need failover solutions that are simple to deploy and centrally managed. Look for a failover-capable device that supports:

Dual WAN ports (or a SIM slot for built-in LTE)
Automated failover logic (via health checks)
Static IP connectivity (so cloud services don’t break)
Centralized cloud management (for scale)

Not sure where to start? Edge Lite and Edge Pro from Big Network were built for this exact use case.

Step 3: Configure Health Checks and Routing Rules

Your device needs to know when to fail over. Configure probes such as:

ICMP ping to a reliable host (e.g., 8.8.8.8)
TCP connection checks to a critical cloud service
HTTP/HTTPS polling if application-specific uptime matters

Set thresholds like:

3 failed ping attempts = trigger failover
5 successful probes = return to primary

Step 4: Connect and Test Both Circuits

Physically connect both the primary and backup internet connections. Power up your edge device and ensure:

Both WAN links are recognized
The system shows active monitoring
Traffic flows over the primary by default

Then, simulate an outage: unplug the primary WAN. Your device should switch traffic to the backup path within seconds. Watch for:

VPN session continuity - you may need to add Static IP Anywhere to seamless VPN connections.
Streaming buffering or VOIP call drop behavior
Alerts in your portal or monitoring dashboard

Step 5: Monitor, Refine, and Document

If you’re managing dozens—or hundreds—of distributed locations, automation is critical. Take inspiration from how teams like ITDreamWire and Infinite Wireless use Big Network to reduce on-site truck rolls and streamline failover across their networks. Central visibility ensures you can track performance, troubleshoot issues, and update policies remotely.

Once deployed:

Use your platform to monitor real-time performance
Adjust probe thresholds to minimize false positives
Document the setup in your IT runbook or internal wiki

Failover isn’t “set it and forget it”—but with the right tools, it’s close.