Two WAN connections on my SG-1100 device.
Two WAN connections on my SG-1100 device.
I’m not very familiar with networking, but here’s what you’re dealing with. You’re using an SG-1100 with fiber in your LAN via WAN, and gaming PC and OPT (spectrum) on the internet. You experience intermittent disconnections lasting 10–20 seconds. Everything seems set to default, but since you have two ISPs connected to the same device, you might need adjustments for each provider. The video you watched claims it works, but it keeps dropping and coming back. If you want advice or a fix, feel free to share more details.
You have several IP addresses for different reasons. OPT isn’t set up as a WAN interface; I’m not entirely sure what the default settings are, but if they’re open, it could mean something unexpected. It might be treated like a VLAN, which is confusing. If you don’t have a switch, figuring out how to connect other devices to the internet is tricky.
I receive multiple units since one is provided free of charge. The Optimal configuration has been updated to WAN2 (spectrum). I need both for the flexibility to switch to a spectrum network instantly by turning off my fiber connection while using the spectrum app on my PC, which unlocks all available movie channels. On the LAN side, a gig switch is functioning properly until the connection drops for 5-10 seconds as described earlier. The main goal isn’t about technical details—it’s more about avoiding issues with a previous setup that might have been misconfigured (though I suspect that’s not the case). I admit I have limited experience with this topic, but I’m familiar with networking generally, not specifically with PFsense.
Also, wait. "The routers are plugged into the switch"... What do you mean? You should only have one router. Two modems should connect to your pfSense device (which acts as both firewall and router), one to OPT and another to WAN, with your LAN going through the switch and all devices linked to it.
I understand what you're experiencing. Right now everything seems to function properly until the fiber connection drops, after which it switches to spectrum and works again. It looks like there might be some overlap in IP addresses causing conflicts. I'm a bit behind in reviewing this, but I think checking the forum link you mentioned could help. I plan to set up pfSense as my firewall for the fiber internet and get a wireless card for my gaming PC so it can connect to spectrum when needed. Learning a bit about pfSense might be worthwhile—it's not too expensive and could offer useful features.
So you're already double NATed? With ISP routers and PFSense handling routing... That's the setup. You could move the ISP modems or routers into DMZ or bridge mode, letting PFSense manage the firewall tasks, which might fix the double NAT issue. If they're not in DMZ/bridge mode, both should default to 192.168.1.1—this could be a problem if that's the case. Also, it's unclear which IPs might clash beyond that.
I relocated the Fiber to the OPT port and switched spectrum to WAN, hoping it would all function properly. I opened ipchicken with a 5-second autorefresh and everything is running smoothly at 50 intervals—no drops so far. I’m not sure why it’s now confirming it works correctly.
Check if you're using the ISP routers and understand their setup. Confirm whether the IPs are directed to your OPT and WAN local or public addresses.
spectrum is an ISP, netgear is fiber, I’m planning to set up my Netgear on 10.x.x.x and then change it to 192.x.x.x, perhaps that will resolve some issues. The WAN/OPT are public links being shared, and I’ll reach out to their support next time—maybe they can assist without the $399/year fee. Also, I’m considering using pfSense within my network.