Best Practices for Provisioning a Failover Connectivity Service

When setting up a connectivity service to act as a failover link, it’s important to ensure the service is properly configured, isolated, and tested to achieve seamless redundancy. This guide outlines key best practices that apply regardless of the specific service type (e.g. NBN, Fibre, 4G/5G, Fixed Wireless, etc.).

1. Test Before Go-Live

Always verify the new service prior to deployment. Run connectivity and throughput tests to confirm the link performs as expected and can successfully route traffic.

Testing should include:

• Confirming the service achieves expected speeds and stability

• Ensuring routing to external networks functions correctly

• Verifying that connected devices (such as firewalls or routers) correctly detect the new path

Testing early prevents surprises when the failover is actually required.

2. Validate Firewall and Routing Policies

Review and test firewall rules, NAT policies, and routing configurations to ensure traffic will correctly use the backup connection when the primary service fails.

Key points:

• Confirm outbound traffic can route via the backup interface

• Review DNS and VPN settings that may depend on the primary connection

• Consider how critical services (such as VoIP or remote access) will behave during failover

A misconfigured firewall is one of the most common reasons a failover connection fails to activate as intended.

3. Schedule Regular Failover Testing

Failover links should be actively tested on a regular basis, not just when installed.

We recommend:

• Monthly or quarterly tests that simulate a primary link outage

• Verifying that the transition to the failover connection is automatic and reliable

• Monitoring the failback process to ensure it restores cleanly

Regular testing builds confidence that the failover link will perform when it’s truly needed.

4. Document the Configuration

Keep clear, up-to-date documentation of:

• Which circuits serve as primary and failover connections

• IP addressing, VLANs, and gateway details

• Firewall and routing policies related to failover behaviour

Accurate documentation ensures that future troubleshooting or updates don’t accidentally disrupt failover functionality.

5. Monitor and Review

After deployment:

• Set up monitoring and alerting for both primary and failover services

• Review bandwidth usage during failover events to confirm suitability

• Periodically re-evaluate the design as your network or business needs change

Proactive monitoring ensures your backup connection remains a dependable safeguard, not an afterthought.

Summary

A failover service is only valuable if it performs flawlessly when it’s needed most. By testing before production, verifying routing and policies, and regularly re-testing performance, partners can ensure their customers maintain true connectivity resilience.