Multi ISP (Failover & Load Balance)

Multi ISP lets you connect 2–4 internet lines to one MikroTik router through NettPortal. Use it for backup internet when a line fails, or to share traffic across multiple ISPs when the network is busy. NettPortal applies the RouterOS configuration remotely and shows live link status on each router.

What is Multi ISP?

Think of it as giving your router more than one way to reach the internet. With Failover, a backup line takes over if the primary cable or ISP goes down. With Load balance, customer traffic is spread across lines based on the speeds you set. You can enable both together for shared capacity plus automatic backup.

Opening Multi ISP

Go to Multi ISP in the dashboard, or open a router and click Multi ISP → on its card.
You need permission to view routers. The router must be reachable through NettPortal (WireGuard connected).
Read the caution notice on first use — wrong port or mode choices can interrupt customer internet.

Modes

When you configure a router, choose one or both options:

Failover

ISP 1 (your existing internet port) stays primary. If it goes offline, traffic moves to ISP 2, then ISP 3, and so on by priority. Best when you want a simple backup line.

Example status: Failover active — backup ether2 (primary ether1 down)

Load balance

Traffic is shared across all online links using the speed (Mbps) you set for each ISP. More total capacity when many customers are online. A single large download still uses one line at a time.

Example: ISP 1 at 100 Mbps + ISP 2 at 50 Mbps → roughly 2:1 traffic split.

Load balance + Failover (combined)

Share traffic across lines when all are up, and automatically fall back if one line fails. Use this when you want extra capacity and backup together.

Setup steps

1. Plug in your lines

Connect each ISP line to the port you assign in setup. ISP 1 is your existing internet port — NettPortal detects it and leaves that DHCP setup alone unless the port is stuck on a bridge.

2. Configure ports and speeds

Click Setup on the router row.
ISP 1 is read-only (current internet). Pick ports for ISP 2, ISP 3, or ISP 4 from the live port list.
Each port can only be used once — ports already chosen on another line are hidden from the dropdown.
Set line speeds in Mbps and choose Failover, Load balance, or both.

3. Preflight and Apply

NettPortal runs a preflight check before applying:

Errors (red) must be fixed — e.g. Free Access active, fewer than 2 ports, duplicate port, port not found on router.
Warnings (amber) are informational — e.g. port on a bridge (Apply removes it), both ISPs share the same gateway address.

Click Apply when preflight passes. NettPortal configures DHCP, routes, NAT, and mangle rules on the router. Use Disable to restore normal single-WAN routing.

Link status on the dashboard

The Links column shows compact badges for each ISP:

Green badge — link is up (Active or Standby)
Red badge — link is offline
Hover a badge to see the port name (e.g. ether2 — Standby)

The Recent activity table shows the router status message and when it last changed — for example which line is currently carrying traffic after a failover.

Status refreshes when you apply, click refresh in the setup modal, and automatically every 45 seconds on the page.

SMS link alerts

Turn on SMS link alerts at the top right of the Multi ISP page to receive a text when a line goes up or down.

SMS is sent only when the toggle is on and a link actually changes state (up → down or down → up).
Uses the notification phone from your router or organization offline notification settings.
Sends through your organization SMS credits or your own SMS API if configured — same as router offline alerts.
No SMS is sent on the first status read after enabling — only on real transitions.

🔴 ISP link down

Router: Home Router
Line: ISP 1 (ether1)

Check the cable or port.

Before enabling SMS

Configure SMS in organization communication settings and set a notification phone on the router or organization. SMS must be enabled for offline router notifications.

Configuration examples

Example 1: Cable failover with two Starlink lines

Setup: Starlink Gen 3 LAN1 → ether1, LAN2 → ether2. Both modems may use the same gateway IP — cable unplug failover still works.

Steps:

Mode: Failover only (not load balance for simple cable tests)
ISP 1: existing port (ether1)
ISP 2: ether2, DHCP enabled
Apply, then unplug ether1 — customers should stay online on ether2

Expected message: Failover active — backup ether2 (primary ether1 down)

Example 2: Fiber primary + LTE backup

Requirement: Main fiber on ether1; 4G/LTE modem on ether2 for when fiber fails.

Mode: Failover
ISP 1: ether1 (fiber — already working)
ISP 2: ether2 (LTE modem)
Enable SMS link alerts to get a text when fiber drops or returns

Example 3: Two ISPs, shared capacity + backup

Requirement: 100 Mbps fiber + 50 Mbps wireless — use both when up, survive if one fails.

Mode: Failover and Load balance (combined)
ISP 1: ether1, speed 100 Mbps
ISP 2: ether2, speed 50 Mbps
Apply — traffic splits ~2:1; if ether1 fails, ether2 carries all traffic

Requirements and limitations

Free Access must be turned off on the router before applying Multi ISP.
Minimum 2 ISP ports, maximum 4.
Router must be online and reachable via NettPortal WireGuard for apply, refresh, and live status.
WAN ports on a bridge (including hotspot or LAN bridge) are removed automatically on apply — you will see a warning first.
For cable-only failover tests, start with Failover only. Combined mode adds PCC load-balancing rules and is meant for production multi-ISP setups.

Disabling Multi ISP

Open setup for the router and click Disable Multi ISP. NettPortal removes the Multi ISP routes, mangle rules, and extra DHCP clients it created, and restores normal single-WAN routing. Your original ISP 1 setup is preserved.

Important

Disabling during an outage on the primary line may leave the router on the backup until you fix cabling and re-apply. Plan changes during a maintenance window when possible.

Best practices

Label your ports — use ISP 1, ISP 2 names consistently so status and SMS messages are clear.
Test failover — unplug the primary cable after apply and confirm customers stay online before relying on backup in production.
Enable SMS alerts for critical sites so you know immediately when a line drops.
Match speeds to reality — load balance weights should reflect actual ISP plan speeds.
Do not pick hotspot LAN ports as WAN — preflight warns if a port is on the wrong bridge.

Documentation