Feeble internet connection SBS 2011 ADSL & optic fiber backup

Question

I have two internet connections, one with ADSL, a cisco router and an IPCOP firewall and second with optic fiber and a watchguard firewall. It is either one or the other as I’m testing my internet connection. All this attached to a switch
with an SBS 2011. My problem is that my internet connection with either setup is feeble. When I try to reach google, I sometimes get errors and I constantly loose connection on Skype. When I’m RWW it randomly loses the connection without changing IP. I would
like to test my network without a variable: SBS 2011. As you know if the server is down nobody can get out and nobody will get in. So for testing purposes what would you recommend that I do in order to shut down the server and test my internet connection?
Even posting this was a problem. Cheers.
Mikelo Sanchez

Answer 1

Hi:
SBS relies on DNS for RWA, Internet Access and such.  Try this:  Connect one of the routers, preferable the faster one, to the switch, remove the other, and go back through the console wizards to verify you have input the correct entries as
provided by the ISP for that connection.  Note that the ONLY reference to DNS anywhere in your network should be the IP of the SBS, and the SBS should have either the DNS of your ISP (or other known good DNS servers) as forwarders OR root hints as the
lookup for DNS from the SBS DNS server. You can verify this by start - admin tools -dns - rclick server name - forwarders tab.
For RWA from the outside the necessary ingredients are a stable connection and proper public DNS settings.  For SBS we normally see an A record at the public DNS host for "remote.your-domain-name.tld" pointing to the external public static IP address
assigned by your ISP to the external interface of your router/firewall.
If all the settings are as described and it is still flakey you may be cursed with unreliable internet service and nothing you can do will overcome that.
Larry Struckmeyer[SBS-MVP] If your question is answered, please mark the response as the answer so that others can benefit.