Peplink Firmware 8.6 Released – New SpeedFusion Boost, WireGuard VPN, Satellite “Orbit WAN”, and More

Coming after an unusually long beta period and nearly two years after firmware 8.5 was released (our story), Peplink firmware 8.6 is a substantial release, with more than 40 pages of release notes covering the new features, improvements, and bug fixes.

The headline feature is SpeedFusion Boost - a new next-generation bonding algorithm designed to better combine connections with dramatically different speeds, latency, and reliability characteristics.

For mobile users in particular - this promises better performance when bonding wildly variable cellular connections with Starlink, where a weak or high-latency connection can sometimes drag down performance of the entire bonded tunnel.

But SpeedFusion Boost is just scratching the surface.

Firmware 8.6 also expands Peplink's satellite integration beyond Starlink, finally adds built-in WireGuard VPN support, and makes Synergy Mode even more capable.

There are also plenty of cellular, security, Wi-Fi, and enterprise-focused improvements lurking deeper in the massive release notes too.

What else is new?

Let's dive in!

Peplink Firmware 8.6 Video

[Coming Soon]

SpeedFusion Boost Takes Bonding To The Next Level

SpeedFusion bonding has long been one of Peplink's signature features, allowing multiple internet connections to work together for improved performance and reliability.

The catch is that bonding connections with dramatically different characteristics has always been challenging.

And having dramatically different connections is pretty much the norm for mobile users.

Even with the overall reliability improvements of bonding - the performance potential of a fast Starlink or 5G connection might be dragged down by bonding with a congested LTE connection. Or the constant drops of a Starlink struggling with obstructions can wreak havoc on your cellular connectivity as the bond continually shifts to adapt.

In these situations - SpeedFusion bonding has always been a lifesaver for improving reliability by avoiding connection drops, put performance suffer a lot when a weak unreliable connection is holding back the faster connections.

Peplink Firmware 8.6 introduces "SpeedFusion Boost" - a new bonding algorithm designed specifically to better deal with these wildly diverse and constantly changing connections.

Behind the scenes, Boost uses a new Dynamic Weighted Bonding algorithm that continually adjusts how traffic is distributed across the available connections.

The goal is to keep the weakest link from dragging down the entire bonded connection - delivering better performance with a lot less manual fine-tuning.

This can be useful when combining:

• Starlink and cellular.
• Fast 5G and slower LTE connections.
• Multiple Starlink terminals - especially when some may be obstructed.
• Any connections with rapidly changing speeds, latency, or reliability - situations common when in motion.

Peplink brags that it has demonstrated substantial gains when bonding multiple Starlink terminals, achieving similar performance with four to eight terminals that previously required around twelve.

That is an extreme enterprise or cruise ship scenario bonding example far beyond anything most RVers or cruisers will ever deploy, but it demonstrates how effectively Boost can increase the performance of a bonded tunnel.

The same approach can also help more typical mobile setups combining a single Starlink with one or more cellular connections.

Peplink's goal with Boost is to make peak SpeedFusion performance much more automatic - turn on Boost, and the router should better adapt as each connection changes without requiring nearly as much manual tweaking.

SpeedFusion Boost - Still Considered "Beta"

Peplink considers Boost to be the evolution of SpeedFusion, and intends for it to eventually be enabled by default.

But for this first release - it must be manually enabled in the Tunnel Options.

Theoretically there should be no situations (or router models) where Boost underperforms the older SpeedFusion algorithm, but particularly for this first release Peplink is taking a cautious path.

In our testing so far - Boost has seemed reliable, and now that the firmware is finalized we expect users will be sharing testing results and discovering corner cases.

 Perhaps when firmware 8.6.1 ships - Peplink will feel comfortable dropping the "beta feature" label.

Peplink Expands Its Satellite Integration With “Orbit WAN”

Peplink's Starlink integration has steadily evolved over the past several firmware releases - and now Peplink is preparing for a future where Starlink may be just one of many satellite connectivity options.

The new "Orbit WAN" control panel generalizes the native satellite support - and it now adds native API support for OneWeb in addition to Starlink

OneWeb at one point in time was intending to build a consumer satellite constellation rivaling Starlink (see our past OneWeb coverage for all the dramatic history here) - but OneWeb has instead evolved to be focused on enterprise and government customers, particularly those wishing to avoid being overly reliant on just Starlink.

Bonding OneWeb and Starlink together is therefore a key feature for these users.

Beyond OneWeb - the Orbit WAN interface will expand to support other satellite providers in the future - such as Amazon Leo.

Orbit WAN Reality Check

Most of the benefits of the Orbit WAN interface are surfaced in Peplink's InControl cloud dashboard, giving IT managers better awareness of potential issues with satellite systems.

For most typical nomadic users - the satellite integration features are nothing dramatic, but certainly nice to have.

WireGuard VPN Support Arrives - With Limits

Firmware 8.6 adds support for WireGuard - a feature long wished for by some Peplink customers.

WireGuard is a modern VPN protocol that has become popular because it is lightweight, fast, and generally easier to configure than many older VPN technologies.

Peplink is initially positioning WireGuard as a Remote User Access VPN - allowing someone away from their RV, boat, or home to securely connect back to their Peplink router and access networked cameras, computers, or other devices on the local network.

WireGuard can also theoretically be used for some site-to-site connections involving non-Peplink routers, though Peplink-to-Peplink connections will generally remain better served by a SpeedFusion VPN.

But this phase one WireGuard support does not allow WireGuard to be used as a WAN connection - enabling a Peplink router to be a client for consumer VPN services such as NordVPN or Proton VPN.

We suspect that further enhancements to WireGuard support will be coming over time, and that this first implementation is just the start.

Synergy Mode Evolves - Wi-Fi Access Point Support

Synergy Mode was one of the flagship additions in firmware 8.3, allowing a primary Peplink router to manage the WAN connections provided by one or more secondary Peplink routers as if they were built right into the router acting as the controller.

Synergy has made it magically easy to add additional cellular and other WAN connections - often times putting older routers to good use when the primary router is upgraded.

But until now, Synergy primarily focused on combining WAN capabilities.

LAN capabilities in the secondary routers were ignored.

Firmware 8.6 changes this by allowing the Wi-Fi access points built into supported Synergized routers to be managed through the primary router's AP Controller.

This means a secondary router can now pull double duty - providing additional WAN connections while also expanding the Wi-Fi range of your centrally managed Wi-Fi LAN.

For example, an indoor Peplink router could be Synergized with a roof-mounted router (inside an Antenna MAX, for example), now allowing both devices to broadcast your Wi-Fi LAN - potentially keeping your devices connected much further away outdoors around a marina or campground.

This makes Synergy more useful than ever before - particularly in larger installations.

And even better news is coming for Synergy users.

Peplink has indicated that the upcoming firmware 8.6.1 update will remove the requirement that the Synergy controller has an active PrimeCare subscription to use Synergy Mode.

This simple change should make Synergy even more appealing to consumers who want to keep an older router in service without maintaining an ongoing PrimeCare subscription.

And More Good Stuff

There is plenty more buried in firmware 8.6's massive release notes.

Here are some of the other improvements that caught our attention:

• Enforced Bandwidth Limits -Firmware 8.6 adds a new option that can intentionally set a throttle for each individual WAN connection. This intentional throttle could help keep uploads from completely saturating a cellular or Starlink connection, causing latency spikes. Or it could be used to restrict data from flowing on to an expensive backup connection.
• Improved eSIM Support - Peplink continues refining its eSIM capabilities, including better identification of the active carrier on multi-carrier plans (such as RoamLink). Installing an eSIM still requires InControl however.
• Wi-Fi 7 & 6 GHz AP Management - Peplink's built-in AP Controller can now manage tri-band access points and their 6 GHz radios, supporting Peplink's growing lineup of Wi-Fi 7 access points.
• More Cellular Improvements - Firmware 8.6 includes a collection of 5G Standalone, Multi-APN, modem compatibility, and cellular connection reliability improvements across supported modem modules.
• SpeedFusion Connect Direct Access Mode - Peplink is testing a new way for the SF Connect app on iOS and Android to connect directly to supported routers. This feature is still in beta - and requires a WAN connection with a public IP address, limiting its utility.
• Enterprise Security Upgrades - Firmware 8.6 adds FIPS 140-2 support and encrypted RADIUS authentication. These are important additions for government and enterprise deployments, but they will not matter to most RVers or cruisers.
• Limited IPv6 Support - Peplink has taken a few more baby steps towards enabling IPv6 - the next generation internet protocol. But true IPv6 support likely remains a long way off.
• SpeedFusion Score - Firmware 8.6 supports calculating a score displayed within the InControl web dashboard that shows how effective SpeedFusion has been at improving your connection performance. This feature is still evolving - and early reports are that the connection tests being performed behind the scenes can use up a LOT of data in the background. Anyone experimenting with enabling this feature should monitor it closely.

And, of course, there are dozens of additional user-interface tweaks, compatibility improvements, geek-level settings, and bug fixes buried throughout the release notes.

Concluding Thoughts

There are lots of other small changes, tweaks, UI improvements, geek-level features, and bug fixes lurking in 8.6 - and it has gone through a longer and rockier testing period that most other Peplink firmware releases.

More cautious users may want to wait for the inevitable 8.6.1 - giving some extra time for any further bugs to shake out.

But with the debut of SpeedFusion Boost - we consider firmware 8.6 to be a truly ambitious release, establishing a great foundation for Peplink to build forward on.

You can read the full geeky release notes and download the firmware files on Peplink's firmware portal when ready to upgrade.

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