--- title: Reliable ECMP with Static Routing « ipSpace.net blog description: A networking engineer wanted to use EIBGP load balancing to distribute outgoing traffic across two WAN edge routers, but this is the wrong tool for the job.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/reliable-ecmp-with-static-routing-ipspace-net-blog-ttuiyzs7r twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Reliable ECMP with Static Routing « ipSpace.net blog | daily.dev og:description: A networking engineer wanted to use EIBGP load balancing to distribute outgoing traffic across two WAN edge routers, but this is the wrong tool for the job.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/reliable-ecmp-with-static-routing-ipspace-net-blog-ttuiyzs7r og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ttUiyZs7R.png og:image:alt: Reliable ECMP with Static Routing « ipSpace.net blog og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Reliable ECMP with Static Routing « ipSpace.net blog **[ipSpace.net Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A networking engineer wanted to use EIBGP load balancing to distribute outgoing traffic across two WAN edge routers, but this is the wrong tool for the job. The recommended solution is to configure two VRRP (or HSRP/GLBP) groups — one owned by each switch — and point two static routes at the two VRRP addresses. This achieves reliable ECMP without the black-hole risk of static routes pointing to physical IPs. For better resilience, running a routing protocol (OSPF or EBGP) between WAN edge routers and the firewall cluster is the preferred approach. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I load balance outgoing traffic across two WAN edge routers when my firewall uses a default static route to a VRRP address? Configure two VRRP (or HSRP or GLBP) groups, each owned by one of the WAN edge routers, then point two static default routes at the two VRRP addresses. This gives ECMP across both uplinks while keeping the resiliency benefit of VRRP failover. Alternatively, run OSPF or EBGP between the WAN edge routers and the firewall cluster so both routers advertise the default route dynamically. _Engineers balancing WAN edge traffic track design patterns like this on daily.dev._ ### Why is EIBGP load balancing the wrong tool for load balancing outgoing traffic from a pair of WAN edge routers? EIBGP's primary use case is in MPLS/VPN WAN networks, where it typically requires MPLS transport and operates within VRFs. Using it outside that context is complex and can introduce forwarding loops. For a simple dual-router WAN edge design, dual VRRP groups with static routes or a standard routing protocol like OSPF or EBGP is a cleaner and more reliable solution. _Networking engineers evaluating WAN edge designs find relevant architecture discussions on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [When Kubernetes Meets Real Data Center Networking: Building a Routable, Resilient On-Prem Cluster with BGP and ECMP](https://daily.dev/posts/when-kubernetes-meets-real-data-center-networking-building-a-routable-resilient-on-prem-cluster-wi-6epvdu3rc) · Container Journal · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [ProxySQL HA with BGP ECMP Anycast](https://daily.dev/posts/proxysql-ha-with-bgp-ecmp-anycast-eykf9l3mm) · Planet MySQL · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#bgp](https://daily.dev/tags/bgp) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/reliable-ecmp-with-static-routing-ipspace-net-blog-ttuiyzs7r) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Reliable ECMP with Static Routing « ipSpace.net blog","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/reliable-ecmp-with-static-routing-ipspace-net-blog-ttuiyzs7r","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/reliable-ecmp-with-static-routing-ipspace-net-blog-ttuiyzs7r"},"datePublished":"2026-08-11T08:52:49.218Z","dateModified":"2026-08-11T09:11:09.174Z","description":"A networking engineer wanted to use EIBGP load balancing to distribute outgoing traffic across two WAN edge routers, but this is the wrong tool for the job....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--VDukGCjf--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2002","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--VDukGCjf--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2002","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"ipSpace.net Blog","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ipSpace.net Blog","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--xS7E82MT--/f_auto,q_auto/v1786438303/logos/ipspace?_a=BAMAMicg0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/reliable-ecmp-with-static-routing-ipspace-net-blog-ttuiyzs7r","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"bgp","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ipSpace.net Blog","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Reliable ECMP with Static Routing « ipSpace.net blog"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/reliable-ecmp-with-static-routing-ipspace-net-blog-ttuiyzs7r#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I load balance outgoing traffic across two WAN edge routers when my firewall uses a default static route to a VRRP address?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Configure two VRRP (or HSRP or GLBP) groups, each owned by one of the WAN edge routers, then point two static default routes at the two VRRP addresses. 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