Selective forwarding, prioritization, and queueing by edge devices

A method of selectively forwarding data transmissions to a wide area network, the method comprising:

• detecting, by a network device interposed between a wide area network and a local network, that a connection between the network device and the wide area network is unavailable;
• after detecting that the connection is unavailable:
• receiving, by the network device and irrespective of order:
• from a first local device connected to the local network, a first data transmission for a first destination address accessible over the wide area network;
• and
• from a second local device connected to the local network, a second data transmission for a first destination address accessible over the wide area network;
• and
• storing, by the network device, the first data transmission and the second data transmission to a computer-readable storage medium;
• after storing the first data and the second data transmission:
• detecting that the connection between the network device and the wide area network is available;
• and
• analyzing the first data transmission and the second data transmission using a forwarding rules engine to generate a forwarding order describing transmission priorities of the first data transmission and the second data transmission;
• and
• after detecting that the connection between the network device and the wide area network is available:
• based on the forwarding order, determining that the first data transmission is a high priority data transmission;
• retrieving the first data transmission from the computer-readable storage medium;
• and
• transmitting the first data transmission to the first destination address.

A system for selectively forwarding data transmissions to a wide area network, the system comprising:

• at least one local device configured to transmit data to at least one destination address accessible through the wide area network;
• and
• a network device connected to and interposed between the at least one local device and the wide area network, and configured to receive data transmissions from the at least one local device and selectively forward data transmissions to destination addresses accessible through the wide area network, the network device comprising:
• wherein the network device comprises a processor and at least one memory encoded with instructions that, when executed cause the processor to:
• detect that a connection between the network device and the wide area network is unavailable;
• after detecting that the connection is unavailable:
• receive from the at least one local device:
• a first data transmission for a first destination address accessible over the wide area network;
• and
• a second data transmission for a first destination address accessible over the wide area network;
• and
• store the first data transmission and the second data transmission to a computer-readable storage medium;
• and
• after storing the first data and the second data transmission:
• detect that the connection between the network device and the wide area network is available;
• and
• generate a forwarding order describing transmission priorities of the first data transmission and the second data transmission by analyzing the first data transmission and the second data transmission using a forwarding rules engine;
• and
• after detecting that the connection between the network device and the wide area network is available:
• determine that the first data transmission is a high priority data transmission based on the forwarding order;
• retrieve the first data transmission from the computer-readable storage medium after determining that the first data transmission is a high priority data transmission;
• and
• transmit the first data transmission to the first destination address.