Load Balancing: Using Multiple Separate Internet Connections Simultaneously

[4evermaat]

I recently purchased TOT 6Mbps/1Mbps line. It's pretty good so far, but I don't have plans on tossing my CAT wireless connection either. So I did some google searches to find out about sharing multiple internet connections simultaneously to see if it can be done. Didn't see anything at thaivisa so I figured I'd give it a shot here. I would prefer software solutions or operating system tweaks. But hardware solutions are also welcome. I would prefer mac solutions, but I have a windows laptop also. Either or both solutions are welcome. The original plan was to just have one connection for one computer to download files, and then the other connection for browsing. But seeing the speed of the ToT, I would like to get the most out of my connection.

[KMBKK]

http://www.billion.com/product/wireless/BiPAC-7800N-11n-ADSL2-Broadband-Firewall-Router-Gigabit.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Billion-BiPAC-7800N-Broadband-Wireless-N/dp/B002TOKGL8

[CMSteve]

Mac and Nix machines should be able to use both connections as redundancy, not 100% sure if Win will require user interaction.

I'm sure there are both WIn and Nix programs written specifically for this, but I suppose you could also do some psuedo-balancing with a proxy server.

e.g. set up squid to send torrent traffic to TOT and web page requests to route through CAT - or any other variations....

True load-balancing will be tougher and will require a bit more work.

[Darrel]

" I would prefer software solutions or operating system tweaks. But hardware solutions are also welcome."

Forget software solutions if you are using more than one computer. They are a total waste of time, money and effort. Especially if you have Apples.

Get a load-balancing router. Simple. Cheap. Effective. Programmable. The devices shown in the above links do not appear to be load-balancing routers though, at least based on the brief look that I gave to them, and if so would not be suitable.

For this to work your CAT wireless connection would also need to be on ethernet rather than USB.

[KMBKK]

Get a load-balancing router. Simple. Cheap. Effective. Programmable. The devices shown in the above links do not appear to be load-balancing routers though, at least based on the brief look that I gave to them, and if so would not be suitable.

No, not load balancing- fall back. I've had very, very poor luck with under-$500 load balancing routers, plus the wifi/router combo. The above does the job well since ToT is fast but flaky, when it drops off it picks up 3G automatically.

Since he plans to use one for download a NAS/seedbox might be an option. I just picked up a Synology NAS- FTP, BT, HTTP, etc etc server for 6300bht. Plays beautifully with Macs- even has a client for initiating downloads without going into the web interface.

http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS211j/spec.php

[tariq786]

For software solution I would have gone for Vyatta

You can install it as Virtual Machine.

pfSense or ClearOS is also a good choice

[BangkokImages]

I used a Linksys RV042 load balancing router for the same reasons for several years.

Routers are PC/Mac agnostic.

[Darrel]

No, not load balancing- fall back. I've had very, very poor luck with under-$500 load balancing routers, plus the wifi/router combo. The above does the job well since ToT is fast but flaky, when it drops off it picks up 3G automatically.

Fall-back wasn't quite what he was after, I think. To me it seemed that he wanted extra bandwidth and redundancy. His DSL speed will depend on where his house is also.

I've used cheapish load balancing routers (or sometimes modem/routers) very effectively in areas where DSL speed is low and have coupled two DSL lines together to double the speed and provide redundancy. I always use them with ethernet DSL modems though, and wifi access points dotted around the houses (which were fully cabled for ethernet). The entire telephone systems were also IP based, along with the alarm system and the entertainment system (Sonos). It all worked very well and can be easily managed from a distance (as long as you remember which device has which IP address!).