DSL Multilink

[pmshah]

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with multilinking of DSL connections.

I am in a location where the 256 kbps connections are available at very economic rates. If I want to upgrade to 512 kbps it becomes very expensive. 1 mbps are absolutely out of reach. I can get 4 separate 256 kbps connections including the telephone rent & ISP charges at lower than the 512 kbps service.

I need help in this regard. Is there any way at all to multilink DSL connections like in the olden days of Dial up connections? If yes how does one go about doing it?

Any help or links would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Sonic]

hmm, I don't think it's easy !!! you must buy a sort of "concentrators" and there are very expensive if they exist & if they work ...

[cluberti]

Actually, if you're willing to spend the additional $150 or so, it can be easy to load-balance across 2 internet connections:

http://www.netgear.com/products/details/FVS124G.php

If you need to do more, you'll likely be spending a lot of time configuring a Linux box with iptables and iproute2, or spending a lot of money on a device that can handle 3 or more internet interfaces:

http://www.ispfailover.com/default.asp

Since you do say that money is an object and important in your decision, it would be cheapest in the long run to get an old PC and install Linux and a few NICs to load balance 3 or more slower connections (giving you better bandwidth, but lower throughput per connection), but it would be easiest to purchase the netgear device and 2 faster network connections (giving you better throughput per connection, but lower bandwidth overall).

Edited November 27, 2005 by cluberti

[pmshah]

Actually, if you're willing to spend the additional $150 or so, it can be easy to load-balance across 2 internet connections:

http://www.netgear.com/products/details/FVS124G.php

If you need to do more, you'll likely be spending a lot of time configuring a Linux box with iptables and iproute2, or spending a lot of money on a device that can handle 3 or more internet interfaces:

http://www.ispfailover.com/default.asp

Since you do say that money is an object and important in your decision, it would be cheapest in the long run to get an old PC and install Linux and a few NICs to load balance 3 or more slower connections (giving you better bandwidth, but lower throughput per connection), but it would be easiest to purchase the netgear device and 2 faster network connections (giving you better throughput per connection, but lower bandwidth overall).

I would be more than willing to pay for the hardware. It is a one time expense. The issue is the recurring monthly charges - a sort of TCO- which can add up to whole lot more.

I already have a range of PCs lying around all the way from 500 mhz K6-3 to about 1 gh celerons with plenty of ram. As far as Linux is concerned I have a hard time getting into it too deeply due to time constraints. Even at present my sleep time is curtailed to about 5 hours a day.

Thanks. I will do some research and evaluate the posibilities.