Bonding / Load Balancing ADSL Lines

cobusv

cobusv

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Hi Guys,

i'm on a mission to find out if it's possible to "load-balance / bond" adsl lines to get a bit more thruput on.

Currently my area only supports 2mbps adsl and there is no plans from telkom to get anything faster. i have explored all wireless technologies and only really adsl will work for me.

so my thinking was to maybe look at installing another 2mbps adsl line and then somehow bind them together to try get a 4mbps connection?

Can this be done? if so, how would one go about doing it?
 
You and I are in the same boat.

I have done it with 2 x 2Mbps lines and I am able to get a stable 4mbps :)

https://www.pfsense.org/ is how I did it, although there are some more complicated ways to go about it too
 
Thanks Brent,

can you maybe PM some info on how you achieved it and how you configured the pfsense etc. any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
The pfSense route would give you load balancing, for bonding to work, you need a router on the other side as well. You also loose a small persentage for overheads
 
^ Yup, just remember that. Load balancing is not bonding.

You won't see speed benefits on single threaded downloads but load balancing on pfSense still works really well.
 
Load-balancing

Hi cobusv,

As those above mentioned, load-balancing is different from bonding. Bonding is usually an ISP product since it needs the relevant equipment and config on both ends of the connection.

For load-balancing, either you can do that on your side with software, or instead by using a dual/multi-WAN router, for example the DrayTek Vigor2860 series routers.

The Vigor2860 has a built-in ADSL/VDSL port, as well as an ethernet WAN port which may be connected to another DSL line through a regular ethernet DSL modem.

For those who are used to configuring DSL routers, the config is simpler than one may expect, and we're told that its less of a hassle than maintaining a PC-like firewall/server as above, while also benefitting from features such as USB 3G/LTE failover, etc.

If you'd like any more info or to be put in touch with a reseller in your area, just drop a PM.
 
Would you need a second ISP account for this to work or will a single ISP account make use of both lines simultaneously?
 
netstrider said:
Would you need a second ISP account for this to work or will a single ISP account make use of both lines simultaneously?
Click to expand...

For load balancing one account can work, depending on the type. If you have a capped account that allow concurrent sessions, you are in business!
 
Be VERY VERY wary of load balancing / bonded lines - Telkom ASSIA is screwing us up royally with them changing line speeds all the time, the bonding sufferes heavily when the one line limps behind in synch speed
 
Greetings MyBB, reviving an old thread here. I'm in the exact situation as OP and have a noob question. I already have a 2Mbps line, so if I wanna, say upgrade to 4 (which isn't possible thanks to my exchange) would I then need to get another line (meaning another telephone number?)

I already have a decent amount of monthly data, so I can use the same ISP account right? Just need to get a second line? And of course a load balancing router but that goes without saying

The reason I am asking is that, I haven't yet checked the prices, but to have a second line means paying Telkom's line rental and then ISP's ADSL fee again which already sounds like it's gonna be more expensive compared to someone who is privileged to have an exchange that supports 4Mbps.

Has the OP successfully setup a load balancing router as yet? Considering this is an old thread, maybe there's someone here that's done it and can maybe give me a ballpark price for this

Thank you
 
I use peplink devices at the offices for this reason and they work very well.
 
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