Options for splitting local and international bandwidth

S

sabagamma

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
910
Reaction score
0
From what I can see there are 3 ways to split local / international bandwidth:

  1. RouteSentry: Probably the first application to do this released to the MyAdsl community. Runs on Windows 2000/XP with Vista testing currently underway (29/03/2007). It requires the modem to be run in "bridged mode" and RASPPPOE to be installed. Two connections are setup (in a dialup manner) by the user on the operating system. RouteSentry running as a background application will monitor traffic and depending on the destination route the traffic to the correct connection.
    Developed by ant1b0dy.
    See http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=39234 for further information.

    Advantages:
    Simple, easy to setup, provides out the box traffic routing.
    Well tested as it is one of the most popular solutions.
    No additional hardware is required.
    Disadvantages:
    Only runs on Windows.
    Some modems might not be able to run their in-built firewall when in bridged mode.
    No sourcecode has been released so future support might be a problem.
  2. Static Routing: This uses the router/modem combination to do all the work. The router is loaded with the local IP addresses and those are mapped to the
    local connection. All other IP addresses are routed via the default international connection. The current implementation uses an Excel spreadsheet to execute telnet commands that update the routing information. The application makes use of Excel macros to execute its logic.
    Developed by Fausto
    See http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=52541 for further information.

    Advantages:
    The router does all the work and in a seamless manner.
    Disadvantages:
    You have to have a router that is capable of working with multiple connections.
    The router must have a Telnet interface that allows the routing rules to be configured.
    Non-Windows support is questionable since the router configuration is done in Excel.
    Currently the only hardware supported is the DLink DSL-G604T modem/router.
    Fausto does not seem to be active in these forums since early February 2007 hence support may be a problem.
  3. IPCop: IPCop is a Linux firewall distribution. Two connections are setup and routing rules are added to "tell" IPCop which connection IPCop should use to
    service the request. Works in a similar way to RouteSentry.
    IPCop is developed by the open source community. The idea to split international / local bandwidth using IPCop was developed by Bernie.
    See http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=64649 for further information.

    Advantages:
    IPCop is developed by the community so support is continuous.
    The configuration of IPCop is done without any custom written software. It uses standard Linux configuration utilities so support is provided by the Linux
    community and not by Bernie as such.
    That said Bernie has provided a decent guide on how to configure your IPCop distribution to split bandwidth.
    Disadvantages:
    You either need IPCop or a PC (even an old one) to run IPCop on.
    Some Linux administration skill is required since the configuration is done via the command line.

If I have made any mistakes in the above please correct me and I will update the post. If anyone thinks it is valuable then I can create a Wiki entry that
will consolidate all this information.

My problem is as follows, I run Linux (except for games) and I do not wish to move back to Windows (despite SUSE's quirks). I have a Billion router/modem
combination and I do not have an IPCop firewall running - I do not have a spare PC nor will I buy one to run IPCop. Based on that my only option would be to use Fausto's static routing method - either configure it to work with my Billion modem or write my own application to do the work, depending on which is easier and if Fausto's method works in OpenOffice on Linux.

My two questions are:
1. Am I correct in choosing Fausto's static routing method based on my current circumstances?
2. How do I get the latest list of South African IP addresses to keep my routing rules up to date?
3. Have I missed anything, like maybe a quick and easy way to solve my problem?
 
I wanna do number 2 but can't get hold of him for questions i have etc
 
saba - I will be trying out the IPCop suggestions on my Fedora box possibly tomorrow or at some stage later this week. While not a Linux fundi it seems to me it should work on a standalone box.

How does one ensure that all possible local IP addresses are loaded when using either 2 or 3 above?
 
just download the ipcop iso. think tis about 400mb..
burn 2 cd.
install..

Take not that it will reinstall and format what every on that drive...
 
magneto that would work if I had an extra pc i was willing to use as firewall.
 
Jongi said:
saba - I will be trying out the IPCop suggestions on my Fedora box possibly tomorrow or at some stage later this week. While not a Linux fundi it seems to me it should work on a standalone box.

How does one ensure that all possible local IP addresses are loaded when using either 2 or 3 above?
Click to expand...

For option 2, it is "stuck" at the time Fausto last edited the spreadsheet. For option 3 I am not sure.

Bernie has a script (see URL below) that will do the install. Checkout the README or contact him directly to see if the script has functionality to update the routing tables (I suspect it does).
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=944401&postcount=92

Otherwise the post below has a list of local IP addresses that is updated every 24 hours - thanks ArminM.
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=893332&postcount=60

Lastly the post below grabs data off the IS server and then processes it into something useful. Pretty neat but the one mentioned above gives you all you need - thanks nonetheless Paul_S.
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=887851&postcount=48

I see what you are saying about using IPCop on a standalone machine, it makes sense and actually might work out to be the easiest of all 3 for Linux users.

However I still prefer Fausto's method, reasons being:
1. The router does all the work, connections, firewalling etc. No bridged mode configuration of the modem or extra network processing for the box is done.
2. I can still use my routers wireless connection sharing capabilities.
 
sabagamma said:
My problem is as follows, I run Linux (except for games) and I do not wish to move back to Windows (despite SUSE's quirks). I have a Billion router/modem combination and I do not have an IPCop firewall running - I do not have a spare PC nor will I buy one to run IPCop. Based on that my only option would be to use Fausto's static routing method - either configure it to work with my Billion modem or write my own application to do the work, depending on which is easier and if Fausto's method works in OpenOffice on Linux.
Click to expand...

You don't need to use IPCop - any Linux distro will do if you're willing to fiddle with some configuration files and do a bit of scripting.
I do the splitting thing on my Kubuntu PC and run Shorewall for the firewall configuration on the same PC.
No need to have a separate PC or a specific IPCop based PC.

However if you're not into the scripting thing then just get an old Pentium I 133 with 40-64MB of RAM and a 500MB hard drive - that is all that IPCop needs to run and I was using that configuration until about 6 months ago.
That sort of hardware should be easy to get hold of - people throw that type of hardware away since it can't even run Windows 98 very well.
 
Paul_S - I will actually be installing Kubuntu Feisty Beta 4 I think it is this weekend. So can you PM how you went about splitting it there.
 
Jongi said:
Paul_S - I will actually be installing Kubuntu Feisty Beta 4 I think it is this weekend. So can you PM how you went about splitting it there.
Click to expand...

Yeah I should actually package the scripts and write some instructions.
 
I have succesfully used Fausto's program on my DLINK & use it across my home network of 4 PCS (some cable & some wireless). I need to know the following-
On 1 or 2 of these PC's, I'd like to use Local ONLY whereas on the other 2, both Local & International.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA IF RouteSentry Instead will solve this problem?... OR IS IT POSSIBLE AT ALL TO DO THIS?
Thanking you kindly for all assistance provided.
Aslam Jeewa
 
Sorry to open old Threads but what is the best option at the moment to use for splitting local and international on a Linux PC, as my Windows is now a thing of the past?

Thanx
Peder
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X