Dual DSL - load balancing

[Tenebros]

I live in a rural area in the midwest, USA. The only option for decent speeds is a DSL to support connections for work that includes VPN connections and video conferencing.

The DSL plan offered is a 6/1 which is horrible - I know.

I am looking at getting a second DSL line and will need to load balance between the two connections. This is new to me as I am use to having a cable modem.

At first glance - I was considering the ASUS RT-AC88U router - sold at Amazon

Asus overview page: http://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-AC88U/overview/

I can't verify that this will actually take two DSL connections and load balance them.

Is this a good router for this? Honestly - I would like a single router that handles both DSL connections, provides load balancing and WiFi. If it has a USB port that could accept 4G - that would be helpful - if they ever get 4G this far out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Tene

 

[L&LD]

Yes, that router will do dual WAN and accept a 4G USB modem (check with Asus which ones are supported though).

For the ISP speeds offered, it is very much 'over kill' on the router's part. But if you have a large home that needs full WiFi coverage and/or a NAS or other specific setup where a fast and stable/capable router is required, then the RT-AC3100, RT-AC88U and the RT-AC5300 are all highly recommended (along with RMerlin's firmware or the forks thereof).

The router itself accepts GbE, Ethernet connections on the WAN side. DSL, PPPOE, Cable and Fibre (ONT) connections are handled equally well in Load Balance Dual WAN mode. Or, USB 4G with a compatible modem.

 

[Tenebros]

Thank you very much for the reply.

I agree that this is over kill yet I am hoping to need this in a few years. I literally have fiber less than half a mile from my drive way. They only sell it to businesses now. Also, the cable company (Comcast) stops 1.5 miles from me.

If the second DSL doesn't work well - then I might add Hughsnet and drop the second DSL. (Until I have a real choice)

Next is to try a signal booster for 4G - I have to get faster speeds soon.

 

[KenZ71]

Look into setting up a WISP where you send the signal from Acme industries fiber connection 1/2 mile away to your home.

 

[System Error Message]

i suggest using a modem like draytek as they can handle 2 or more DSL lines. Dual wan in consumer routers, not that great yet.

 

[Tenebros]

Look into setting up a WISP where you send the signal from Acme industries fiber connection 1/2 mile away to your home.

Interesting idea - yet - could 10 house cover the cost for this location?

If so, the next road over has 10 more homes next to the fiber run as well.

Do you have an idea of costs and charges for the service?

 

[Tenebros]

i suggest using a modem like draytek as they can handle 2 or more DSL lines. Dual wan in consumer routers, not that great yet.

Interesting option - looks like this ne would do the trick.

http://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/draytek-2920

 

[System Error Message]

Actually i meant a draytek with 2 DSL ports. I tried to look for one but couldnt find it. Its a lot nicer to be able to have a router to handle everything and no modems. Looks like you should take a look at other non consumer for dual WAN. Even the ERL or ER-X or mikrotik hEX would be a better choice if you still had to use modems but dual WAN can be complicated to configure. Best use case is PCC.

If you do however need to do dual WAN by combining ISP links rather than load balancing than draytek is a good option.

 

[Nullity]

Does the ISP support DSL bonding?

 

[Chunkers]

Have you considered using a TP-Link load balancing router and two modems? This is exactly what I do as I live in the countryside in the UK and have decided I need two DSL connections to achieve sufficient bandwidth but also wanted a one-box router to get maximum value from both connections. My family have no idea that we have two connections as it is transparent to them and the load-balancing takes care of the connections without them knowing - works well especially if you have multiple users. The only real drawback is if a single user wants to utilise 100% of both connections only specific client software which uses multiple of connections can do this e.g. bit-torrent. In general I don't want this and want bandwidth to be shared so its not a problem for us at home.

Bonded ADSL is potentially a better overall solution but in the UK it is much more expensive both on the hardware and the ISP costs and tends to be business users only - it might be different in the US...

Chunks

 

[Tenebros]

Have you considered using a TP-Link load balancing router and two modems? This is exactly what I do as I live in the countryside in the UK and have decided I need two DSL connections to achieve sufficient bandwidth but also wanted a one-box router to get maximum value from both connections.

Chunkers - I have looked at this option and liked it at first.

My setup will have two DSL modems, both with wireless routers built-in.

I will take the outbound from both modems to a router with a goal of having 1 unified wifi for devices that load balances traffic and allows protocol prioritization. I may need to use one of the DSL modems for work for VPN connections.

My only concern with the TP-Link was it did not have wifi.

Are you running another router for wifi?

 

[Chunkers]

Chunkers - I have looked at this option and liked it at first.

My setup will have two DSL modems, both with wireless routers built-in.

I will take the outbound from both modems to a router with a goal of having 1 unified wifi for devices that load balances traffic and allows protocol prioritization. I may need to use one of the DSL modems for work for VPN connections.

My only concern with the TP-Link was it did not have wifi.

Are you running another router for wifi?

I use two Zyxel VMG8924 routers both in bridge mode for modems as the Broadcom chipset they have works best for my noisy lines. As far as I know there is not a way of using their wireless AP's whilst they are in bridge mode and functioning as modems. I use a separate Asus AC68U as a WAP, you are right the router has no wireless.

You can get routers which can load balance and also have wireless, perhaps look at Draytek ?

The TP-Link does its job fairly well, I have to reboot every couple of days as I am having some kind of random DNS issue but I suspect this is not related to the router itself.
Personally I like to keep my modems, WAP and router separate as it means I can upgrade individually although I understand the aesthetic advantage of a single-box solution, its messy wiring

GL!

C