Multiple network/dsl connections??

[silkstone]

Ok, i have a question about dsl connections. I currently have a Router connected to my computer connected to the internet, but it's pathetically slow. I know near where i am there are multiple wi-fi connections. If i were to get a pci wifi card would i be able to tap into these wifi signals and increase my bandwidth slightly? Or is windows limited to one internet connection?

 

[timta2]

"Connection Teaming" requires special software and/or hardware. In my experience this has to be setup with an ISP and can get to be pricey. It wouldn't be worth it. You would be better off upgrading your service.

 

[Tau]

Ok, i have a question about dsl connections. I currently have a Router connected to my computer connected to the internet, but it's pathetically slow. I know near where i am there are multiple wi-fi connections. If i were to get a pci wifi card would i be able to tap into these wifi signals and increase my bandwidth slightly? Or is windows limited to one internet connection?

You could connect to multiple networks and use each network for a seperate task, though there would be a fair bit of setup involved.... but it would pay off (my prototypign box is setup on 3 networks

 

[silkstone]

So i could each connection using a different application: E.g. IE using 1 dsl connection and Firefox using a seperate connection.
I'm not upgrading my service, my isp sux, 1.5mps but only 30kb/s download!
I just want to increase my bandwith, or atleast be able to download and browse at the same time, using free wifi combined with my current dsl connection

 

[h3llb3nd4]

blah! if it was both dsl then I would google Twin wan router... but if it is wifi, I can't help

 

[Ptep]

Even if both connections where yours and you had access to both the lines, and had the right hardware its not entirely possible in the way you would want it to work. If you download say a 2MB file from a website, it can only come to one IP address, it cannot be shared between the two (having two internet connections would give you 2 WAN IP addresses obviously...!). However downloading 2 files would allow you to download both seperately at the same time from the two connections without any slowdown.
This is usually done at the router or gateway and is known as load balancing - this requires specific equipment that supports this, and doesnt 'double' up your connection speed - that stays the same, it just allows more throughput shared between two connections.
This is of more use in an office environment where load balancing can ease the load on the outgoing connection, and gives failover in case of an outage on one line.
In answer to your original question, I doubt trying this to set this up would be of any use to you even if you did manage to get it working.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Ptep answered the Q well.

To read up about it more, take a look at the user guide to the netgear FVS124G http://www.netgear.com/Products/VPNandSSL/WiredVPNFirewallRouters/FVS124G.aspx. This has load balancing/failover. The user guide explains how it works.

There are other routers that do this too. This one just came to mind because we have one.

 

[Disparia]

I'd say go for it. More connections = the better.

Even with my last job's 15Mb/15Mb + 5Mb/1Mb setup, there was a 'boost'.

 

[silkstone]

It would be 2 seperate routers on 2 different connections, so doesn't it come down to the software not Hardware?

I was thinking of using 1 for downloading (through IDM or whatever) and the second (wifi) for surfing.

 

[Ptep]

I think to do that you would need to set up static routing as well as load balancing, which you could probably do with ISA server or perhaps a seperate box running SmoothWall, that was a guess though so dont take my word for it, how well it would work for you i do not know.

Edited slightly..

 

[silkstone]

So a single computer is more or less limited to a single NC even with multiple NIC's? Man that sux. I remember back when i could use 2 ADSL connections to get upto 128kbps. but then that was more or less all done inside the modem.

 

[Ptep]

So a single computer is more or less limited to a single NC even with multiple NIC's? Man that sux. I remember back when i could use 2 ADSL connections to get upto 128kbps. but then that was more or less all done inside the modem.

I guess you meant 2 ISDN connections to get 128kbps there! You use Multi Link PPP to do that with ISDN by bundling two 64kbps B channels.
Unfortunately wireless doesnt work quite like that!

 

[silkstone]

I guess you meant 2 ISDN connections to get 128kbps there! You use Multi Link PPP to do that with ISDN by bundling two 64kbps B channels.
Unfortunately wireless doesnt work quite like that!

Yup, that's right - i remember the PPP crap. damn that would have been expensive if my o'd man didn't work for BT

I know wireless doesn't work the same way. So in the end it's not impossbile, but very impractical to combine a Fixed DSL with a wireless DSL connection or any 2 connections for that matter unless you have a very good router? My computer won't be able to connect to 2 different routers at one time, and use them both?

 

[timta2]

So i could each connection using a different application: E.g. IE using 1 dsl connection and Firefox using a seperate connection.
I'm not upgrading my service, my isp sux, 1.5mps but only 30kb/s download!
I just want to increase my bandwith, or atleast be able to download and browse at the same time, using free wifi combined with my current dsl connection

If you are seriously downloading at 30kb (kilobytes) a second on a 1.5mbps line you should check into that with your ISP. Unless you live a long distance from your phone companies facilities or your line quality is bad you should be getting much better speeds.

1.5mbps = 1536 kbps (kilobits) = 192 kBps (kilobytes)

You could always ask your ISP if they support bonding and what the costs involved would be.