Need advice on Internet Aggregation

[swizeus]

Hello All,

 

Browse a few threads but still confuse about link aggregation.

Here is my case: I have 2 separate internet connection that runs through LAN Cable. I just want to join both connection (the aggregate of the connection far below 100Mbps), by aggregating both connection I can get twice the speed in one PC

 

The question will be:

1. What will the cheapest solution ? I see the solution will be either get a NIC that support 2 LAN ports, or get a 802.3ad supported switch. That brings to next question regarding the solution.

 

If according to you i need a 2 ports NIC, What is the cheapest NIC solution for Link Aggregation ? Any recommendation, Intel, which model, or D-Link which model ?

 

If according to you I need a supported switch, what brand and model should I pick ?

 

Please note I need the cheapest solution around

 

Thank you for the answer

[thekeemo]

The easiest way would be to get a single rj45 Intel nic and have it team with the onboard Intel nic

[Smooth Bunz]

The easiest way would be to get a single rj45 Intel nic and have it team with the onboard Intel nic

Thats what I would do ^^^

[DevilishBooster]

-snip-

 

The easiest way would be to get a single rj45 Intel nic and have it team with the onboard Intel nic

Do this.^

[schizznick]

In order to use 2 separate internet connections you need a router that can perform what is called Dual WAN. The issue is you will not get the aggregate of both connections to one PC. You would be able to balance network usage between both connections but you will not be able to get an increase in bandwidth. The server you are accessing usually will not be capable of communicating back to one host via 2 routes. Some protocols and software could utilize it but most will not. Link Aggregation is great for file servers etc, where you want to offer max bandwidth to numerous clients. Some protocols exist that allow true bonding such as bonded ADSL and SDSL, this however is performed using something other than Ethernet such as TDM with Ethernet flowing on top of the underlying protocol. 

 

It is possible for you to get a dual NIC and connect both connections to your PC but you still will have only one default router allowing you to use only one connection. Using some static routes you could theoretically separate certain traffic to each interface but that would still only allow one path to that route. 

[LAwLz]

OP do I understand you correctly when I say you want to use two ISPs at the same time to get maximum speed, right?
If that's what you want then you need a router with 3 routed ports. Two of them goes to the ISPs and one goes into your LAN. Then you want to use load balancing (not link aggregation).

This is what such a setup would look like:

 

 

As you can see, the traffic will be evenly distributed between both ISPs even when it's just 1 computer visiting 1 website.

There are lots of different ways to implement this but the cheapest will probably be a cheap pfSense box. How to configure it will depend on what router you choose.