Connection bonding lte and lan with mptcp

[hilfel]

Hello everybody, 

I live most of the year in a dorm room in Austria, since the last month the internet connection became unstable, and as it student, I kinda need the internet.

I was thinking about getting an unlimited LTE contract but I wanted to know if there is a "cheap" way to bond the LTE with the dorms connection together and use them like that in some sort of mptcp config. I currently have a Netgear Router. Is there any way to bond the internet connection form the dorm room together with the one form the LTE "router"?

Edited April 30, 2018 by hilfel
Fixing errors and more clear expression

[MysticalGnome]

If you are not using the dorm network for anything special like accessing shared storage or stuff like that I'd just buy a LTE router and forget about the dorm internet.

You could go for something like a Netgear LB2120 which also has a WAN port so you could still utilize the internet connection from your dorm but if it fails it can switch to LTE.
Also note that some providers don't like it when you use your LTE simcard in a LTE router so they could cut you off if they find out.

[Falconevo]

You can load balance with an alternate device being the router of each connection, there are a number of open source firewall/router applications you can use to do this.

 

pfSense, VyOS, M0n0Wall etc etc

Alternatively you can buy a piece of hardware to do it, like an EdgeRouter-X and allow that to perform the Multi-Wan load balancing.  I have had Dual-Wan configurations for years now for purposes such as this but mostly for increased bandwidth and connection reliability.

[hilfel]

Quote

If you are not using the dorm network for anything special like accessing shared storage or stuff like that I'd just buy a LTE router and forget about the dorm internet.

No, I am not, its connected to uni but not able to connect to the print service or anything similar, I need to use a VPN for that. 

 

Quote

Also note that some providers don't like it when you use your LTE simcard in a LTE router so they could cut you off if they find out.

The Carrier should be fine with that, the sim is intended to use within a router, in fact they sell it with an Alcatel Router. Thanks for your tips.

[hilfel]

1 minute ago, Falconevo said:

Alternatively you can buy a piece of hardware to do it, like an EdgeRouter-X and allow that to perform the Multi-Wan load balancing.  I have had Dual-Wan configurations for years now for purposes such as this but mostly for increased bandwidth and connection reliability.

1

I have an EdgeRouter-X lite somewhere around, I think at my parents home, maybe I could ask them to bring it when they visit me in 3 weeks. As far as I am concerned the pfSense solutions are already way more expensive, arent they?

[Falconevo]

If you are gaming, avoid the EdgeRouter-Lite as it has a UDP issue on the older firmwares which causes packet loss.  Make sure you update it past v 1.10.0+ to resolve it.

 

pfSense isn't expensive as the software costs nothing, getting the right hardware on the other hand is the 'difficulty'.  Any old x86 based PC with a dual core or more can cope with 95% of a users requirements, the problem comes from poor network interface drivers.

 

If you already have a EdgeRouter, it is dual-wan capable but I would recommend putting each ISP's 'modem' in a bridge mode so the device can handle the NAT configuration itself.  The configuration isn't that difficult but it is not something that can just be done via the GUI and will require some CLI knowledge.  I have an old config from a EdgeRouter-X knocking about somewhere which might help you, ill look when im at home.
 

[hilfel]

44 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

pfSense isn't expensive as the software costs nothing, getting the right hardware on the other hand is the 'difficulty'.  Any old x86 based PC with a dual core or more can cope with 95% of a users requirements, the problem comes from poor network interface drivers.

2

Sadly I dont have ANY x86 based system except my tower and my notebooks, I could bear some smaller ARM deviced.

[Falconevo]

Just now, hilfel said:

Sadly I dont have ANY x86 based system except my tower and my notebooks, I could bear some smaller ARM deviced.

Well instead of buying something to do the job, use the EdgeRouter but make sure its updated as the UDP issue will likely give you a headache if its not on the right firmware.  It's easy enough to update though.

 

pfSense is just easier to use from a GUI perspective, most people fear CLI access but its the best way to get things done right first time.