Is it actually true that increasing global internet speed by using a green tunnel makes any difference?
Is it actually true that increasing global internet speed by using a green tunnel makes any difference?
Hi everyone, I'm having trouble with my office network picture. My global internet is very slow at only 5 Mbps, which isn't enough for 10 to 20 users, especially when some of them are doing video calls. I think adding a GSM modem will fix the problem and make both local speeds reach 30 Mbps while keeping the global speed. Some people say we should replace the TP-Link TL-WR840N router with a Mikrotik hEX - RB750Gr3 router. We can install another Mikrotik hEX - RB750Gr3 somewhere where our local internet is fast at 50 Mbps and global speed, then create a GRE tunnel between them so my office's global traffic routes through the second Mikrotik router to use its faster connection. Is this correct? How do I actually do it?
What's the difference between "Global" and "local"? It seems the global connection is your standard internet line. The local part might be a different service the ISP provides, or maybe they sell you a fiber connection to put a big data center right in your city. That one could go 50 megabits per second instead of just 5. I've never seen this kind of setup before. Why is there a limit on only 5 mbps? For most people, the problem is that the line going into their building can't handle faster speeds, even if the ISP's main line could go 50 mbps and the internet itself caps at 5 mbps. I guess it depends on why the ISP decides to stop you there. In theory, everything should work fine, but finding a place to put your second router isn't easy. You probably shouldn't use something like GRE; instead, you'd want an encrypted thing like a VPN solution. But technically, GRE would still work even if that's not the best choice.
Most people think global speeds are better than local ones. But local options cost less per gigabyte. The monthly price for a business plan is 220 dollars. One option gives you 5Mbps everywhere, while another only works inside your country at up to 50Mbps. If the goal is to save money on a cheap setup, using a local tunnel might be the best choice here.
That's strange because they charge more for traffic outside the country, right? But if a greedy company makes people pay, they will just charge for everything else too. It depends mostly on whether you can get another location with lots of "global" traffic that doesn't cost extra money. For instance, building a tunnel to your house across the street won't help much because it would still use the same 5mbit global limit. Basically, everything is about costs. You need to find a second internet connection in a different place with better bandwidth. Also, you have to figure out where to put the second router. This sounds exactly like people pretending they are in another city just to watch Netflix or pretend they are "working" from home. They build a tunnel to a friend's house. GRE costs very little compared to say openvpn because there is no encryption needed. But here is the problem: GRE uses protocol types similar to TCP and UDP, so sometimes this traffic gets blocked. OpenVPN is more popular because it can use TCP or UDP and even use ports that look like web servers, which helps it pass through almost anything. You will need a public IP on both ends just to be able to use GRE. Using openvpn you only need one public IP. It sounds really messy but your plan in general should still work.
I need a good answer because I don't want to pay too much or worry about encrypting. Just that the call quality needs to be great on both phones and the internet has to be fast for videos, right? If OpenVPN isn't free and expensive, is there any other way around this except using Google or OpenVPN only?
openvpn costs nothing and many consumer routers support vpn features. Wireguard is another popular vpn app used on those same routers. There are other ways to create tunnels, like PPTP or L2TP, but they aren't as common because they lack good encryption. The most usual type of tunnel for point-to-point links uses IPSEC though it's harder to set up. This method is still what most businesses do for their vpn connections. Setting the tunnel itself isn't that tricky. Your main challenge is finding a spot with the service you need and getting at least one public internet address there. Once you have that, just follow all the technical steps to finish it.
That should work fine, but you really need public IP addresses at both ends if you use GRE. Mikrotik routers are pretty cool tools, even though I've never looked closely at how you set up GRE on them personally. I only tried this with commercial Cisco routers before. You'll probably also have to configure static routes. For instance, the MikroTik router in someone's home network needs to understand that your end device uses a 192.168.x.x network which sits behind the GRE tunnel. The local router must know that its default route points toward the remote end of the tunnel. Basically, the GRE tunnel looks like an IP connection between two separate points.
I can't be certain, though checking a microtik might help. They could use another kind of VPN instead. You can't just directly lock in GRE traffic without figuring that out.