Making 2 Broadband Connections Useful
Making 2 Broadband Connections Useful
Hi everyone, I've already sparked some frustration on Reddit about this issue, but I haven't found a solution that actually helps or is easy to grasp. I have two broadband connections at home and want to combine them into one. From what I've learned, it's not possible to boost a single download using multiple connections. What I've heard is that routing can help—by assigning each connection to a different device, you can boost overall network speed. I tried this once with an ASUS DSL-AC68U router, using one RJ11 cable directly to the router and the second connection over Ethernet port 1 from my ISP's router. It worked until I encountered some weird behavior with devices connected via Ethernet, which caused it to fall back to a basic WiFi adapter in an area where my powerline adapters struggle. My Ubuntu Server 19.10 is running fine for backups, so I'm aiming to replicate that setup—using the two internal Ethernet ports for my broadband and the four network card ports for client connections. All hardware is functioning, but I need some guidance on configuring the router side. Thanks, Josh
You can use Ubuntu, but it isn't the best choice. It lacks proper optimization and leaves your device vulnerable to the internet. Consider pfSense or OPNsense—they're purpose-built routers/firewalls for x86-64 systems.
Thank you for the reply. At the moment I can't change the operating system because setting up a backup server is very difficult with the current clients. I can run a VM, but only through the terminal. If needed, I have another server that could work as a standalone firewall, though it might be noisy. I've heard running pfSense in a VM isn't ideal for serious use, but I'm not sure about OPNsense.
You can buy specialized mini-PCs using pfSense for this task. Since they're energy-efficient, they usually run quietly. For passive cooling options, consider an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter for multi-WAN configurations.
Hi everyone, thanks for the feedback! I’m choosing an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter since I’ve been exploring other options, though that’s not a long-term plan. Currently, pfSense is hosted in a VM with a gateway group set up, and the default gateway points to it. I’m facing an odd problem: load balancing only functions during uploads. I’m using speedtest.net with multi-threaded connections, similar to what I tested on the ASUS router. Note: VirtualBox’s default NICs were overloading the CPU, capping speed around 40mbps. Switching to Intel PRO/1000 MT Server NICs and reinstalling pfSense resolved the issue.