Set up dual DSL internet connections with load balancing in the UK.
Set up dual DSL internet connections with load balancing in the UK.
I've experience working on some of the first bonded DSL projects for Pipex and Tiscali during my early days. Over the past decade, I've managed dual-wan configurations switching between DSL/DSL, DSL/coax, and DSL/FTTx. I strongly believe that having different ISPs ensures continuity if one provider faces problems with its BRAS or internal routing issues. It also offers the ability to select an ISP for faster routes to specific IP addresses, reducing latency for latency-sensitive applications when the destination is known. Feel free to share your thoughts—what you think is important matters most.
He wants faster performance over stability. Your approach does boost stability if a single provider fails, but:
- Speeds stay limited to 8mbps for one ISP and Xmbps for another.
- Poor load balancing can wipe out many TCP connections.
- Split horizon balancing will hurt speeds across the board.
- Fixing issues takes longer with extra steps.
Unless he requires full uptime, bonding is better—fast ADSL2+ can deliver 14–15mbps. Eight megabits is very low; doubling bandwidth matters more than reliability at that point.
Bonding is tailored to ISP requirements and will add extra expenses for him as well. It isn't provided at no charge and the fees can rise substantially beyond just two adsl lines since they must handle multi-link PPP. In reality, the only ISP in the UK I’m aware of that still treats this seriously is AAISP, which likely uses its own custom Linux router instead of multi-link PPP. Bonded DSL with MLPPP in the UK is extremely lacking in quality—it never received the support it deserved from providers. I’ve worked for several major DSL ISPs in the UK during my early career and participated in three initiatives to launch residential services. Most projects remained unused, except for a few business users who paid around £100 monthly for maintenance.
I confirmed with my ISP (Zen) that they don’t offer bonding services. The only provider in the UK I’m aware of that does is AAISP, but it’s significantly pricier due to data limits, rendering the process ineffective. Other options mentioned include VPNs that allow dual connections and bonding, though these seem limited to software solutions rather than router-based methods, which is inconvenient.
Bonding is tailored to ISP requirements and will add extra expenses for him. It isn't free, and costs rise quickly with multiple ADSL lines. So two ISP connections? That’s what you’re asking about. In my case, yes; in yours, no. The challenge here is different. This isn’t a commercial deal—it’s about a home user seeking faster speeds. We currently have three DSL platforms. Simply provide the second pair, enable bonding on the access card at the ports, and set up bonding on the modem. That’s enough to get the job done. I’m not sure why you’re complicating it. As an ISP network engineer, I’ve handled this before and it’s straightforward. Most providers charge for a second line and offer bundled packages because they still treat it as one connection. Our pricing matches that of our three competitors. It might vary in the UK, but I wouldn’t be surprised. You need to focus on your own experience rather than getting lost in details. This isn’t my place to get too technical for someone just wanting more speed.
The expense for bonding would probably involve two business connections plus bonding (if they add it on, I wouldn’t be surprised), compared to two residential ones. That means it might cost twice as much or even more. If you're employed by an ISP that handles this fairly, that's a good sign—it suggests the situation isn't typical in the UK, where ADSL is still common.
Only the most stubborn ISPs would push DSL hard, but it’s clearly a tough market. We and three other providers are offering customers the best speeds possible at one price, while others are trying to undermine DSL as quickly as they can. I’m sorry if the UK behaves this way—it’s frustrating.
I’m unable to refuse since I haven’t used it, yet offering the chance to fully reconfigure the console port seems quite unexpected.
The situation is outside your experience with UK networks. This person is confusing things, especially since you're not familiar with the UK or its ISPs. The equipment in exchanges is usually owned by British Telecom or Openreach (BT), and they only support certain DSL bonding options like MLPPP. There are no consumer packages available; it was mainly for business-to-business use, with a few residential tests and people who could afford the extra costs. Even local loop unbundling (LLU) through their own Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSANs) didn't extend beyond MLPPP, as most providers used the same equipment from BT, except VodaPhone which used a different manufacturer—possibly Huawei, though I'm not certain after being outside the network for over five years.
I explained there are alternatives, but they require you to handle load balancing and routing yourself with a custom router instead of relying on the ISP. It's clear you're frustrated by BT's restrictive approach, which has limited the availability of DSL options in the UK. Don't worry about language barriers—this is just a complex topic.
If you need more details, let me know.
AAISP has been handling bonding since the beginning of ADSL1. We focus on straightforward packet-based connections rather than complex Multilink PPP setups, allowing us to combine multiple lines for faster download and upload speeds across all of them. For more details, visit the support page. No additional fees apply when bonding multiple lines—just provide the necessary line connections from us. We also build equipment capable of bonding and failover, which is particularly beneficial for small businesses. Many residential clients use our FireBrick routers for this purpose. This advice isn’t meant to be a sales pitch, but we hope it helps.