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Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:09 pm
by Dre40
So I just upgraded from a mofi4500 to a WG3526(CAT7 EM7411), wifi turned off, LAN port connected WAN port on TP Link AC1900 to PC

Still have the mofi. Have 2 outdoor antennas. Was going to see about leaving 2 sims connected using a bridge/load balancing router (have 7 sim card lines and another would only cost me 20 a month + tax, currently 6 of the 7 are used for phones most of the time and one for internet). Use between 300-500gb most months (although hit 800gb one month this year)

I setup a windows network bridge/combine metric already to test it (wifi from mofi and LAN from WG26/TP Link AC900), it seems to work (not overall faster but snappy and muti downloads with same speed). Was thinking about getting a TP-Link SafeStream TL-480T (edit this is old, per poster so would be looking at TL-R600VPN) and setting up a network wide bridge/load balance via hardware(idea being over all more bandwidth/more stable connection overall with x2 connections).

Would be like this: WG3526 with/EM7411 LAN to WAN port on TL 480T, Mofi LAN to WAN port on TL 480T (which would have load balance on, optimized routing off and bandwidth based balance routing on), then from TL480T LAN to my main WIFI router TP LINK AC1900 (which is wired to PC/s and WIFI used for TVs/phones etc). WIFI would be off on WG3526 (already have this setup) and wifi off on Mofi4500V2. TTL would be set to 65 or 66 (I think you increase it with more connections/routers so probably 66? not sure), is 65 now.

Goal is more bandwidth overall. I am several miles from antenna and my speeds on one connection very (wired) by time of day from 5-35mb or so (4 from band b12/b4 and 7 miles from b66/b71). During peak hrs its pretty slow 6pm-9pm on weeknights (sometimes under 2mb due to I think congestion).

Anyone done this? how did it work out overall? I'm not a network guy so do by trying/reading without full understanding.

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:20 pm
by Heifer624
Router you mentioned is old tech....the TL-R600VPN is abetter choice

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:01 pm
by Dre40
Heifer624 wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:20 pm Router you mentioned is old tech....the TL-R600VPN is abetter choice
For the bridge/load balance? Thank very much will look at that one (it's cheaper also :D )

Do you have a duel connection setup with load balancing/bridge? How's it working vs. single? (ie worth it to you?)

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:24 pm
by Heifer624
Never could get my WE826T2 and DSL to stay connected to it. Sent it back to amazon :(......... Same problem currently with my Asus Router RT-AC68U that also has dual wan.

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:44 pm
by Heifer624
If you ever find a working bullet proof solution that actually works please let me know.

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 4:39 pm
by Dre40
Heifer624 wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:44 pm If you ever find a working bullet proof solution that actually works please let me know.
Will let you know if it works. Windows bridge seems to work (data usage increased on both when bridged so it is splitting the use) but will have to test with more programs/time to feel out if overall speeds/bandwidth increased.

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 5:38 pm
by plympton
Edgerouter X will do it easily. Cheap, reliable. Been using one for a year or so without problems. I was doing 2 wan failover, but I’m going to try 2 load balance + 1 failover this weekend.

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 5:40 pm
by plympton

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 6:27 pm
by Dre40
Heifer624 wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:44 pm If you ever find a working bullet proof solution that actually works please let me know.
Up and running.

Had to mess around with the routers IP connection addresses as I have 2 sim modem routers, this TLR600 for bridge and a ARCHER8 for wifi (strong/good wifi). Overall speeds seem the same over the line (maybe a bit faster?), but since I'm over 300gb now for the month on both sims its hard to say what it will be with a fresh roll over to a new month, (the carrier I'm on technically can and sometimes does throttle a bit over 50gb). I think the WG3526 actually can load balance/bridge 2 wan's but it was a little hard to understand the interface (goldenorb), the TLR600 was a simple: check load balance, uncheck application optimized routing and uncheck bandwidth based routing (after changing log on IP and updating firmware)

Did a few downloads and seemed faster overall (peaking at 5mb on mega, 2mb on steam with a connection testing at average of 28-30mb down). Steam I noticed a HUGE difference in load time (was instantly open). Will report back after a few weeks. Main goal was speeding up peak times a bit and getting less congestion disconnects. I'll probably add a 2nd antenna to each router (one has a Bolton 26 gets great strength b66/b71 and other router has a basic a directional 11db locked to b4/b12). Both routers for sims report aggregation but both have bad signal quality (-15 to -17db), due to trees etc and being 4-7 miles from towers.

Will report back after a few weeks on main goals. so far even though overall "speed test" speed averages seems about the same everything is faster (web page loads, steam loads, apps over work VPN, multi downloads), so added bandwidth seems worth it to me for 65.00 bucks and another 20 + tax for another sim line (already had the 2nd router/modem old mofi4500v2).

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 6:27 pm
by Dre40
plympton wrote: Tue Dec 22, 2020 5:40 pm Here’s a warehouse one for $53

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Network ... B0144R449W
Dang, just missed this! Thank you though. :)

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 6:34 pm
by Dre40
plympton wrote: Tue Dec 22, 2020 5:38 pm Edgerouter X will do it easily. Cheap, reliable. Been using one for a year or so without problems. I was doing 2 wan failover, but I’m going to try 2 load balance + 1 failover this weekend.
You have 3 wan connections? Sounds nice :D

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:10 pm
by Dre40
One question I do have is TTL, I have it set to 65 (but maybe it should be 66 since it has modem router -> bridge -> PC and modem router -> bridge -> WIFI router -> TV/Phones/Tablets). Will see I guess depending on if "hotspot" data shows up on my plan or not.

Re: Network Bridge/load balancing x2 connections

Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 8:34 am
by Didneywhorl
It should be reassigning the TTL as it goes oit past the router so it should be leaving at what you set, but you never really know. I dont fully understand iptables