Can I combine two internet connections?

martin363

martin363

martin363

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18 Jan 2012
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Peloponnese, Greece
Unfortunately the maximum possible internet speed at my UK home is 75Mbps down, and 20Mbps up, there is no faster connection available from any supplier.
I connect to this location remotely daily (Tailscale Exit Node), as I am a bit of a digital nomad (foreign travel) and so for me the Upload Speed is actually more important (and limiting) than my download.
If I got a second line with the same connection speed to the property - effectively 2 internet connections, is there any way I could aggregate them so effectively they operate as one connection of 150Mbps down and 40Mbps up though a single device I can then use as a Tailscale Exit Node?
Thanks in advance!!
 
Yes you can !

Sort of ! :)

Will it achieve your expectations - probably not

Your new setup : 2 x load balanced WANs

Usage

If your endpoint allows multiple connections, lets say torrents or hitting a sessionless CDN or even a threaded speedtest. Quick google Youtube too ?
In this scenario you'll see 150mbps

HOWEVER for a single session connection to a website/(S)FTP site you'll never get more than 75 mbps

Conclusion

Only consider this if you have multiple users and need more 'overall' bandwidth to share amongst them
 
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Have you looked into 4g/5g broadband instead? Might not be available for you (as if you're limited to 75/20 normally, I'm guessing you're in the sticks somewhere), but they often work out at a decent speed (although sacrifice ping). Another alternative, is starlink, again, the pings won't be as good, but might get you slightly better speeds.
 
Hmm, I'm of the impression that Tailscale can't do the link aggregation on its own last time I looked at it. So you might need to look at alternative solutions or you might need something else (another device) in between the Tailscale system and the multi-WAN connections. Or as @R.C.Anderson just posted to get an alternative single connection that can give more bandwidth for the connection (4/5G or other).
 
I have Sky fibre and Starlink, running through my Ubiquiti UDM SE. Youn can configure it to load balance or failover. I’ve tried both and it works pretty well for outbound.
 
martin363 said:
Thank you, appreciated, I don't think it looks like there is an easy answer unfortunately...
Click to expand...

Yeah unfortunately for what you want the answer is no.

If you want to combine two connections and spread different things over them at once, that’s possible (for example, gaming, streaming, work), but using all of the available bandwidth at once for a single thing across multiple connections - not possible.

It really boils down to how the internet works, and not really to do with your end setup.
 
What is it you’re trying to access at home?
Is it something you could put into a small vps? Even cheap ones have 100Mb symmetric.
 
martin363 said:
Plex, BBC, Netflix and large data files (typically between 5GB and 7GB each).
Click to expand...
So BBC and streaming traffic you could handle easily via VPN. Data files I would say is doable. Maybe some form of own cloud at your home to sync to your VPS and then pull the files from your VPS would handle the large data.
The only bit my idea falls down on is Plex which unless you’re streaming 4k you can throttle to a 15Mb upload.
Positives though are you not needing a costly contract for something you already have, simplicity at home not having to have double everything and then combine them via more expensive hardware and flexibility as a VPS can grow with your needs and serve more duties as you find them (like hosting Linux isos)
 
Only ISP I know that does/did offer real bonding on Openreach VDSL2 services was AAISP with a couple of Firebricks. If they still do it I guarantee you won't like the price :D
 
Steveocee said:
So BBC and streaming traffic you could handle easily via VPN. Data files I would say is doable. Maybe some form of own cloud at your home to sync to your VPS and then pull the files from your VPS would handle the large data.
The only bit my idea falls down on is Plex which unless you’re streaming 4k you can throttle to a 15Mb upload.
Positives though are you not needing a costly contract for something you already have, simplicity at home not having to have double everything and then combine them via more expensive hardware and flexibility as a VPS can grow with your needs and serve more duties as you find them (like hosting Linux isos)
Click to expand...
VPN's are very hit and miss, sometimes work for a week, sometimes don't plus I find they often drop out avery 30 mins or so, we are in Asia, Tailscale has been a revelation for us, rock solid reliable and actually generally UK streaming services work well, bu we do hit bandwidth limits fairly frequently, and if i need to download a file, plan to leave it overnight... just was hoping to streamline our processes. Ironically our UK place is in a major town, but an apartment, and the wired infrastructure in the building is 25 years old... hence the limit and no one is willing to upgrade the network as we have to pay and it costs.
 
martin363 said:
VPN's are very hit and miss, sometimes work for a week, sometimes don't plus I find they often drop out avery 30 mins or so, we are in Asia, Tailscale has been a revelation for us, rock solid reliable and actually generally UK streaming services work well, bu we do hit bandwidth limits fairly frequently, and if i need to download a file, plan to leave it overnight... just was hoping to streamline our processes. Ironically our UK place is in a major town, but an apartment, and the wired infrastructure in the building is 25 years old... hence the limit and no one is willing to upgrade the network as we have to pay and it costs.
Click to expand...
I’m suggesting you get a VPS solution though and remove your property from the equation?

VPN is fine, self built WireGuard server on your VPS and run client from your devices would work perfectly fine.
 
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