MLPPP with a Cisco 1720, or Linux box?

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Soldato
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Hi guys,

I figured this was worth a thread of its own :) My contract with UK Online is up in September, and I've been looking forward to moving to Be Pro for the extra upload. I'm currently SYNCed at 20.5 megs downstream with an SNR of 6 (ID 64). On Be Pro I'm hoping that with FastPath and a target SNRm of 3dB I'll get closer to 23+ megs/sec SYNC. This should be easily possible, as even on UK Online with a high interleave depth I can SYNC at almost 23 megs with an SNR of 3 (manually set via DMT or DGTeam firmware).

Anyways, I've been thinking of getting a 2nd phone line and bonding 2x Be Pro lines via MLPPP, which Be allow. With BT's offer for a new line at £29.99 I'm seriously looking at doing this now.

I'm told that the Cisco 1720 has the built-in capability to bond 2x ADSL lines automagically, and I can pick one up on ebay for <£100 easily. Has anyone got any experience with this, or any tips/advice they can offer? My alternative is to built a basic Linux box out of older hardware and put 3x NICs in it.

For up to 48 megs down and 5 megs up I cant wait :D
Cheers,

Lee
 
Tolien, I don't know when Be started doing this (or if they've always offered it) but it's definitely possible :) There's a vid on youtube which won an official Be competition looking for the best customer video promoting Be's services. The guy was running 2x Be lines over MLPPP for an almost 50 meg connection using a Linux box as the bonding device :)

rick, I'll check that link out now - cheers. I'm going to use 2x AM200s to actually connect (they're modems in half-bridge) and then either a Cisco 1720 or a stand-alone Linux box to bond the lines. If possible I'll chain that on to my WRT54GL for the LAN/wifi side. I'm still looking around at the best options - hence this post :)

Tomato firmware has a mod available for true MLPPP bonding on 2 ADSL lines, but it's Canadian based and probably won't support ~48 megs throughput :( The idea is you load the modded firmware, plug a second modem into one of the LAN switch ports and the WRT54GL automatically bonds that to the connection on the WAN port = full MLPPP :D
 
I know it's possible (though somewhat hacky, given ADSL2+ features much cleaner bonding if modem and DSLAM support it), I've just never heard them saying they'd started supporting MLPPP :confused:

Will they terminate the tunnel at the other end, or do you have to handle getting a box colocated somewhere, a la AAISP with Firebricks?

Edit: From what I can see on the (official) Be forum, the other end's your problem too :(
 
I've emailed Be about this for more info, but from what I'm told so far the DSLAM handles the MLPPP at their end, I literally just need to plug in my two modems to a dual-WAN router or dedi Linux box to "finish" the MLPPP at my end - so long as my end is configured properly anyway obviously :)

I'm gonna try to contact the guy from youtube who already has Be MLPPP set up and working, to see if he can shed any light on the situation.
 
haha that's funny as i was about to make a thread about this.

i'm sorry to say but as far i'm aware that Bethere doesnt support bonding at their end. as far i know dual-bond is impossible unless ISP offer at their end.

someone from Bethere won free connection for a year, he got 35mb, i call BS
 
Nice ninja edit tolien :p

Wesley, you call BS but why would Be give the guy the prize if they knew it was impossible to do? LOL My mate has also had independent confirmation from Be that they support MLPPP :)
 
mmm i'm very interested now :p

£29.99 for new line......tempting but i need an official confirmation from bethere before i do anything. not worth to take the risk to sign up 18 months for second line if i couldnt get it working properly

edit: by the way, that guy use pfsense? whatever it's called
 
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The email my mate got from Be (with personal info removed obviously):

[FONT=&quot]From:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Be member services [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 16 June 2008 15:24
To: [email protected]
Subject: Ticket No. xxxxxxx updated Successfully[/FONT]

Dear xxxxx xxxxx, Thank you for contacting us. It is possible to bond 2 or more lines. However bear in mind, that we do not support it and you will need to configure it yourself. If you have any other enquiries, feel free to contact us again. Regards, Slav Be*team
Click to expand...


;)
 
More trouble than it's worth to them, probably. Enabling MLPPP at their end isn't really any skin off their nose. But having 1,000s of n00b customers phoning their 0800 number asking what they do now their broadband is live?

Imagine the tech support they'd need to talk all those people through setting up and running a Linux box to bond the lines, or else telling folks they'd have to buy an expensive dual-wan router and set it up! That's the only thing I can think of anyway.
 
thought of that as well, so what is cheapest way to join 2 bethere connections then?

1)2 x bebox in bridge mode, 2 x lan into bonding device like cisco 1720

2)2 x bebox in bridge mode goes to 2 x NIC with pfsense linux box

3)2 x phone line goes to 2 x ADSL2+ PCI cards with pfsense linux box (dunno if pfsense support ADSL2+ PCI card)
 
The easiest way to do it (for me) is going to be:

1) Buy an extra AM200 from OcUK (I already have one)
2) Set them up in bridge mode
3) Plug them into a Cisco 1720 (or pre-configured LiveCD Router box with 3x NICs)
4) Output the 1720 or LiveCD Router box to my WRT54GL for LAN-side wifi etc

I'm waiting to hear from Be now, but if it is all as it appears, I'll order my new line tomorrow :)
 
ok good luck :) if it goes well, please make a step by step guide for us :)

what's wrong with using 2 x bebox instead? would save further £30 for an extra Am200
 
serial-router-w.jpg


all i can see is 1 Lan port :confused: are you thinking different model?
 
wesley said:
what's wrong with using 2 x bebox instead? would save further £30 for an extra Am200
Click to expand...

Na I really like my WRT54GL and the AM200 is rock solid. Much better than the Be-box (which has flakey wifi etc). Besides, the BeBox doesn't have a built-in bridge/half-bridge only mode, you have to manually apply IP templates etc etc :o Easier/better to just get another AM200, unless the BeBox has changed and I didn't know about it? More than willing to give it a try anyways.

And yeah, as/when this comes off I'll make a step-by step with pics/screenshots etc for posterity.
 
You posted the 1720 pic as I was writing my last reply, sorry I missed it. I must have read wrong ??? The page I read earlier said the 1720 supports MLPPP. I'll have another dig around - either way the model isn't too important, the fact there ARE dual WAN routers that are MLPPP capable is what counts :D Worst comes to worse it's easy enough to build your own.
 
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