Bonded ADSL Part 6 - Bonded Connection Using Sharedband

So after my second line was successfully installed and tested by BTO I placed an order with Sharedband for two lines on their Professional service. They currently have both Professional and Business available:

At the time of ordering they didn't have any Netgear modem/routers left so instead I went for the Lynksys WRT54GL which meant that although I had to uses my own modems, I should be able to monitor and tweak both my ADSL connections more than I would have with the Netgears. The Linksys devices are supplied with custom firmware installed by Sharedband, and although wireless models, this has been disabled within the supplied firmware.

The equipment arrived really quickly (only a couple of days from ordering) with sufficient ethernet cables, set-up instructions and a welcome letter with my Sharedband portal user and login details.

As mentioned in my previous post, I opted to go for a couple of new Billion 7800 modems to help ensure I have a good connection with the exchange that won't be prone to dropping (previously on my single line I'd been using a old Netgear DG834G with the DGTeam custom firmware). These were both ordered from Amazon, and also arrived fast (note I didn't bother spending the extra cash on the newer Billion modem/router with wireless, as for this particular set-up there is no need). My Sharedband connection will interface to my home LAN through an existing Asus RT-AC66U firewall router.

Connecting everything up was pretty easy, though I needed a laptop handy to set up the modems. Both were hooked up to the individual ADSL lines, login details entered (both lines from Zen), and everything else left to default for the time being (although I enabled both SRA and PhyR on the lines). The modems are connected using an Ethernet cable from a LAN port and into a Lynksys router WAN port.

With the modems working I connected up the Linksys routers with the Sharedband custom firmware (I used the optional connection config by connecting the routers together rather than through a network switch - will do that later when I have one spare, though it is only of benefit in ensuring your connection stays up should one of the routers fail). The Linksys routers are connected together using the LAN ports with one of the routers also linked to my Asus router (it's a lot of routers !).

With everything connected up, I powered up the Linksys routers and waited for them to 'go green' indicating things were working, then powered up the Asus router - this wasn't connected to my home LAN initially as I wanted to ensure it was set-up and working properly before hooking everything else in the house up.

The Asus router picked up the Sharedband routers without any problem at a all, correctly identifying the WAN IP as well as the DNS and default gateway:
192.168.1.100 - Sharedband WAN
192.168.1.250 - Sharedband DNS and default gateway

Everything just seems to work, which is great :-)

Initial speedtests don't show quite double my individual connection speeds, but I still need to tweak & optimise things.

Line 1 speed

Line 2 speed

Sharedband combined line speed

Hopefully this post has given you some idea of what was involved in getting a simple bonded connection up & running with Sharedband. I'm going to do some follow on posts to this to note any tweaks that I need to do, and also to let others know how I get on with the connection and what network equipment and services that work as expected on the revised set-up.

Bonded ADSL Part 5 - I now have a second line :-)

As you will have gathered from the post title, the second line has now been successfully installed by BTO - it's been about 6 months coming, but glad we finally got there. Not sure really why it's taken so long, but the engineer that called round did say that there had been a number of poles and cables replaced recently in my area, and that additional cabling was required to provide enough pairs to my property to give me the second line.

Once the engineer got here, the install was painless. I've been given another of the nest Master Sockets that has a built in filter for ADSL, so no need for a trailing micro filter. The new master socket has been installed in my hallway next to the original one. Initial tests by BTO on the line were rurally good, with the sync rate sitting at around 7000kbps.

In order to get the line operating (before getting Sharedband installed) I hooked up the ADSL line to an Asus DSL-N55U modem router. It performs reasonably well, but finding that sync rate and SNR down are pretty variable right now - probably because the line is still settling out.

Next task is to get Sharedband installed and see how I get on. The equipment has arrived and I'll do another post shortly to log how I get on.

The 2 master sockets in place

The hall 'IT' cupboard mid install

As you can see from the above photo, the Sharedband gear is ready to be installed - I've even got a couple of new modems to try and ensure the system is as fast and stable as it can be (Billion 7800's).

Bonded ADSL Part 4 - Another month and still no second line !

Well here we are into April 2014, and since my last post around 4 weeks ago I still haven't got a 2nd line installed to my house. Not surprisingly BT never managed to get me an update I could believe for line install, so I cancelled the order with them altogether. After a few weeks I even managed to get the money I'd paid them refunded.

Instead I have gone with Zen to have the second line installed, and once up and running they will supply the voice & data service for it. However despite them thinking a line could be installed in 2-3 weeks, that has not been the case. BTO thought they could install by 2nd April, however as we approached this date Zen let me know that there were still 'Line Management' works going on, and that my next update would be 15th April.

So, whilst it's much better that Zen are properly tracking the line installation works, it's pretty hopeless that BTO can't seem to get the network sorted out in my area - this work looks to have been going on since the beginning of January 2014 (although details of what this work really is remains much more sketchy !).

Bonded ADSL Part 3 - BT OpenReach are a no show again !

Well despite contacting BT Retail just 2 days before my second line was to be installed (and them assuring me that all was in order for an engineer coming to my house on Friday 7th March), nobody turned up - again ! This is the second time this has happened, and when I followed it up with BT, they told me that there were line 'management' works ongoing that prevented the engineer coming to me (these will be the same line repairs that I was told about 4 weeks earlier when the engineer didn't turn up then either no doubt).

All in all a dreadful service from BT (Retail & OpenReach); I've had to take 2 days holiday so far off work to get a phone line installed, and here I am 2 months later still with no phone line. I might even understand (a bit) if this was a brand new line to my house, but it's a 2nd line so there is already a cable installed to my hallway with spare pairs etc.

So after following this latest hassle up with BT Retail (you can only speak too them via their call centre in India), I was told that a further update would be available today (11th March). I confirmed with them that I was going to be formally complaining and asked the case to be escalated, however I was informed they couldn't do this as they're not authorised (!).

I did however lodge complaints via their website & Twitter and got a call from a UK based case manager on Sunday (9th March). I was assured that BT accepted this was an awful service and that they really valued my business, blah blah. I was assured I'd have a full update by 20:00 today, so we'll see what happens.

All this is made even more annoying given that I have spoken directly to my local OpenReach manager and he's confirmed that they know nothing of my job & had never seen an order from BT Retail for my address, so it sounds very much like these companies simply aren't talking to each other. He also doesn't know what the 'line management' works are all about.

On a plus, I spoke to my existing ISP, Zen Internet, and they confirmed that they could get a line installed for me in about 2-3 weeks from order placement. I'd be dealing with a UK based ISP and they have direct contact with OpenReach. I think I'll be taking them up on their offer if BT can't sort this within a week. It's a bit more expensive with Zen, but the service is great and their ADSL speeds are far quicker & more stable than anything BT can offer. I only went with BT as I thought they'd have better links with OpenReach. Ah, hindsight.

Hopefully my next update will be a bit more upbeat & positive.

Bonded ADSL Part 2 - Sharedband Packages

Following on from my last post (part 1) you'll know that I intend to give Sharedband bonded ADSL a go for my home broadband. There are a few options available out there though and it's offered by some resellers as well as through Sharedband themselves. Below are some examples I've found.

Direct from Sharedband
The Professional Package has the following key points:

• £10 per line per month
• Static IP
• Max of 250GB data transfer (if you go Business, it's 2000GB, but £20 per line p/m)
• 14 day set-up assistance
• 30 day money back promise
• Initial set-up cost of £49
• Cost per router £49 - £299 depending on model. For a home package they offer a Netgear DGN1000 at £49.
• Shipping £10
• 1 month rolling contract; all prices excl VAT

Eclipse

This is a well respected company, but from the prices it looks to be more aimed at business.

• £50 per line per month
• Static IP
• £120 per month for unlimited data transfer (you can pay less for less data)
• 1 month rolling contract; all prices excl VAT

BroadbandBuyer

Again another well known company, though I've only used them previously for hardware.

• For a package that includes 2 lines for 1 year on a business quality service (up to 20Mbps) is £332.00.
• Unlimited data transfer
• Static IP
• 14 day set-up assistance
• 30 day money back promise
• No set-up cost
• Annual contract, pay up front.
• Cost for 2 lines is £120 per year thereafter.
• Add another line for £199 for the first year

So an interesting range of prices. As you can imagine I won't be going for Eclipse as that's well out of my budget. Broadbandbuyer is certainly the best value over a 12 month period (saving £75 over the year), but I'll need to be certain that the system works well for me within my 30 day period otherwise I'll lose a bit of cash. Direct to Sharedband needs the least initial outlay (£177) and has the added benefit that it's only a 1 month rolling contract, but the package is restricted to 250GB per month data transfer - something that's unlimited with the BBB deal. I've spoken with both companies and they are certainly very approachable in terms of getting help, which is always a plus.

Anyway I'll think on this a bit further over the next few weeks. The next milestone is getting the second line installed by BT OpenReach - this is planned for 10th March and is my second attempt to get the engineer out to do the work. Once the line is up and running I'm going to let it settle out for a couple of weeks before trying Sharedband out. All going well I should be giving it a go by the beginning of April.

Bonded ADSL Part 1 - Introduction

Well it's been ages since I've posted anything on here, so I thought I'd better make a start again. It's that I've had nothing to say or gadgets to feedback on, I just haven't been able to find the time for one reason or another.

Anyway, this is the first of a multi-part post to cover my venture into domestic ADSL bonding. exciting stuff potentially.

What we currently have
Where I live we're unlikely to get fibre broadband, and 4G may (or may not) reach us - even if it does I can imagine it'll be an expensive option for a primary home broadband package. My exchange does provide access to ADSL though with a maximum rate of 8Mbps. I'm not too far from the exchange either and as a result get a decent sync rate of ca. 7400 kbps at a SNR of 6.4db. This translates to a decent download performance in excess of 6000kbps. Upload is low as expected for ADSL1, with a rate usually around 344kbps.

My ISP is Zen, and over the years I've found them to be nothing short of excellent in delivering fast Broadband with no bandwidth shaping and realistic data caps (I'm allowed 500GB per month on my package, which is more than enough for a household). Their Tech Support are also great, and can help troubleshoot and optimise ADSL connections easily over the phone.

The modem I use is a tried and tested Netgear DG834G running DGTeam custom firmware (it's a router, but it's set to modem only mode). This feeds into my network via an Asus RT-N66U router.

Why the need for more bandwidth ?
You would think that with a download rate of over 6Meg it would be enough, however with video streaming becoming the norm these days we're finding that the internet connection gets pretty choked when all the kids are online consuming the bandwidth. The answer would be fibre if it was available, but as it's not I looked at alternatives:

• Satellite - initially looks attractive with high bandwidth options available, however the devil is in the detail with the current packages and data caps are very low unless you're willing to pay hundreds of pounds per month. There also seem to be issues with using internet streaming packages such as iPlayer and LoveFilm (though some ISP's do give you a UK based IP so the problem should be less of an issue). Latency is also an issue with sat, so no use if you enjoy a bit of fast online gaming. No comparison with an ADSL connection though.
• Load balanced ADSL - this uses 2 x data lines (e.g. 2 x ADSL or 1 x ADSL + 1 x satellite etc). Both data lines plug into a suitable router, such as the Draytek Vigour 2925, and the router does the work of balancing and prioritising data traffic down each of the broadband pipes. This method has the benefit of removing part of the internet congestion that we're currently seeing, but it doesn't give you a faster connection. There's also the price of the Vigour router to consider too, at around £220 incl VAT last time I looked, plus of course the cost of running 2 phone lines.
• Bonded ADSL - 2 or more ADSL connections are bonded into 1 which effectively delivers the sum of all the lines together (so a 6 Meg and a 4 Meg connection bonded gives you 10 Meg). this technology up until now has been the preserve of larger businesses due to cost, however there are now alternatives such as Sharedband. You still have the cost of running more than one phone line, however the equipment, initial set-up and monthly running costs over the firstyear aren't  much  different from a load balanced solution. More of this below, as this is the method I'm going to give a try.

Sharedband
Sharedband have been in existence for a few years now, however I only came across them recently when searching the web for user experiences with load balanced ADSL connections. Sharedband differs from other bonded solutions that I've seen in that the equipment required at the home or business is fairly simple and tried & tested, with Sharedband's data centre being used to 'split and recombine' your data traffic in conjunction with the modems that they supply you with. Despite this splitting and recombining, there appears to be very little overhead lost in the data stream, and the actual download and upload speeds seen look to be almost the sum of the 2 internet connections.

You can also use whatever ISP's you want to, so the service does provide failover - although if 1 out of 2 data lines go down you will no longer have a bonded connection; however at least will have a connection.

Rather than me spout on about what the company can offer etc, it would be better to go and take a look at their website. I'll link a video in here shortly.

What stage am I at now ?
Currently I have 1 ADSL connection active (with Zen). I'm waiting on BT OpenReach to install my second line, and after a missed visit on 10th February, I've been assured my 2nd line will be installed and active by 7th March. For this 2nd connection I'm going to try BT as my ISP - mainly because the line install cost is free if you opt for a broadband package with them. I'll see what the download speeds settle out at before I decide whether to stay with them or not. I've also been supplied with one of their Homehub 4 wireless routers - again I'll see how this performs, but I've already got a Netgear DG834GT updated and ready to go if I need to in order to test the max performance of the line.

So that's it for now. I'll post a video link shortly (now done), and will also make another post to highlight the info and clarifications I've received on Sharedband so far. I'll also give some further info on the prices and deals that I could find for this in the UK.

TP-Link 5 Port 10/100 Network Switch

Well it's been ages since I've posted anything new on here, so I thought I'd better add something ! Bit of a lull though because I haven't had that much new stuff to write about of late :-(

Anyway, todays post is to provide user feedback on the TP-Link TL-SF1005D network switch. It's a long model number, but essentially what we have here is an inexpensive decent quality 10/100 ethernet switch.

I was looking for a simple and small network switch to fit behind my TV stand in the living room to allow me to connect a few devices to my home network (the room has a single CAT6A port behind the TV), and not all the devices have wifi built in. My usual port of call would be Netgear, however I was surprised at the cost of a simple fast network switch from them (retailing at around £15-£20), with eBay not being much cheaper (plus the postage costs on eBay tend to bring the price up to retail anyway).

I had a browse online and found that TP-Link had some good feedback, so decided to to give this a go. I bought the switch from Amazon (UK) and cost was around £7.50, and came with free delivery. On receiving the switch I'm impressed at the quality - the case may not be metal, but it's tough plastic, and pretty small (as you can see in the photos). Although I have mine hidden round the back of the TV stand, the white casing and simple LED's make it good enough to be in view too if necessary.

The item comes supplied boxed along with a power adapter. TP-Link also give you a 3 year warranty, which isn't bad at all (though there isn't much that can go wrong with these things). The switch is true plug and play, with all ports supporting auto-MDI/MDIX - so no need to worry about cross-over cables. For info the features & benefits that TP-Link note for this are:

• Up to 200Mbps full duplex bandwidth;
• Energy efficient technology, saves up to 60% power consumption (it only supplies full power to ports in use);
• Plug & play;
• Auto-MDX/MDIX;
• IEEE 802.3x flow control;
• Auto negotiation ports for smart integration of 10Mbps & 100Mbps equipment.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a cost effective and well finished network switch, then give this a go. I've had it installed for a few weeks now (powered up 24/7) and it hasn't missed a beat. The power supply doesn't get too hot, and the switch also stays cool (and is silent). I intend to try some other TP-Link items in the future (there are quite a few interesting products on their website) - I'll post any findings on here.

TP-Links UK website