Benefiting from two lines and Draytek 2820vn with O2

[TooNice]

I was wondering if there was a way for me to benefit from having two ADSL2+ lines. The reason I have two lines is because the landlord provided one, but it was rubbish for over a month (getting 0.4Mbit on a good day), so I ended up getting my own line with O2.

Now, I am very happy with my own line (16+ Mbit and I've not even bothered tweaking it at all), but after a month of struggle TalkTalk has also fixed the problem on their end, so we are getting about 6Mbit on the landlord provided line.

Given that I am paying for it indirectly via my rent, I was wondering if it was possible to somehow use both simultaneously.

[circuitmonkey]

Originally Posted by TooNice

I was wondering if there was a way for me to benefit from having two ADSL2+ lines. The reason I have two lines is because the landlord provided one, but it was rubbish for over a month (getting 0.4Mbit on a good day), so I ended up getting my own line with O2.

Now, I am very happy with my own line (16+ Mbit and I've not even bothered tweaking it at all), but after a month of struggle TalkTalk has also fixed the problem on their end, so we are getting about 6Mbit on the landlord provided line.

Given that I am paying for it indirectly via my rent, I was wondering if it was possible to somehow use both simultaneously.

using something like this... with an existing adsl modem(router) plugged into the WAN2 would allow you to either to load balancing or bandwidth aggregation.
I've used Drayteks in the past and they offerer way more then you expect, always fun poking around to see what you can get it to do.

[TooNice]

Ah, yes, I actually got one of those for a friend on Hexus recommendation. Didn't have time to explore all the things it's capable of, all he wanted was the option of throttling his flatmate/tenants heavy download and it did the job just fine.

Got a number of couple questions about it though. First, is it possible to connect a USB HD and a printer simultaneously via an USB hub? Secondly, how fast is the HD connected via the USB port?

The reason I am asking is because I am quite sure that I saw a 12Mb/sec figure somewhere on the website. That's pretty slow for USB 2.0. In fact, the fact that it's a small 'b' makes me wonder if it may not mean Mbit, the speed of USB 1.1. But surely, that can't be

[badass]

Originally Posted by TooNice

Ah, yes, I actually got one of those for a friend on Hexus recommendation. Didn't have time to explore all the things it's capable of, all he wanted was the option of throttling his flatmate/tenants heavy download and it did the job just fine.

Got a number of couple questions about it though. First, is it possible to connect a USB HD and a printer simultaneously via an USB hub? Secondly, how fast is the HD connected via the USB port?

The reason I am asking is because I am quite sure that I saw a 12Mb/sec figure somewhere on the website. That's pretty slow for USB 2.0. In fact, the fact that it's a small 'b' makes me wonder if it may not mean Mbit, the speed of USB 1.1. But surely, that can't be

They work at 12 MB - it should be a capital B per second. I've tested it and got to write at over 4 Megabytes per second (it was a slow USB key)
Also, they are supposed to work with a USB hub but I haven't tested it.

[TooNice]

I guess it must be USB2 then. Strangely slow for one though. Not a big issue if it's only used to access files from the Internet, but not quite sufficient as a file server (rather than a USB stick, I was thinking of hooking a WD Passport).

By the way, would you happen to know what the VoIP function allows in the 2820vn model? When I hear VoIP, I think Skype, MSN voice chat and the likes. But those do not require a phone to be plugged in, so I am not sure what's the benefit of that feature.

Lastly (for now), for anyone who uses it for O2/Be what chipset does the router use, and what kind of synch are you getting. I definitely like the feature list, but I read that O2/Be work best with Broadcom chipset, hence I've been shopping for a Netgear GT/PN on Ebay.

[gss03]

Originally Posted by TooNice

By the way, would you happen to know what the VoIP function allows in the 2820vn model? When I hear VoIP, I think Skype, MSN voice chat and the likes. But those do not require a phone to be plugged in, so I am not sure what's the benefit of that feature.

The VoIP functionaity of the router allows you to connect to any SIP trunk. Draytek usually will provide you with a £1 voucher with a new draytek to connect to their "Draytel" service - used it for a while with no issues, but it will allow you to use any other provider if needed.

I think it is possible to do LCR (Lease cost routing) with this router, but I can't remember from memory/ the tech specs.

Originally Posted by TooNice

Got a number of couple questions about it though. First, is it possible to connect a USB HD and a printer simultaneously via an USB hub?

In a word - yes.
You can also add to the mix a 3g USB datacard to this too. All requires configuring, but adding everything to a USB hub makes this possible...

[TooNice]

Thanks. What is the benefit of using SIP providers over the likes of Skype, MSN Chat and other providers that do not require the VoIP feature of a router?

[Jay]

with SIP you can use proper SIP phones eg I use a CISCO IP phone, with SIP gate you get free local number and free voicemail, also SIP providers alow you to make 999 calls but SIP is a voice platform only.

[peterb]

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is an open protocol, so many providers (including sipgate)allow you to call users on other sip providers. Skype uses proprietary (closed) protocols.

http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/SIP

[TooNice]

Thanks. Sorry for being very technically challenged on this point, but as an end-user, if my friends and family are already Skype users then there isn't too much incentive for me to switch is there? Do you get better service/lower priced calls by going the SIP route?

[Jay]

If you friends are on skype then you may as well use it. I would say skype was more an IM program and SIP is more an actual home phone replacement.

[Zak33]

Originally Posted by TooNice

I was wondering if there was a way for me to benefit from having two ADSL2+ lines. The reason I have two lines is because the landlord provided one, but it was rubbish for over a month (getting 0.4Mbit on a good day), so I ended up getting my own line with O2.

Now, I am very happy with my own line (16+ Mbit and I've not even bothered tweaking it at all), but after a month of struggle TalkTalk has also fixed the problem on their end, so we are getting about 6Mbit on the landlord provided line.

Given that I am paying for it indirectly via my rent, I was wondering if it was possible to somehow use both simultaneously.

I can't help with the bonding of two ADSL lines, but I think it's VERY interesting that in the same house, on the same telephone exchange, more than likely running down the same cable, via a different twisted pair (most lines to a house havwe 4 twisted pairs for upt o 4 lines) that the two offer such varying conncetion speeds.

That is very indicative of the infrastructures of the two ISP's I think

[burble]

Originally Posted by Zak33

I can't help with the bonding of two ADSL lines, but I think it's VERY interesting that in the same house, on the same telephone exchange, more than likely running down the same cable, via a different twisted pair (most lines to a house havwe 4 twisted pairs for upt o 4 lines) that the two offer such varying conncetion speeds.

That is very indicative of the infrastructures of the two ISP's I think

I think it's more a case of the exchange being LLU'd by O2 and not by TalkTalk

[Zak33]

Originally Posted by burble

I think it's more a case of the exchange being LLU'd by O2 and not by TalkTalk

but when the other is LLU'd too, if theyr'e different or the same will be intriguing.. cos I don't know anyone else in a residential situation who can compare

Are they different speeds at different times of the day?

ie in percentage terms, is one always closer to it's peak ability, and the other lagging with overload?

[TooNice]

Different packages. My landlord (irrationally) switched us from BT/Tiscali to TTalk's basic package with 8Mbit connection and 40GB cap (combined upload and download) due to his great dislike for BT. TTalk provides 'boosters', for instance 8Mbit -> 24Mbit and 40GB -> 80GB at £4 each.

I am on O2 Premium which is rated at 20Mbit (synchronising at 19Mbit) with no limit subject to fair use. At 16.5Mbit (typically speed), it is 82.5% of what's advertised, or about 87% of my synchronised speed. I should also point out that my ping is much lower with O2 than TTalk.

As for TTalk, well.. We've had it for 7 weeks. The first week, it synchronised at 8Mbit, and speed test showed 6 and 6.5Mbit (say 80%) - more or less what we had with Tiscali (technically same company). The problem is, it wasn't stable. It dropped. And dropped. And kept dropping (I am sure there was at least one day where I restarted the router 50 times a single day). As the line adjust itself for stability, I saw the synchronised speed drop to 2Mbit, then to 0.5Mbit by the end of the week (and then, it still dropped twice a day).

Our landlord was not really co-operative. At first he would ask if it was my computer, then claim that one of my flatmates says it's great (but she was just being polite in a Japanese style) and so on. And after we've collectively complained, he used just used it as an excuse to get in the flat and do all sorts of work that did nothing to improve our connection. Anyway, sorry for the rant, the bottom line being that we were stuck with 0.4Mbit (80% of synch) between 3 people for about 6 weeks.

After a month (during which I fell seriously ill and had to stay home most of the time), I was so frustrated that Skype wouldn't work properly (it costs me £1.50/min to call my folks with my mobile), and frankly speaking it was not usable beyond regular surfing, so I decided to bite the bullet and get my own connection with O2 (prior to the switch to TTalk I've tried negotiating with my landlord, but without wanting to go into another rant, he just wouldn't get anything that required a BT line).

Only last week did the connection go back to 6.x Mbit, but I do not regret one going with O2 even though I had to pay for BT's connection fee. The thing is, I am actually paying less than my landlord is for the line rental/ISP, and MUCH less than he would for an equivalent service (+£8 for 24Mbit/80GB booster). And I also don't have to worry about TTalk fees for going over the limit download (made worse as there is no way of monitoring), which is an issue for me given the size of the average download from Steam.