[OT] ADSL MAx Bonding - results and review

["Paul Gale" <groups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I promised that I=92d post again once my ADSL Max bonded connections
were u=
p and running =96 they=92ve now been working for a couple of weeks stably
a=
nd without problems=85

In the desire to increase my upstream speeds as much as possible I did
some=
research into ADSL bonding or MLPPP (Multi Link Pont to Point Protocol). A=
handful of ISP=92s offer support for this (they tend to be smaller compani=
es though rather than the likes of BT, Yahoo etc). After a fair bit of
hunt=
ing around and talking to people, I plumped for 3 x ADSL Max Premium
(Offic=
e) connections from a reseller, UKFSN (www.ukfsn.org), of an ISP called
Ent=
a Net (www.enta.net). UKFSN is a one man band but crucially, all support
is=
direct from Enta Net who in my experience have a fairly good level of mann=
ing. They tend to answer the phone reasonably quickly although email
suppor=
t can be a bit slow. Enta Net won=92t deal directly with small businesses
a=
nd home users, which is why a reseller comes into the equation. Enta will
d=
eal direct if you want a Cisco managed bonded router solution though but
th=
is is a fair bit more expensive.

Each of the three lines would provide me with up to 8Mbps downstream and
83=
2Kbps upstream (the home or standard product gives 448Kbps upstream). The
P=
remium or Office product supposedly gives higher priority to your traffic
i=
n BT=92s network along with the higher upstream speeds. Contention ratios
a=
re no longer used to differentiate the products on BT=92s IPStream network
=
that Max uses. Each of these lines would be bonded together using MLPPP
=96=
both at the ISP and at my end using a Linux based self-built PC router and=
using free software from FreeStuffJunction (www.freestuffjunction.co.uk/bo=
ndedcd.shtml). Each connection is plugged into a Sangoma  S518 PCI ADSL
mod=
em (one for each connection), costing =A3112 each.

The router boots and runs from CD ROM or a write-protected USB pen drive,
i=
ncreasing security. In my case, my old main board didn=92t support booting
=
from USB pen drive so I used a hybrid solution of a boot loader from CD
whi=
ch then hands over to the main o/s held on the pen drive. Configuration
fil=
es for the connections and services such as IPTables, the Linux firewall
et=
c are held on a second pen drive. The router software is fully featured
and=
supports IPSec VPN, NAT, Firewall, Squid proxy cache, traffic shaping, DHC=
P, Snort intrusion detection and SNMP amongst others.

Setup and configuration of the router was really simple. The whole package
=
is supplied as an .ISO image and you simply have to set a few
configuration=
options which take the form of a number of text files (Just the existence =
of the file sets the option in most cases). Once up and running, the
router=
is managed by a modified version of Webmin, the Linux web based admin syst=
em. In-depth knowledge of linux is not needed unless you really want to
get=
=91under the hood=92. Once all lines have been brought up and bonded, ther=
e are a number of reporting and information options available from Webmin.
=
The software also runs a script, checking on the status of the lines and
re=
-bonding if one should fail. So far, over the couple of months the router
h=
as been running, I=92ve not had any problems. Support from the developer
an=
d fellow users is available free via a forum and an expensive premium rate
=
phone number if you can=92t wait for a reply via the forum.

The router works on any old 486 and up PC you might have lying around. You
=
need to ensure it has enough PCI slots to accommodate the PCI ADSL cards
th=
ough. The router also supports bonded SDSL but requires a different card
ty=
pe for this.

So what was I expecting from this solution? The maximum theoretical
downstr=
eam rate in my case is 24Mbps and upstream 2.5Mbps (approx). Of course,
thi=
s is the sync speed =96 data throughput rates will be less due to IP
overhe=
ads etc.

To get the three ADSL lines into my office, I had to migrate one existing
2=
Mbps service from Eclipse, convert a Home Highway line to analogue and get
=
a third analogue line installed =96 quite a job =96 and, you guessed it,
no=
ne of it went smoothly! Most problems were caused by BT failures or
problem=
s, both with their ordering systems and various other technical problems,
i=
ncluding not having enough lines available in my road. These problems
overa=
ll took a couple of months to resolve.

Being a reasonably early adopter of ADSL Max, I also suffered from a
number=
of different =91teething=92 problems. One such problem was caused by the B=
T network setting all three of my connections to the old 2Mbps throughput
r=
ate although the sync speeds were good at 8Mbps. This took a few weeks for
=
support to find out what was going on and resolve. Another problem was
caus=
ed by the sync rate of one of my lines being set to 6-6.5Mbps due to an
ear=
lier line fault during the initial 10 day period (It=92s actually the
targe=
t SNR ratio that=92s set =96 the modem then sets the best speed it can
with=
this SNR target figure). Apparently a BT insider says that the DSLAM (the =
piece of equipment in the exchange that links many ADSL subscribers to a
si=
ngle high speed ATM line) will eventually set this rate higher but will
tak=
e several weeks or more to do so (the actual figures and details on how
thi=
s happens have not been made public as the whole process is going through
t=
he patent process apparently). I finally managed to get BT, through Enta
su=
pport, to manually set this target SNR back to what it should be (lower is
=
better in this case =96 well, at least to enable high speed syncs) =96 the
=
line has been syncing at 8Mbps happily since :-) It really does pay to
keep=
pushing a resistant support person when you KNOW there=92s still a problem=
!

So anyway, after all these problems, I now have a working ADSL Max MLPP
bon=
ded solution =96 but how=92s the performance?

Well, upstream (and my original reason to install this lot was to increase
=
this), I=92m getting a steady 2Mbps (250KBps ish) =96 excellent =96 just
wh=
at I wanted so I can upload large files via FTP for my customers quickly
:-=
)

Downstream is a different matter though and a little disappointing. I get
a=
nywhere from 3 to 6.5Mbps depending on the time of day. I=92ve tested the
t=
hroughput of individual lines as well as the 3 line MLPP bond. Sometimes,
t=
he 3 line bond performs at the same speed as a single line and at other
tim=
es, it=92s slightly higher =96 but never as high as I might have hoped
for.=
This is still work-in-progress and I=92m continuing to talk to Enta suppor=
t and the reseller (UKFSN) to see if we can find out why the performance
is=
n=92t as expected, still, I=92m very happy with the upstream performance
wh=
ich was my main reason for doing this and downstream isn=92t exactly slow!

Note: these figures are actual THROUGHPUT data rates and were measured
regu=
larly by a number of methods including the ADSL Guide speed test and real
w=
orld FTP transfers to several hosted web sites.

So how about costs?

Well, the rough breakdown is as follows:

Monthly:
3 x analogue BT line rental - =A311 per line per month (not sure yet if
the=
second and third are charged at =A312 or not) + VAT?
3 x Office Max ADSL Max lines (45Gb peak cap each and 300Gb each off-peak)
=
- =A325 per month + VAT

Initial Outlay:
Migration of existing line =96 free
Conversion of Home Highway to Analogue - =A350 (IIRC) + VAT?
New line - =A399 + VAT?
PC to run router =96 free (as it was an old machine)
3 x Sangoma S518 ADSL PCI cards - =A3112 each (no VAT) =96 includes
licence=
for the bonded router software.
128Mb USB pen drive with write protect switch - =A330 (ish)

Note: that although the bonded router software is free, you need a licence
=
for each ADSL PCI card you want to use with it. It is also available from
o=
ther sources for free but may be an older version. The software is based
on=
GPL software with a high level of customisation/scripts etc.

As I was previously paying =A365 + VAT per month for a 2Mbps connection
and=
a fair bit for a Home Highway line, implementing this solution hasn=92t co=
st me a great deal more per month (if you take up front costs out),
especia=
lly as I=92ve gained so much more performance wise.

I hope this has been useful =96 overall, if you need as much upstream
bandw=
idth as possible, I=92d recommend this solution. It=92s not for the faint
o=
f heart though as there are potentially many problems to be encountered.
Ho=
pefully, many of these will not occur though as ADSL Max becomes a more
rob=
ust and understood product.

Paul.





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