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talmid · Feb 13, 2003, 06:37 AM

i'm on 10.2.3 and use the apple internal 56K dial-up modem. i can't benefit frim DSL, but it seems it's possible to combine the speeds of 2 56K modems to one (112K) for pc's.
anybody has a light on how to synchronize 2 56 dial-up modems (my second modem is a 56k olitec usb modem) to a single speed? if nothing for X available, hints for pc are welcome too!!!!

sniffer · Feb 13, 2003, 07:44 AM

The OS (X) should be able to handle multiple connection, but I am not so sure about the dial up app OTOH.

Xeo · Feb 13, 2003, 08:08 AM

I wanted the exact same thing a couple years ago. Stuck with nothing but dial-up but multiple phone lines, I really wanted to harness the power of two dial-ups to make my downloads go a bit faster. I was left with the answer that it's not possible without both ends knowing about the multiple connections. At the very least, your ISP would have to know so it can tie the two connections together on their end.

It would be possible to connect twice and use each modem for something different (2 downloads), but you won't be able to download one thing at twice the speed.

If I'm wrong, I'd be glad to hear about it as it's still something that interests me.

sniffer · 08:32 AM

Sounds like a good idea. Makes it possible to download stuff and actually surf the net on the same time.

But I think the software "might" get problems making use of two different connections in an effective matter. Thought I don't have experience with this. Hmm..

Xeo · Feb 13, 2003, 08:29 AM

Originally posted by sniffer:
Sounds like a good idea. Makes it possible to download stuff and actually surf the net on the same time.

In that case, I think installing the 2nd modem drivers and going to the Network pref pane is all you need to do. Just set up the dial-up instructions for one modem, do the same for the other modem, and put them in the order you want to use them. Then, when you start a download or whatever, go back into Network and switch the order of the two modems. The download will stay on the one with less priority and your web surfing will stay one one with the higher priority.

I haven't actually tried this, but it works this way for a modem/ethernet combination so as long as the other modem is installed and functional, it should work the same way.

mikellanes · 08:55 AM

Here is a quick overview

http://www.56k.com/reports/bonding.shtml

mikellanes · Feb 13, 2003, 09:00 AM

jtalked with my ISP seems they support v.92 and bonding (on 2-4 modems!) [this is on my local number, you would have to find out if your local number supports this]

he also said you need 2 modems (im buying another v.92 modem today) and setup both connections, the ISP side will handle the offloading of information to each modem.

I constantly get 43K connections to this ISP and will be thrilled if I can get 86K for cheap (only other option is iDSL for $89/month)

Will MacOS X let me dial in on both modems? I suspect switching ports will let me dial in on the new modem, then switch back to the old one. also with v.92 I should be able to take the call on the one line and connect back (modem on hold) with the other line?

sniffer · Feb 13, 2003, 09:24 AM

Originally posted by mikellanes:

I constantly get 43K connections to this ISP and will be thrilled if I can get 86K for cheap (only other option is iDSL for $89/month)

According to your link it sounds like you'll get in practice 43K modem speed from servers for each seperate process. The adventage is that you'll be able to make use of both lines but in different processes. E.g. Surf and download at the same time. BTW, are you sure you don't need some software to handle this somehow with effectivness?

dspaude · Feb 13, 2003, 12:35 PM

What you are looking to do is make use of the multi-link PPP (ML-PPP) protocol. I know the Linux version of pppd supports ML-PPP, but I am not sure about Apple's version of pppd (which is used by Internet Connect for the dial-up connection). I just checked the pppd manpage and it states that "currently, multilink PPP is only supported under Linux." ML-PPP is the protocol that will bundle two or more connections with the same end-point ID. As long as your ISP supports ML-PPP (and allows you to request ML-PPP--you might have to pay extra for that), then you would be able to have one IP across two or more lines (connections).

We should search the web to see if anyone has ported or is porting ML-PPP support in pppd to BSD/Darwin!

Camelot · Feb 13, 2003, 03:37 PM

Originally posted by talmid:
i'm on 10.2.3 and use the apple internal 56K dial-up modem. i can't benefit frim DSL, but it seems it's possible to combine the speeds of 2 56K modems to one (112K) for pc's.
anybody has a light on how to synchronize 2 56 dial-up modems (my second modem is a 56k olitec usb modem) to a single speed? if nothing for X available, hints for pc are welcome too!!!!

Alternatively, get a copy of Vicom's Intergate.

It has the ability to team up to 50 networks of various types and load balance the connections over them, with various priorities.

The connections can be of any type (e.g. DSL, Cable, modem, etc.) including mixed types, and you can configure it to prefer certain connections (e.g. modem 1) until a certain bandwidth/utilization is reached at which point it automatically brings up a second connection (e.g. modem 2), and so on.

It doesn't require anything special on the client side (including ML-PPP support), and can support multiple internal computers (via NAT) too.