Combining DSL and Cable, good methods?

[vash]

I'm sure this thread has been beaten to death, but how about it once more? What I want is pretty simple: TCP goes through the cheap and fast cable, while UDP goes through the clean and stable DSL line. Web surfing is basically TCP, while most games are UDP based.

What would be the easiest solution to get both working on the same network? I am thinking Linux or FreeBSD would work, but what about other software packages for different OSs (mainly NT4, Win2k). Also, is there routers available I could simply add in two boards, plug in DSL on one, cable on the other, then mess with the OS of the router to designate UDP on one network and TCP on the other?

There HAS to be a way to do this!

vash

 

[vash]

Bump^

vash

 

[DnetMHZ]

I'm sure there is hardware out there that can do it (I'll have to do some digging) odds are it's going to be way too expensive just for gaming though.

 

[Goosemaster]

WIn2k Adv server can do this. I believe XP can do this as well. I believe all 2com cards can as well, at least the server cards anyways. I use win2k Adv server(still experimenting ;seriously;maybe Linux is next) and it can bond connectingss. I is made for redundancy, it it will work. About configuring two protocols, I don't know. IF you get htem working independently(easy) it will work. It will just use the chosen network connection for specifies tasks.

 

[vash]

<< WIn2k Adv server can do this. I believe XP can do this as well. I believe all 2com cards can as well, at least the server cards anyways. I use win2k Adv server(still experimenting ;seriously;maybe Linux is next) and it can bond connectingss. I is made for redundancy, it it will work. About configuring two protocols, I don't know. IF you get htem working independently(easy) it will work. It will just use the chosen network connection for specifies tasks. >>

Unfortunately, I don't think Win2k can truly "bond" the connection to double the downstream. That kind of bonding is usually custom to get the additional speeds.

What I'm looking for isn't really a bonding, per se. Its more of a filtering of packets (maybe a firewall could be all I need). When TCP goes in/out, make it go through the cable modem. When UDP goes in/out, have it go through the DSL modem. To the client machines, they will point to one IP as the gateway, but the gateway will have all the configuration and logic to handle the packets.

vash

 

[Goosemaster]

Could this help?

 

[Woodchuck2000]

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to achieve here... Combining the two pipes would give you double the bandwith, which would be nice, but I don't understand why you want to use one exclusively for UDP, and the other for TCP. Allow me to throw my two cents in, and explain the difference between the protocols.

Both of the protocols are part of TCP/IP, and they have different features making them particularly suited to different applications. TCP is a 2 way protocol with error checking. A certain amount of data is transmitted, and the the client sends back a response saying "message recieved" or "message not received" upon which the host either transmits the next bit of data, or retransmits the previous bits. UDP effectively broadcasts the data. It sends it in a continuous stream, but has no error checking - is the client misses a bit of data, tough. TCP generally has higher latency than UDP, because of the overheads involved in error checking.

TCP works well with things like webpages/file transfers because latency isnt critical, but data integrity is. If chunks of a webpage get lost, that is not acceptable so having some kind of checking built in is very useful.
UDP is better for gaming/streaming media because it needs low latency, but a few dropped frames here or there dont make too much difference.

What would be the easiest solution to get both working on the same network?
They always come together, because they're both integrated into the TCP/IP stack

TCP goes through the cheap and fast cable, while UDP goes through the clean and stable DSL line
UDP doesnt need a clean connection to function well and anyway, cable isnt much less reliable than DSL

The only way to do it would be to have some kind of Router listening to packets, and forwarding UDP to one connection, and TCP to another. This would give a large increase in latency, effectively losing any benefits...

Hope that helps...

 

[vash]

<< What would be the easiest solution to get both working on the same network?
They always come together, because they're both integrated into the TCP/IP stack

TCP goes through the cheap and fast cable, while UDP goes through the clean and stable DSL line
UDP doesnt need a clean connection to function well and anyway, cable isnt much less reliable than DSL

The only way to do it would be to have some kind of Router listening to packets, and forwarding UDP to one connection, and TCP to another. This would give a large increase in latency, effectively losing any benefits... >>

Here is the reason for asking this question: my friend, at college, stated he could do this with linux for his co-op. Basically, they have a leased line to the university (only a few blocks away) and while the line is pretty useful, its not a very stable line for gaming. Surfing is fine and fast, but when trying to host a server or play some online games, the ping spikes are not acceptable. Lastly, the line goes down a little too often for them and they wanted a little redundancy.

They want to add a "prosumer" DSL line to their co-op, something like 384up/down. With this line, they could host a basic FTP server, game on it, etc, because its commercial and not connected directly through the university. All web traffic would go through the super fast leased line, while the people who game would be using the DSL line. On the client machines, they would point to one gateway and that machine would handle all the packet routing, etc, so it would be transparent to the clients.

I haven't heard back from him if he was successful or not.

For the home front, this idea just got me thinking about how I could do it at home, so I can host a LAN party and still have plenty of bandwidth for my girl when she wants to surf. When we're fragging away on a online server, we're on the DSL line because its a really reliable line, but when we want to surf, we'll use the fast and not quite as reliable cable line (that's the case in my area). Sure, I could get faster DSL, but to get a faster DSL now, I am paying more than $60/month more, compared to a $40/month cable modem. Also, with the additional line, I would not "disturb" one line when doing different operations.

My entire solution would have the clients point to one gateway and that gateway would handle the rest. I am figuring maybe I have to write a really good firewall for linux/freebsd to handle the routing, but it *could* be done. I am 99% sure that business class router could do this (2 wan cards and tinkering with the OS in the router), but there should be a way to do it with a *nix based machine.

Thanks for the input, I'd love to hear some more.

vash