Combine Two Internet Connections on Windows 7

North Bay Computer Repair

I pay for two connections from my ISP, Vianet, and I felt that I should be able to use them both to maximize my bandwidth. The only program that really needs all this bandwidth is Utorrent.

So I set out looking for an easy solution to connect two connections to act as one. I found many forums stating that Linux was the only way to do that. Some people told me that I would need to buy a two WAN router.

Other people said to setup two ethernet cards to one computer and run it bonded, but that would only get me load-balancing on the connection and link redundancy. This isn’t what I wanted.

I finally found the solution. It doesn’t work the way you probably need it to but it maxes out both connections on programs that use more than one connection to the internet, like utorrent, and usenet.

So here’s how I did it.

First I’m using windows 7 (this is what this post is designed for, I’m not sure if it will work with other operating systems)

Second I have two routers connecting to two modems on DSL.

I have the first router configured with an IP of 192.168.1.50.

The second router is 192.168.1.51.

They’re both using PPPoE login.

Here’s where it gets tricky. I played around a bit and found that this works, after weeks of reading.

Open up your adapter properties, then click on IPv4. Open the properties of that. Now go into advanced. In there you should setup two IP addresses. Mine are 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.52. (Don’t forget to open your ports in both routers or your computer won’t be discoverable on the internet)

I set the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0 for both IP’s.

The default gateway needs to be set for both routers as well. One at 192.168.1.50 and the other at 192.168.51.

This will make your ethernet card connect to both routers at the same time, it will provide both load balancing and link redundancy as well as increase your speeds with programs that use multiple connections to the internet.

So click OK a bunch of times and it should be working.

Happy networking!

How To Setup Sympatico Internet On A Linksys Router

1. Open Internet Explorer.

2. Type 192.168.1.1 into the address bar and hit the Enter key. The default IP is 192.168.1.1.

3. You will receive a login prompt. Type in the current password for the router. If it is still in default configuration, the user name will be “root” then type "admin" in the Password field to gain entry. The user name might also need to be kept blank. Try both, see which one works for you.

4. The first screen you should see is the Basic Setup page. Click the down arrow on the Internet Connection Type drop-down list and choose PPPoE.

5. In the username field type in your B1 number in all lower case. (e.g. b1tzkj22)

6. In the password field type in your password to connect to Sympatico.

7. All other settings will remain the same. Click the Save Settings button.

8. The router will now attempt to save these settings and connect to the internet. Click the Continue button that appears.

9. If the connection was completed successfully you should now be able to browse the internet without having to dial in each time you want to browse.

10. Enjoy hassle free browsing, brought to you by Moddin’ Man.

Windows 7, Is It Any Good?

If you have a top of the line computer with plenty of RAM (over 4 gigs) then you should be running the 64-bit version of windows 7 rc. It's much faster than any version of windows before it, it looks much better, and it's compatible with more hardware than vista. Plus one more thing, right now it's free to download and test till 2010. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Now what should you do if you have a slower computer? Well XP is still available to the consumer, but not for much longer, M$ (Microsoft) has already pulled the plug on mainstream support. There will still be security updates for awhile, till 2014. But in case you can't find a driver or something worse, like a bug pops up, you won't be able to get help from the people that made the software.

I must also talk about Vista, even though I strongly believe it shouldn't have been released, it sucks as an operating system. It's slow, RAM hungry, incompatible with most older hardware, full of bugs, and comes standard on any new computer.

Most new computer warranties specify that you can't change the OS or it will void the warranty. WHY?!?!?!? That's like buying a new car and not being allowed to change the color, or add new seat covers, etc... Why are companies doing this to consumers?

Anyway, my original point is that even if computers come with Windows 7 on every new computer, I don't foresee many people complaining about it, because it just WORKS! M$ says that they built it on the old Vista platform, I think they didn't finish Vista but rolled it out anyway to make some money to finish making 7. (or to pay the investors some cash too)

So in conclusion, I believe if your computer can handle it, get Windows 7. Even buy it when it comes out in the retail stores. I'm sure you'll love it!