Fun with DSL

Well, hmm. Interesting question, here.

We've had a single business-class DSL line from PacBell for a while now: fixed IP, 384k~1.5M/128k. It runs through a modem, through a DLink wireless+DSL router, then through a Cisco PIX firewall, then into our LAN switches, which serve (24 x 3 = 72 ports, minus 16 for trunking =) 56 ports. All of that works fine.

We wanted more speed, so we upped the DSL line to 1.5~6M/384k for thrice the price. Well, unfortunately, our average speed didn't go up--we were getting around 1.2M before the upgrade, and about 1.5M after the upgrade. Bummer. Not worth 3x$.

So we decided to get 3 DSL lines at the old speed. Problem is bonding those, or at least some creative routing. Most DSL routers out there are 1 WAN port only. Not to mention that the PIX firewall is 1-port only. And the budget is really tight right now. I found a nice 2-WAN balancer/router for $400 (nexland.com)

What's the best (ie cheapest) way to get those three lines working together? I would *really* like to have one of them not take outbound requests at all--save it for our remote offices' inbound requests--but the servers they access are the same boxes whether you're inside or outside--no DMZ'ing options, in other words, unless I double-NIC those machines. Ugh. NT4.

Any ideas? Is it feasible to just plug three DSL routers and the firewall outside interface into a hub? I've got one lying around somewhere...

<img src='[link|http://home.pacbell.net/ts_eliot/images/dslsnafu.gif'|http://home.pacbell...slsnafu.gif']>

Can anyone help me connect the dots? All the DSL lines have static IP's. I basically want the single-line DSL router (the DLink) to be reserved for incoming traffic (so their bandwidth is guaranteed), and use the 2 bonded lines for outbound only. If I take out either DSL router (and tell the PIX to use the other router as the GW), it works fine. What does NOT work is inbound requests (say, to our webserver) on the single-line router when the dbl-line router is set as the GW on the PIX.

I'm stuck. Is it not *supposed* to work? I tried subnetting each router and still no dice. Any ideas?

Post #15,776 by tseliot 10/30/01 4:43:34 PM Reply	Fun with DSL Well, hmm. Interesting question, here. We've had a single business-class DSL line from PacBell for a while now: fixed IP, 384k~1.5M/128k. It runs through a modem, through a DLink wireless+DSL router, then through a Cisco PIX firewall, then into our LAN switches, which serve (24 x 3 = 72 ports, minus 16 for trunking =) 56 ports. All of that works fine. We wanted more speed, so we upped the DSL line to 1.5~6M/384k for thrice the price. Well, unfortunately, our average speed didn't go up--we were getting around 1.2M before the upgrade, and about 1.5M after the upgrade. Bummer. Not worth 3x$. So we decided to get 3 DSL lines at the old speed. Problem is bonding those, or at least some creative routing. Most DSL routers out there are 1 WAN port only. Not to mention that the PIX firewall is 1-port only. And the budget is really tight right now. I found a nice 2-WAN balancer/router for $400 (nexland.com) What's the best (ie cheapest) way to get those three lines working together? I would really like to have one of them not take outbound requests at all--save it for our remote offices' inbound requests--but the servers they access are the same boxes whether you're inside or outside--no DMZ'ing options, in other words, unless I double-NIC those machines. Ugh. NT4. Any ideas? Is it feasible to just plug three DSL routers and the firewall outside interface into a hub? I've got one lying around somewhere... A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly by the chain of their own ideas;...despair and time eat away the bonds of iron and steel, but they are powerless against the habitual union of ideas, they can only tighten it still more; and on the soft fibres of the brain is founded the unshakable base of the soundest of Empires." Jacques Servan, 1767
Post #15,815 by boxley 10/30/01 10:12:43 PM Reply	a smart hub and adjacent ip's should work fine just mask so that all 4 boxes can "see" each other. thanx, bill tshirt front "born to die before I get old" thshirt back "fscked another one didnja?"
Post #15,867 by tseliot 10/31/01 11:37:52 AM Reply	Figured that was right but wasn't sure. Thanks! My networking knowledge pretty much ends at the switch. A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly by the chain of their own ideas;...despair and time eat away the bonds of iron and steel, but they are powerless against the habitual union of ideas, they can only tighten it still more; and on the soft fibres of the brain is founded the unshakable base of the soundest of Empires." Jacques Servan, 1767
Post #21,406 by tseliot 12/13/01 7:25:53 PM Reply	Okay, how much smarter than me do the hubs have to be? <img src='[link\|http://home.pacbell.net/ts_eliot/images/dslsnafu.gif'\|http://home.pacbell...slsnafu.gif']> Can anyone help me connect the dots? All the DSL lines have static IP's. I basically want the single-line DSL router (the DLink) to be reserved for incoming traffic (so their bandwidth is guaranteed), and use the 2 bonded lines for outbound only. If I take out either DSL router (and tell the PIX to use the other router as the GW), it works fine. What does NOT work is inbound requests (say, to our webserver) on the single-line router when the dbl-line router is set as the GW on the PIX. I'm stuck. Is it not supposed to work? I tried subnetting each router and still no dice. Any ideas? --------------------------------- A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly by the chain of their own ideas;...despair and time eat away the bonds of iron and steel, but they are powerless against the habitual union of ideas, they can only tighten it still more; and on the soft fibres of the brain is founded the unshakable base of the soundest of Empires." Jacques Servan, 1767
Post #21,407 by tseliot 12/13/01 7:27:04 PM Reply	Dangit. No images? Here's a link instead. [link\|http://home.pacbell.net/ts_eliot/images/dslsnafu.gif\|Click me] --------------------------------- A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly by the chain of their own ideas;...despair and time eat away the bonds of iron and steel, but they are powerless against the habitual union of ideas, they can only tighten it still more; and on the soft fibres of the brain is founded the unshakable base of the soundest of Empires." Jacques Servan, 1767
Post #21,865 by tseliot 12/18/01 12:30:25 PM Reply	For anyone who scratched their head like I did I solved it by buying another $400 router to put in between the firewall and existing routers. Hope this helps anyone in a similar situation. --------------------------------- A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly by the chain of their own ideas;...despair and time eat away the bonds of iron and steel, but they are powerless against the habitual union of ideas, they can only tighten it still more; and on the soft fibres of the brain is founded the unshakable base of the soundest of Empires." Jacques Servan, 1767
Post #21,894 by boxley 12/18/01 3:12:51 PM Reply	confused, shoulda worked? My Dreams arn't as empty as my concience seems to be
Post #21,965 by tseliot 12/19/01 11:54:35 AM Reply	Me too. Apparently the LAN side of those cheap DSL routers aren't as smart at routing packets appropriately as the WAN side--I thought I could build a bush but had to build a tree instead. I'm still confused. But I don't have the time to waste being confused anymore--big SW package to roll out by May. I went for the quick and dirty. --------------------------------- A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly by the chain of their own ideas;...despair and time eat away the bonds of iron and steel, but they are powerless against the habitual union of ideas, they can only tighten it still more; and on the soft fibres of the brain is founded the unshakable base of the soundest of Empires." Jacques Servan, 1767

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