Hobby Project: DIY UFB Challenge

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kenkeniff

628 posts

Ultimate Geek

#140992 26-Feb-2014 13:04

Ok so I have a little scheme I'd like to crowd-source ideas for...

I'm unable to get VDSL or fiber UFB in my CBD apartment however I do have an ADSL connection, am in converage of Vodafone/Telecom 4G and 2degrees 3G DC and am surrounded by dozens of 'free' WiFi hotspots.

My goal is to bond a VPN over as many available connections as possible to achieve a maximum bandwidth (hopefully well over fiber UFB), both local and international.

The simplest way to do this would be to stick a bunch of USB WiFi and 4G dongles into my PC and use a service like Connectify Switchboard to handle all the bonding.

Another open would be to fire up my own Zeroshell server on AWS and configure it all myself.

How would you go about this challenge?

kenkeniff

628 posts

Ultimate Geek

#994829 26-Feb-2014 13:45

As a starting point, how many 4G adapters would it be worth having on each network?

e.g.
- If one 4G dongle gave you a 40Mb/s to a single tower, would 2x both maintain 40Mb/s or drop to 20Mb/s each?
- Would it be worth having 4G, 3G DC and 3G dongles all for the same carrier to utilise different cell towers?
- Would forcing adapters onto different frequencies improve net bandwidth?

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#996622 28-Feb-2014 19:43

Do you want to do this just to see if it can be done? Or do you want to get a permanent faster connection than what you can otherwise get over ADSL?

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#996627 28-Feb-2014 19:51

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=40&topicid=133458

kenkeniff

628 posts

Ultimate Geek

#996628 28-Feb-2014 19:51

Aredwood: Do you want to do this just to see if it can be done? Or do you want to get a permanent faster connection than what you can otherwise get over ADSL?

Bit of both. I know it can be done and have done some basic testing over 3G/Wifi using Connectify Switchboard but just looking to see how far I can push it;
- What is the fastest "free" connection I can create in the cbd
- What's the most I can squeeze out of the available 3G/4G connections etc.
- Is it better to bond to a nz or overseas server.

Might be of use to someone else too.

Personally I'm finding Switchboard beta pretty flaky so may start looking into Zeroshell or something similar.

antoniosk

2358 posts

Uber Geek

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#996631 28-Feb-2014 19:57

kenkeniff: As a starting point, how many 4G adapters would it be worth having on each network?

e.g.
- If one 4G dongle gave you a 40Mb/s to a single tower, would 2x both maintain 40Mb/s or drop to 20Mb/s each?
- Would it be worth having 4G, 3G DC and 3G dongles all for the same carrier to utilise different cell towers?
- Would forcing adapters onto different frequencies improve net bandwidth?

You should read up on how CDMA and LTE technology works.... Radio is divided and shared by all users. More users = less bandwidth per user

________

Antoniosk

kenkeniff

628 posts

Ultimate Geek

#996640 28-Feb-2014 20:11

antoniosk: You should read up on how CDMA and LTE technology works.... Radio is divided and shared by all users. More users = less bandwidth per user

I find with the things theory can somewhat differ from practice.

I.e. If I'm in range of two different VF cell towers operating at two different frequencies (2100 & 900) presumably I could use two different cellular adapters on the two different frequencies connect to both towers at a higher combined bandwidth than just connecting to the closest tower with both adapters.

Also I don't know if cell operators / the protocols used cap the max bandwidth per device so perhaps using multiple devices per cell site will increase overall bandwidth to a point.

Open to any qualified advise though...