Internet connection sharing help?

[pio]

Okay so..... I have a problem. Wondering if those rural folks here might know a solution. 

 

I have 3 different isp's. They all suck. But combined, they work. I'm trying to set up a bonded VPN connection and share that bonded VPN connection out to my router and the rest of the network. 

 

I can get the bonding system to work. That's easy. But windows internet connection sharing keeps dropping the share out every single time an isp drops (which happens), or on every restart (windows updates will scare me in this instance). 

 

Does anyone know of another, more reliable way to share a virtual NIC out to the network, that'll hopefully auto resume / work correctly? I'm not opposed to running Linux on the box, however I do use windows rdp a LOT for troubleshooting my rack setup. So I'd prefer to stick with rdp for access into the system (for troubleshooting). 

 

So far I've tried server 16 but couldn't figure it out lol, windows 10 but abandoned because updates constantly broke the share, and windows 7 which started bsod'ing when I put the system back in the rack.

Edited May 29, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[pio]

Alright, worked it out myself.

 

So, Speedify is the program I've been using to bond and make my 3 ISP's redundant as well, so I have a somewhat "stable" connection lol.  I have a 6Mbps DSL line with like 0 upload, Visible cell phone hotspot (5 down / 5 up), and T Mobile Home Internet that only seems to work at night, but I get anywhere from 20-80 ish Mbps down and 3-40 Mbps up depending on cell signal and load on the tower.  So with Speedify I was able to bond / redundant those 3 connections on my main rig for a reliable enough connection with both download and upload.  The problem, as mentioned in my OP was Windows Internet Connection Sharing.

 

So with Speedify doing the grunt of the work there bonding, and VPN'ing and whatnot, they happen to also have another bit of software.  Connectify.  Connectify works just like Windows Internet Connection Sharing is supposed to, you can create a "wifi hotspot" or a wired ethernet router out of your computer basically so long as you have enough NIC's.  Set Connectify up to share the Speedify connection over another LAN connection, plugged that LAN into the WAN on my main network's router, and boom.  Done!

 

Now, anytime I connect ANY internet connection to that 2u piece in my rack, any connection at all, it will automatically be bonded, VPN'd, and added for redundancy to the ISP pool in my house, and automatically shared out to the router which provides that as internet for everything!  Now I just gotta get port forwarding to work, and I'm absolutely golden!

[bonami2]

Is your mobile connection having issue with signal strengh? You can buy repeater antenna that can be installed on the roof and the repeater inside with a long cable.

I wish i could help you out but am not into network at all. 

Edited May 29, 2022 by bonami2

[pio]

24 minutes ago, bonami2 said:

Is your mobile connection having issue with signal strengh? You can buy repeater antenna that can be installed on the roof and the repeater inside with a long cable.

I wish i could help you out but am not into network at all. 

I live in an apartment on the outskirts of my town.  Nope, not allowed to use an antenna. -_-  Part of why I'm trying to buy a house soon, when I move I'll mount an antenna and be golden.

 

Here's a speed update.  Again, this is with a 6 Mbps / 768 kbps DSL line, 5 / 5 cell phone hotspot, and a very bad signal quality T Mobile home internet connection all bonded together before my router (with redundancy too).  Speedtest was ran at my desk on my rig, at the very rear end of the network.  It works!

This is SOOOOOO much better than trying to pick and choose between one unreliable connection and another unreliable connection.

 

[bonami2]

34 minutes ago, pioneerisloud said:

I live in an apartment on the outskirts of my town.  Nope, not allowed to use an antenna. -_-  Part of why I'm trying to buy a house soon, when I move I'll mount an antenna and be golden.

 

Here's a speed update.  Again, this is with a 6 Mbps / 768 kbps DSL line, 5 / 5 cell phone hotspot, and a very bad signal quality T Mobile home internet connection all bonded together before my router (with redundancy too).  Speedtest was ran at my desk on my rig, at the very rear end of the network.  It works!

This is SOOOOOO much better than trying to pick and choose between one unreliable connection and another unreliable connection.

 

 

 

Wow that so nice i did not even know you could do that!

[pio]

12 minutes ago, bonami2 said:

 

 

Wow that so nice i did not even know you could do that!

The only problem I have with it right now is I cannot port forward to get anything OUT of the network onto the internet.  So some of my home server's functions are still offline.  I'm working on solutions for that still, might be able to put another VPN on there somewhere that allows port forwarding or something.  Not sure yet.  Speed / latency isn't too much of a concern, just that it works and there's at least like 2-3 Mbps upload, which I have that easy now.  I'd love to be able to do game servers again, and so far latency isn't TOO terribly bad through my VPN's.  So maybe, just maybe I can do game servers again soon!  

Edited May 29, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[bonami2]

2 minutes ago, pioneerisloud said:

The only problem I have with it right now is I cannot port forward to get anything OUT of the network onto the internet.  So some of my home server's functions are still offline.  I'm working on solutions for that still, might be able to put another VPN on there somewhere that allows port forwarding or something.  Not sure yet.  Speed / latency isn't too much of a concern, just that it works and there's at least like 2-3 Mbps upload, which I have that easy now.  I'd love to be able to do game servers again, and so far latency isn't TOO terribly bad through my VPN's.  So maybe, just maybe I can do game servers again soon!  

Yea you now get enough upload for that but i imagine it going to be complicated to port forward with all those isp.

Goodluck on that 

I need to setup server for ARK and Beam NG but i ain't got any time to launch them and or even just maintain them.

[The Pook]

is TMobile the only carrier you can use? figure out if it's an issue with tower congestion or the provider.

 

If it's the provider, then try someone else who uses TMobile towers? I have Fi and they use TMobile/Sprint/US Cellular towers, never had an issue with them and I get better download speeds through them than my wired (Spectrum) internet. 

 

seems easier if nothing else 

[mx500torid]

Are you capped at the 5mb on the visible hotspot or is that the max you can get on your phone? Just wondering cause I use visible and I reset ttl and I get no 5mb cap on my phone hotspot now. Connect to my main comp then turn on mobile hotspot in windows to connect my other comps.

[pio]

6 hours ago, The Pook said:

is TMobile the only carrier you can use? figure out if it's an issue with tower congestion or the provider.

 

If it's the provider, then try someone else who uses TMobile towers? I have Fi and they use TMobile/Sprint/US Cellular towers, never had an issue with them and I get better download speeds through them than my wired (Spectrum) internet. 

 

seems easier if nothing else 

T Mobile is the only company outside of CenturyLink that offers a "home internet" service here at my address, yes.  I never ran across Fi, I'll have to check into them, but its definitely a T Mobile tower thing.  They just don't have the expansion capacity here in my area yet.

 

 

1 hour ago, mx500torid said:

Are you capped at the 5mb on the visible hotspot or is that the max you can get on your phone? Just wondering cause I use visible and I reset ttl and I get no 5mb cap on my phone hotspot now. Connect to my main comp then turn on mobile hotspot in windows to connect my other comps.

Visible itself sets that cap.  Yes, you can change TTL, but I couldn't figure out how to do that using my Note 9 as the hotspot for it.  I had a Mofi router before with Visible plugged into it, and I was getting okay ish speeds on it after changing TTL settings.  But that device wasn't working half the time either (granted, they DID warn me they couldn't guarantee Visible would work in it).

[The Pook]

19 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

I never ran across Fi, I'll have to check into them

 

but it's Google

 

Check Our Coverage In Your Favorite Places - Google Fi

FI.GOOGLE.COM

---

Learn about our wireless network coverage to see if your favorite spots are covered with Google Fi. Get more information on Fi coverage here.

 

their unlimited plan is unlimited but it throttles to 256kb/s after 50GB 

[pio]

4 hours ago, The Pook said:

 

but it's Google

 

Check Our Coverage In Your Favorite Places - Google Fi

FI.GOOGLE.COM

---

Learn about our wireless network coverage to see if your favorite spots are covered with Google Fi. Get more information on Fi coverage here.

 

their unlimited plan is unlimited but it throttles to 256kb/s after 50GB 

 

Yeah, that's the kicker.  To be honest I'm happier with 5Mbps consistantly regardless of data usage.  Data caps, I can't live with.  50GB is like 2 movies.  I'm needing this as a whole home internet solution, not just my phone device. -_-

 

Verizon Home Internet WOULD work here if they'd just allow me the ability to try their service.  Their website says I'm not qualified, but yet their coverage map says I'm fully in 5G territory.  Absolutely no reason I can't get their LTE or 5G home internet services like T Mobile allowed me to try.  T Mobile's doesn't even work right here, but at least they let me try it out.

There's also like 3 or 4 wireless home internet options that use those point to point ethernet bridge antennas.  Those also WOULD work, however my apartments do not allow me to put an antenna outside.  Even just sitting in my patio, nope......not allowed to do that.

Edited May 31, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[ozlay]

Have you considered a 4G/5G booster? I know there are a few window antenna options.

 

T-Mobile uses a fake address in there system. As a work around. So that you can get T-Mobile in an unsupported area. Not sure if that is possible with verizon. But you can always ask.

Edited June 2, 2022 by ozlay

[pio]

4 hours ago, ozlay said:

Have you considered a 4G/5G booster? I know there are a few window antenna options.

 

T-Mobile uses a fake address in there system. As a work around. So that you can get T-Mobile in an unsupported area. Not sure if that is possible with verizon. But you can always ask.

I've considered buying a whole house just so I can use an antenna.   Now I get to wait 90 days, and then I can start shopping. 

 

I'll make do with it for now, I want out of this apartment worse and worse by the day.  I'm going to find a way into a house even if it kills me.   And then......then I'll have ISP options since I don't have to worry about apartment complex bureaucracy.