[plug] Shotguns, Masq and ISPs

[David Campbell]

Here is something for people to chew over...

Last night someone asked me if Linux can:
  a) Act as an internet access gateway (I know the answer to this one)
  b) Load balance between two modems
  c) HDD space required for the above

Background:
The person in question lives in Rockingham, Telstra want to charge $15k to 
run an ISDN line to his premise (this does not include the $1.5k for the 
connection charge or the leasing costs). He runs a number of Win95 PCs 
which he admits are not the most stable of beasts. (ie: the Linux box does 
the dialling and Masq. to the other machines).

He has a couple of 56k modems and is wondering what is required to load
balance between the modems (aka "shotgun" approach using both "barrels".
I admit here that I have heard Linux can load balance between two modems
but the exact specifics I am not sure about. He mentioned that the ISP
has to do something at their end to support this (at least for Win95/NT 4
machines). Can Linux do this without any specific configuration at the
ISP end?

Currently he is assembling a box and has a 130MB IDE drive. I suspect
that this would be enough. He will not be compiling anything or running
X.

Off topic bit for ISP people:
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What are the ISP attitudes when dealing with such a case. I know that 
iiNet police the "one account, one dialin" strictly (I don't blame them). 
What sort of rates (compared to the standard accounts) would this incure.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for an ISP in the Rockingham area. 
The unnamed individual has had problems with iiNet accounts department 
(this is a LONG story, he LIKES the service but frustrated when dealing 
with the accounts people. A bit of paper slipped somewhere and he is out 
of pocket for a couple of hundred dollars).

David Campbell
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campbell at torque.net

"All parallel ports are equal - Some are more equal than others"