| Frequently Asked Questions |
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Q: What speed can I expect from a Sharedband connection? A: Sharedband will aggregate the actual speeds of the lines connected to the service minus a small overhead (see Q&A below regarding overhead). For example, if you have two Broadband connections, one running at 2Mbps downstream and the other at 4Mbps downstream, the aggregated performance will be up to 6Mbps downstream. Sharedband aggregates both the upstream and downstream bandwidth.
Sharedband cannot create "new bandwidth" - it aggregates the total Broadband connections and delivers what is actually available at that time. Line speeds are not always as advertised or constant throughout the day or week. Sharedband software tests the line speeds periodically and adjusts the distribution of packets to optimize the aggregated performance. In addition, packet re-sequencing is automatically activated when connections are detected to be very different speeds and latencies.
Q: Are there maximum speed limitations with Sharedband? A: Sharedband's bonded throughput is limited by the processing power of the routers used. For example, consumer grade routers such as the Netgear DG834 and the Linksys WRT54GL can expect to achieve between 12Mbps and 18Mbps, depending upon configuration. Sharedband will soon be releasing a new range of routers designed to bond faster lines up to 100Mbps.
Q: How does Sharedband deal with different latencies on lines; especially when I'm using different ISPs i.e. deals with out of sequence packets? A: Each Internet device has a small amount of memory to deal with out of sequence packets - the amount depends upon the operating system. On two slow speed lines with large latency differences, this memory buffer is probably sufficiently large to cope with out of sequence packets. However if fast lines are used, or there is a very large difference in latency, it is likely that this buffer will not be sufficiently large resulting in packet loss and poor performance. Sharedband has built-in packet resequencing software that puts downstream traffic back in its original order. However because the routers are doing more work, the over-all maximum throughput is reduced.
Q: My ISP's line performance changes throughout the day. How does Sharedband cope with this? A: Customers can set up automatic performance monitoring of lines via the management system they have access to. This entails periodically checking the actual throughput of the lines (rather than what has been bought) and adjusting how much data is sent down each line accordingly. For example if a 2 line deployment showed line 1 was delivering 4Mbps and line 2 was delivering 2Mbps, double the amount of traffic will be delivered down line 1 than line 2. This 'adaption' period can be adjusted from once every 15 minutes to once a day.
Q: What is the overhead with Sharedband? A: Sharedband adds 25bytes to each packet which is typically 1.6% of the packet size. In addition, a very small amount of data is used in the line testing process; the frequency of the line testing is adjustable and should be set to a minimum based on the stability of the speed of the lines being pooled.
Q: Is Sharedband limited to ADSL the types of Broadband connections it can aggregate?
Q: Can I port forward using Sharedband? A: Yes, port forwarding (PAT) is supported.
Q: Does Sharedband support VPN traffic? A: Sharedband supports PPTP VPN traffic and IPSEC using L2TP, UDP or TCP protocols.
Q: What happens if I lose a connection on one of my lines? Does Sharedband stop working? A: Sharedband will continue to operate if a line is lost and as long is one connection is up, you will stay connected. Bandwidth will be reduced by the speed of the disconnected line until that line comes back on line. This is especially advantageous with applications such as VoIP when a disruption to a single line connection will cause the call to drop.
Q: How does the failover work? If I lose the connection to my gateway, will I lose my connection to the internet? A: Sharedband enabled routers are configured in VRRP mode. Therefore, if you were to lose any of your routers in your network the VRRP function will maintain access to the internet. Sharedband also incorporates a DHCP server failover capability, so there is no need to be concerned about losing your DHCP functionality if that router is lost.
Q: How does Sharedband improve resilience? A: There is no single point of failure and because aggregation occurs at the IP layer, multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Internet backbone infrastructures can be used - significantly improving resilience when compared to a single provider solution.
Q: What about T1s? A: For many businesses, high availability, incrementally scalable and fast connectivity is only achievable by purchasing expensive T1s and bonded T1s. Sharedband can aggregate less expensive Broadband connections such as DSL and Cable to provide the speed and reliability of T1s, or can be used to aggregate single T1’s or bonded T1’s as an economical, flexible and simple way “bonding” solution.
Q: What support is available? A: First level support calls are directed to your Sharedband Service Provider. If the problem is not resolved immediately, your Service Provider will refer the issue to Sharedband Technical Support to solve. If you subscribed to Sharedband at www.sharedband.com, please visit our website for support.
Q: Once I place an order, how quickly can I be up and running? A: This will depend on whether you wish to aggregate existing connections or whether new lines or services, such as ADSL to an existing telephone line, need to be installed. Once the lines to be aggregated are in place, it normally takes less than an hour to install the Sharedband-enabled routers and activate the service. After Sharedband have received your order for its bonding service, routers will be despatched typically within 2 to 3 working days.
Q: What do I get when I order the Sharedband service? A: You typically have delivered Sharedband enabled routers (one per line), a quick install guide and configuration details.
Q: Why do you charge for data transfer rather than a flat fee? A: As Sharedband does not own its own transit or datacenter, we effectively pay for every bit of data that is sent across the network. To ensure that Sharedband never becomes the performance bottleneck, we provide an uncontended network using multiple tier one providers and premium co-location facilities (see infrastructure page for more detail) - which does not come cheap! It is only sensible business practise to link revenues to cost base.
Q: How would you summarize the Sharedband proposition? A:
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