• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Increase Broadband Speed

  • Home
  • Guide
  • Speed Test
  • Best Router
  • Best Wi-Fi Access Point
  • About
  • Blog

Follow-up Sharedband review with Linksys routers

Sharedband Linksys routers

This is our follow-up review of the Sharedband ADSL bonding service, this time using the Sharedband Linksys WRT54GL routers. While setup was a little bit more involved than setting up Sharedband’s ‘all-in-one’ Netgear DG834v4 routers, the Linksys routers provide enhanced flexibility for broadband users wanting to get the very best performance from their broadband connections. After testing the Sharedband service for over a month, we have found its performance to be outstanding. You really do get the upload and download speed advantages of bonding multiple lines together without any negative performance consequences.

If you would like to order the Sharedband service, please do so via this Sharedband information and ordering page. This will generate a small commission to help cover the costs of running this site.

Setting up the Sharedband Linksys routers

Our initial Sharedband review focused on Sharedband’s most popular router – the Netgear DG834v4. Since an ADSL2+modem is integrated within this device, you only need one of these for each line that you bond together. The Netgear DG834v4 is the cheapest of the three Sharedband routers currently available and is the easiest to set up, as no other devices are needed.

We missed being able to use our favourite, and highly robust, Billion 7800 modem. As discussed in our dedicated Billion 7800 page, this modem/router has an excellent reputation for maintaining the connection on challenging lines. It also provides the facility to adjust (and permanently store) the target SNR margin, which can significantly increase speeds (as described in our SNR tweaking page).

Sales Director Richard Roberts kindly agreed to swap out our two Netgear DG834v4 routers for two Linksys WRT54GL routers. As with the first routers, the small package arrived by courier very quickly, and came with simple instructions. The routers had been pre-configured to match the settings (such as IP addresses) of our first routers – even though we did change these to fit with our new architecture.

Each Sharedband Linksys WRT54GL router ships with customised firmware that has been developed by Sharedband. It is important to note that, while standard WRT54GL routers have wireless (802.11g) capability, the wireless functionality has been deliberately switched off to dedicate the modem’s resources to the processing requirements of the Sharedband ADSL bonding service. As a consequence, broadband users requiring WiFi capability will need to use a separate wireless access point or wireless router.

We connected the Sharedband routers to Billion 7800 modems and a DrayTek 2920 wireless firewall router, as shown in the figure, below, to give us maximum flexibility and peak performance for all users.

Our sharedband configuration

 Network configuration used with the Linksys Sharedband routers

Dedicated modems achieved a 12% increase in download connection speed

The Billion 7800 modems were configured to use a different IP address range to the Sharedband routers, and each modem was connected to the LAN input of the corresponding Sharedband router. The Billion modems did not need to be configured in ‘bridge mode’ since PPPoE was not supported by the Sharedband Linksys routers.

The use of dedicated modems incorporating SNR target margin tweaking allowed us to achieve significant improvements in download speeds on both our DSL lines. Previously, with the Netgear DG834v4 modems, we were able to achieve downlink connection speeds of 5.6 Mbps and 6.0 Mbps. With the Billion 7800N modems now in place (using SNR target margin tweaking), we were able to reliably achieve over 6.5Mbps download connection speeds – representing a 12% increase overall, as demonstrated below.

 

Statistics screen for the first Billion 7800

Statistics screen for the Billion 7800

A Draytek firewall router completed our powerful network configuration

We attached the primary Sharedband router to the first WAN input of our DrayTek 2920 wireless firewall router. It was easy to enter details in the DrayTek WAN menu, as shown below. Since both Sharedband modems were configured to have a VRRP Gateway IP address of 192.168.2.250, this was the Gateway IP address typed in to the Draytek set-up menu.

WAN configuration for the DrayTek router

The MTU of the Billion 7800N and Sharedband router WAN inputs was set at 1432, which was recommended by our ISPs as the optimum settings. Sharedband recommends that the MTU setting in Draytek routers is set to be 32 bytes less than the optimum ISP MTUs – to reflect the fact that a small proportion of data packets are used by the Sharedband service itself. So, in our case, we set the WAN input MTU on the DrayTek router to be 1400.

We also attached our primary Billion 7800 modem to the second WAN input of the DrayTek 2920 router. This was configured to provide fail-over, so that, in the unlikely event that the Sharedband service failed, Internet connection would still be maintained through a single conventional ADSL connection.

The incorporation of the DrayTek router provided us with highly-valuable additional functionality:

  • wireless 802.11n capability
  • bandwidth management (for example, to prioritise Skype traffic, and lower the priority of background applications such as email)
  • user control (for example, to switch off Internet access for certain users at specified times)
  • application control (to prevent certain Internet applications from being used, such as Facebook)
  • dual-WAN capability, to provide fail-over in case the Sharedband service failed.

Performance of the Sharedband service was excellent

We tested our system rigorously over the several days, and we found that it performed flawlessly. Compared with Netgear Sharedband routers, we were able to consistently achieve download speeds of well over 11 Mbps while maintaining a stable connections (without drops) over many days.

 

As demonstrated by the measurements from JackDinn’s Auto Speed Tester software over several hours (shown below), performance was very consistent. As well as high download and upload speeds, jitter was consistently low (at 3 ms or less).

Sharedband speed test, ping and jitter results

We were particularly pleased with the low ping of about 30 ms, as demonstrated by our Pingtest.com testing (shown below). Given our relatively long distance from our exchange and the fact that interleaving is used on both DSL lines, this is a fantastic result and demonstrates that the Sharedband service adds an insignificant amount of latency.

Ping test for the Sharedband service

Skype worked flawlessly, even when many other Internet applications were being used at the same, helped in part by our ability to prioritise Skype traffic using the DrayTek router.

For all practical purposes, we now had a 11 Mbps+ DSL connection thanks to the Sharedband service. Given our rural location, we could never have imagined achieving this level of performance without opting for very expensive leased lines. While this may not be superfast broadband in the strictest sense, the combination of 11 Mbps with the traffic management capabilities of the DrayTek router means that there’s little ‘real world’ difference in terms of the quality of service perceived by Internet users. Streaming of HD video content, uploading of large files and multiple Skype calls could all be easily supported simultaneously. Plus, the Sharedband service provides greater resilience than a single-line superfast broadband VDSL or cable solution.

For a total monthly cost of £75 (including VAT, line rental and fixed calls) we had a robust and highly resilient Internet connection with 11 Mbps download speed, 1.4 Mbps upload speed and substantial monthly usage allowance.

This connection was highly reliable, with a high degree of resilience. If we had ‘lost’ a single DSL connection, Internet access would have been unaffected. By using our dual-WAN DrayTek router, we also had resilience against failure of the Sharedband service itself.

Overall impressions of Sharedband DSL bonding

We have been delighted with the Sharedband service, and regret not knowing of its existence until recently. Hopefully, the service will become better known as Sharedband attempts to build business partnerships in the industry, with ISPs, telecommunication companies, Value-Added Resellers and VoIP providers. We are intrigued why many more ISPs have not seized the opportunity to offer the Sharedband bonding service alongside their existing DSL services. This seems a ‘no-brainer’ to us. Not only would ISPs be better able to support customers with relatively poor DSL connections, but they could increase the number of broadband lines/connections sold. While all-on-one solutions no doubt appeal to many customers, bear in mind that maximum resilience is achieved by not using the same ISP/provider for every DSL connection.

Read our initial Sharedband DSL bonding review

 

If you would like to order the Sharedband service, please do so via this Sharedband information and ordering page. This will generate a small commission to help cover the costs of running this site.

Primary Sidebar

Most popular guides

Increase Broadband Speed Guide – Top 15 Ways to Boost Speeds
 
How to Speed Up DNS Look-ups
 
How to Fix Bufferbloat
 
How to Set Up and Improve Wi-Fi
 
10 Gigabit Ethernet Guide: is it time to upgrade to 10 GbE?
 
15 Ways to Improve Video Conferencing

Equipment Guides

Best Wi-Fi Access Points For 2020
 
Best Routers For 2020

Test Your Broadband

Run Our Broadband Speed Test
 
Online Speed Tests – the Best and Worst and How to Use Them

 

Recent blog posts

  • ‘A Perfect Planet’ and ‘Dr Who’ Demonstrate 4k HDR at its Best on BBC iPlayer but We Want More
  • Review of the Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine (UDM) Pro Router – ideal for ultrafast broadband connections
  • Government Cuts Gigabit Broadband Investment and Targets, So Why Not Do It Yourself?
  • A 4k HDR Christmas Present from Sky: movies go HDR with Dolby Atmos
  • 10 Gigabit Ethernet Guide: is it time to upgrade to 10 GbE?
  • 15 Ways to Improve Video Conferencing including Zoom and Skype
  • Guide for Rural Communities: How to Get Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) Now!
  • Wi-Fi Setup Guide: What is a Good Signal Level or Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for Wi-Fi?
  • The 2020 Guide to Setting the Best and Fastest DNS Servers for PS4
  • How to Disable Wi-Fi with Sky Q and Use Ethernet Instead
  • TV and Video Will Triple Average Home Monthly Internet Usage to Beyond 1 TB By 2025
  • Disney Plus in the UK Finally Matches Bit Rates in the USA
  • Review: Sky Finally Launches HDR With Its Ultra HD 4k Service and It’s Fantastic But…
  • Online Speed Tests: The Best and Worst and How to Use Them
  • How To Speed Up DNS Look-ups for Faster Performance
  • Chart of Fibre Broadband (FTTC) Speed Versus Distance From the Cabinet
  • Review of Disney Plus in the UK: Shame About the Picture and Sound Quality
  • Amazon’s Music HD Service Spells New Era for CD-Quality Music Streaming
  • Bufferbloat: Why it is Harming Your Broadband and How to Easily Fix It
  • Review of Apple TV+: Apple’s Streamed Service Leads the Pack in Picture Quality

Superfast/ultrafast broadband

What is Fibre Broadband? FTTC and FTTP Explained
 
Ten Reasons You Need Superfast Broadband
 
Ten Reasons You Need Ultrafast FTTP Broadband
 
Chart of BT FTTC Speeds Versus Distance From the Street Cabinet
 
Which Fibre ISP?
 
What's Involved in a Fibre Broadband Installation?
 
What is G.Fast?
 
UK Broadband Statistics

How to Improve your existing connection

Increase Broadband Speed Guide
 
How to Determine Your Connection Speed
 
Fit a Filtered Faceplate
 
Which ISP?
 
Get a Better Router
 
Speed Test Guide
 
Tweak Target SNR Margin
 
Chart of ADSL Speed Versus Distance From the Exchange
 
How to Improve Wi-Fi
 
Best DNS Server Settings

Copyright © 2021