Use 2 network interfaces to download a file with segments

[albanderuaz]

Hi everyone,

I have already searched for info concerning the use of multiple internet connections but I haven't found what I am looking for.

I have two wireless interfaces, both connected to two different routers, both having access to the internet through 2 different telephone lines.

You can download a file by segmenting it. Would it be possible to download a file with 2 segments, the first one would be the first half of the file and the second one the second half of it, where segment1 is downloaded through interface 1 and segment 2 is downloaded through interface 2?

Does anyone know any way or any software to do so, or if it is even possible?

Thank you!

 

[eibgrad]

It doesn't matter to Windows how many Internet connections you have, it will ONLY use one of them. And the reason is very simple. Whenever an IP address is not accessible on the local network, Windows uses the default gateway to route the request to the Internet. But you can’t have *multiple* default gateways, or else it's not a default, right?

So NO, you can’t have two internet connections available in Windows and somehow make it use one connection for this, and another connection for that. Windows picks one (the one w/ highest priority under Network Connections) and sticks w/ it, forever. The other connection is completely ignored, at least for Internet access purposes.

OTOH, knowing this behavior, we can jury rig a solution. You could use a VM (e.g., VirtualBox, perhaps XP Mode in Win7) and create a second Windows environment on the same machine. Most allow you to control which network adapters are recognized in the VM. So you could limit the VM to the network adapter w/ the lower priority. Now each environment (host and VM) are using different Internet connections, and thus you can download different file segments simultaneously.

Of course, you could segment all kinds of internet-based activity this way; browsing, ftp, remote desktop, etc. In fact, I often recommend this approach to ppl who want/need to maintain separation between their personal needs and their work related needs across a corporate VPN.

No, it’s not as convenient as having your applications magically know how to access the two routers independently and simultaneously. But that’s just not going to happen in Windows (or most any other OS) when those applications depends on the default gateway.

The only other option would be if the router itself was capable of managing downloads (e.g., torrent client). Admittedly not a common feature, but I have seen it from time to time. That *pushes* the process to those devices, which in turn will use their respective Internet connections to process the request.

I know it’s tempting to consider multiple Internet connection in Windows, but most ppl don’t realize that it’s pointless. Unless you’re using a multiple WAN router where network requests can be distributed across multiple Internet connections, you’re wasting your time.

 

[albanderuaz]

Thank you very much for this detailed and precuse answer! I will consider the VM idea with vmware.

Thanks!

 

[xixu4u]

hi albanderuaz

u can combined ur 2 wifi using linux zeroshell as netbalancer

use VM installed with zeroshell, they can combined multipe inet connection...

(i use 2 mobile broadband with vm zeroshell, and main comp use ip vm zeroshell as gateway)

 

[albanderuaz]

Thank you for your reply, zeroshell looks great but does not accept all wifi cards.
I found a software called Midpoint which does the job as well, under Windows.