Multilinking two computers?

[captpete]

Operating two computers with Win 2000 on a home network (10/100). Have two phone lines, and IDDN service. Right now I can use both simultaneously, but at each modem's rated speed. Can I multilink these modems without physically moving both modems into the same computer? Can you multilink more than two modems, say maybe three or four, given you had the appropriate number of phone lines? Instead of "shotgunning", maybe a "minigun"?

[DVNT1]

Right now I can use both simultaneously, but at each modem's rated speed.

Do you mean individually from their respective computer, or access both from one computer?


Can I multilink these modems without physically moving both modems into the same computer?

I wouldn't *think* so, but I've never tried.

Even if on the same computer, for any single file transfer, I would believe the throughput would only be as fast as one modem. It seems that both modem routes would go to there own IP address. Therefore the file transfer request would have to come from one IP address and then the file would only be sent to that one IP address.
Again, this is just my theory and someone else may know otherwise.

Can you multilink more than two modems, say maybe three or four, given you had the appropriate number of phone lines? There are analog modem products that do this but I don't know about DSL or Cable.

I would believe it could be done with products that do load balancing but I wouldn't expect the total throughtput for a single file to exceed the single line rate.

[captpete]

I should have given some background. "Multilinking", what was originally called "shotgunning" by Diamond Modems, is a technology that has been available in Win 98 and now in Win 2000 where you literally double your connection speed. You need two seperate phone lines, an ISP that allows ISDN, and two modems on your computer. The signal is split at the ISP and bundled back together by Windows multilinking, creating a faster connection. You select multiple device dialing in Windows Networking and configure it there. It is what a lot of small businesses use to connect several computers to a single ISP connection sumultaneously, but as I described, it can also be bundled by a single computer.

To review my situation, I have an ISDN connection with two computers on a small home business network. Each computer can dial the same connection simoultaneously, so I can be on two different sites at the same time, downloading from each site at the full speed of the individual modem being used, each in a seperate computer on a seperate phone line. So, normally you multilink with two modems in the same computer, but I want to do it without moving the second modem out of my second computer into the first. I wondered if it could be down with the network.

[DVNT1]

I have used a product that allows you to share a 3 analog modem connection to the LAN from a single LAN IP. On the WAN side it was 3 different IPs. In this case the bandwith was not additive.
It sounds as though you're confident the technolgy you speak of has that capability. If you determine something that lets you do this please post it back to this forum.

I ddin't see this your answer to...

Right now I can use both simultaneously, but at each modem's rated speed.
Do you mean individually from their respective computer, or access both from one computer?

I would like to know the method you use, if you do, to access both modems, at their rated speed, from one computer.

[captpete]

I can only access each modem from its respective computer. I can have both computers connected to the same IP and each surfs independantly, but I am using two phone lines. As I understand it, this is a basic ISDN setup. With multilinking, you connect simultaneously with both modems, doubling your speed, but the modems apparently must be in the same computer.