Bonding two T1's 1

[Larro112]

Can anyone reccomend a cisco router that will bond two T1 lines from the same ISP. Any other brands besides cisco would be fine.

I have check with our ISP and they do support bonding so that both circuits will resolve to one IP.

Also, if anyone could point me in the direction of any tutorials on bonding the T1's in the config that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[plshlpme]

we use 2651xm's
not sure if a 1700 would have the power to do it or not

 

[voltron1011]

I think a 1720 can handle it with no problem.

 

[Larro112]

Thanks for the replies.

Any chance one of you guys would be able to post your config or point me the right direction to set this up.

 

[VoIPGuyNSC]

I think the key here is IMA (Inverse Multiplexing for ATM): This should get you started.

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/121/imafaq_19168.html#Q1

John Lever
Telecommunications
Richland School District Two

 

[Larro112]

VoIPGuyNSC Thank you for your helpful link. Would you be able to recommend a router for me to accomplish my goal.

Also, will I need to buy any extra equipment or will it be equiped out of the box.

 

[VoIPGuyNSC]

If you're buying new, then as a rule, I don't usually recommend anything less than a 2800 series. In this case, its absolutely necessary, as a 2811 is the lowest end model that supports the AIM-ATM. To this, you can add either two VIC2-1MFT-T1 or one VIC2-2MFT-T1. And go from there, making sure to select the right IOS feature set for your use. Plus, the 2811 will still give you some additional WIC/HWIC/VWIC slots available for future use, like voice. There are 4 total. The 2800 is a very versatile router.

If you're buying used, then the 2600 series will do it, though I don't know the specific model. In that series, though, you have to go with a now end-of-life network module, NM-4T1-IMA.

John Lever
Telecommunications
Richland School District Two

 

[JOAMON]

If I read your initial post correctly then I think what you are after is multilink PPP. Not sure on the IMA post. We use MLPPP to bond two T1 line together for one connection at 3meg. We use the Cisco 2811 with two wic-1dsu-t1-v2 cards and it does well. Can't go wrong the the 2800 series...they are good routers. Recommend getting the advanced security bundle if you are not currently employing a firewall device. See example of our MLPPP config below:

interface Multilink1
description connected to internet
ip address 64.100.200.34 255.255.255.252
no cdp enable
ppp multilink
ppp multilink fragment disable
ppp multilink group 1
!
interface Serial0/0
description multilink 1 interface
no ip address
encapsulation ppp
tx-ring-limit 26
tx-queue-limit 26
no keepalive
no fair-queue
ppp multilink
ppp multilink group 1
!
interface Serial0/1
description multilink 1 interface
no ip address
encapsulation ppp
tx-ring-limit 26
tx-queue-limit 26
no keepalive
no fair-queue
ppp multilink
ppp multilink group 1

Check with your ISP for the correst method they use for bonding.

 

[voltron1011]

VoIPGuyNSC, the 2621xm is probably the model he would want to use....

 

[VoIPGuyNSC]

Multilink PPP is another way to go. I was tunnel visioned by the way we do it with our provider. I guess it all depends on which protocol your provider will use.

John Lever
Telecommunications
Richland School District Two

 

[hinesjrh]

Yes, MLPPP works great. I am currently bonding 5 T1's and getting ready to add a 6th on a 2651XM. Ask if your ISP supports MLPPP.

 

[daver56]

Beware of the 2600 series routers, they are nearing End of Life with Cisco, so future support from cisco could be an issue. But there are tons of them on the market and the prices are right with the 2800's out now.

In the past I did 2 T1's with a 2600 with two T1 CSU/DSU's and used CEF (Cisco Express Forwarding) to bond the two T1's. Your upstream provider has to be able to provide the service as well. You get two options, packet for packet split across the T1's or thread for thread split between them. Cisco's site has some nice examples for your configuration, as well as a detailed description of how it works.