What Is A Bonded Internet Connection?

A bonded internet connection is two or more internet connections joined together through a single router. By joining multiple connections together, we can combine their speeds into one super fast connection.

For example, two separate 1Gbps download and upload internet connections could be bonded into a single 2Gbps download and upload connection.

One of the most common reasons businesses use bonded internet is to get a fast connection to a location that doesn’t have the infrastructure in place. Most businesses that are located in a remote area will find there’s very limited access to fast internet connections, and so will have to choose between bonding two connections together or using microwave internet. 

Bonded internet is also used by businesses who rely heavily on the internet to function, as it doesn’t only give you faster speeds – it also gives you less chance of downtime (employees sitting around unable to work while you argue with the internet company).

What connections can be bonded together?

Almost all of the modern internet connections can be bonded together, including:

• 4G/5G
• Fibre
• FTTC
• FTTP
• ADSL
• Any Ethernet service
• Fixed Wireless Link (Microwave Internet)
• And more.

Companies who require ultra-fast, always on internet will usually combine a fibre leased line with a microwave internet connection to achieve speeds of up to 20Gbps.

The major benefit of bonding a leased line with a microwave internet connection is the resilience your business gets from using two completely separate connections.

Leased lines are prone to damage during floods, due to the fact that they are ground-based. They’re also vulnerable to fires and often damaged during construction works. And although that doesn’t happen everyday, it takes a long time to fix when it does.

Bonding two leased lines together will give you faster internet speeds, but you risk them both going down during a natural disaster.

A microwave connection is as fast as a fibre leased line but isn’t at risk during those scenarios, as the connection is delivered over the air – meaning there’s less to go wrong.

By bonding a leased line with microwave internet, you get the best of both worlds – faster internet and less chance of it ever going down.

What happens if a connection goes down?

If one of your connections was to go down, the router would simply use your other working connections and not put traffic through the broken one until it’s been fixed. This ensures no data will be lost, but will give you slower speeds while the internet provider gets it working again.

If you use a fully managed service like MultiConnect+, you’ll have 24/7 monitoring of your bonded connection – ensuring any faults or potential problems get fixed before it ever causes issues for your business.

Is bonded internet the same as load balancing?

Bonding internet connections is similar to load balancing, but has a few important differences. 

Bonding joins 2 connections into 1, whereas load balancing uses 1 of the 2 connections and keeps the other as a backup.

You won’t be able to increase your internet’s speed with load balancing, but it can be used to prioritise internet access to certain people or locations if your connection gets too busy.

Do bonded connections use different IP addresses?

Bonded connections can be set up in a way that only ever uses one IP address, no matter what connection is being used. This avoids downtime that would have otherwise been necessary while a dynamic IP refreshes, and is also needed for use with CCTV systems.

Having a fixed IP isn’t always the way businesses want their connections set up, and so it’s important to let the company who’s bonding your connections know if it’s important to your business before they get started.

Need bonded internet for your business?

If your business needs a bonded internet connection, get in touch with our friendly team today. Simply click on the button below, enter your details and we’ll give you a call back shortly.