BT Business Broadband – SwitchedBit

So as a follow on from my previous post regarding a networking setup I’m working on here.

I recently purchased a BT Business line for the property I’m staying in, this comes with BT’s 4G Assure kit, which if the line has a fault it’ll switch over to a 4G backup. Now my big issue with this is that 4G is monumentally better than my ADSL Line, so hopefully I can answer some questions that I had issues finding easily online.

Q: My BT line isn’t due to be installed for x Months, can I just plug in the 4G assure and get up and running?

A: Yes. Amazingly BT Advertise this in the packaging, that you can just plug it in, and get going straight away. Fantastic solution. However speeds are horrid. I get 80 Down 30 Up with my iPhone on EE. On my BT 4G Assure I get 5 Down 1 up. Worse than ADSL. I’ll be contacting BT regarding this though

Q: What provider do they use?

A: EE

Q: Do you still get a static IP?

A: Seems to be, I’ve restarted the device a few times and it’s kept the IP every time.

Q: How does it connect?

A: There’s a dock that plugs into the USB allowing you to extend it out and put it where you want. This is rather heavy and feels really nice. Honestly the BT Business Hub 6 is a fantastic feeling bit of kit, really premium. You can also plug it into your PC Or Laptop. It seems to just work and you get access to the Huawei Interface. BT state this shouldn’t be possible but seems to work absolutely fine for me.

Overall, it’s a decent solution that I’ve yet to fully test in regards to my line going down or anything like that. I’ll be handling that much nicer on my end with 2 ADSL Lines and a 4G Backup all load balanced between each other. So doubt I’ll have much need for this other than the initial setup.

I know what you’re thinking. 2020 and this guy is still on ADSL? Believe it or not some remote communities and even big cities are still running over copper. It’s sad but it’s the situation we’re in. I decided to try something to see if I couldn’t improve my situation while waiting for the local authorities to catch up and improve my area!

It all started at my day job, I work for a company which deals with software development, meaning we’ve got a bunch of developers, constantly online, learning, pushing and pulling code along with those network destroying docker/package updates every day. Running on one 17MBit Down / 1Mbit up line wasn’t cutting it, so I added another, load balanced between them and effectively doubled my speeds on anything which accepted MULTIPLE connections. IE (Bittorrent). This works fine on things like git where someone can max out the connection of one line while someone else can max out the other.

The reason multiple is in bold, is because this won’t work if you send your mate a file over Discord, chances are it uses one connection to take the file in, where as bit torrent can use over 900 to send files to you, thus allowing multiple connections over your multiple lines to max out your throughput. EASY!

This solution worked rather well for the office. We went from 17/1 to around 40/1.5, very decent upgrade plus we’ve got another line if the other one fails! (Which did actually happen when we first moved in, only one line worked!)

With a plan in action, I’m going to attempt the same process on a residential spot, it depends on a few things. Namely if there is space for an existing circuit, if not I’ll need to pay to get one installed. Had to start a company (lol) and apply for business broadband, which should be here by June! (lol)

So expect updates soon! I expect it to work, but I figured I’d share my story to give those of you out there a possible solution to the ISPs not upgrading you with modern times. Can’t get fibre? Just install 4 ADSL Lines and load balance all of them. Not the same thing at all, BUT for the modern user, they’ll be absolutely fine. Means someone can max out a download on one line while the other internet users use the other. Routers and QoS is smart these days, trust me!