Forward Different Ports to Different Routers

fedex · 02-13-2010, 01:50 PM

Hi

I've got 2 Internet connections. One is 50mbit, uncapped, with a singular static IP.
The second is 8mbit, with low cap on usage, and a block of IPs, allowing me to configure each machine a public IP address.
I've got 15 machines and all traffic must go to and from their public IP addres, with the exception of any VNC related data, which I'd like to route via the uncapped connection both because it's a much faster connection, and because VNC (or anything akin to it) would eat up the low cap very quickly.

I've given this some thought and come up with this, but I am not a network engineer, this is just an educated guess:

The computers connect to the switch using 10/100 Ethernet (I've actually got 12 not the 16 shown in the diagram).

The switch connects to a router via Gigabit Ethernet (and the switch knows to direct packets towards this router).
There's my first problem: can I do this with an unmanaged switch, or do I need something else?

Next, the router that is directly connected to the switch forwards data relating to VNC to the uncapped router, and forwards any other data to the capped router.
I don't know how to achieve this either - I believe part of the solution would be to go into VNC's configuration on each PC and assign the program to a different port number.
Then, the router tasked solely with switching VNC packets would be told which IP address to send incoming data onto.

Lastly, the reason the wires are different colours in my diagram is because I wanted to ask what types of Ethernet cable I require (e.g. patch.. I can't remember the names of any of the other types).

Thanks very much for any light you can shed! Also, as I said, I'm not a network engineer, far from!, so if my solution isn't the one you'd use, please let me know there's an alternative.

AboveTheLogic · 02-13-2010, 09:10 PM

This is quite an unusual setup.

At the office I have about 27 IPs, but all through the same connection and ISP. All outbound traffic goes through the same gateway, but inbound traffic comes in through whichever IP the request came through.

Your situation is tough, you are trying to route traffic through different gateways based on protocol, and I have no idea how to do that.

I can tell you that each of those PCs should only have one default gateway to work reliably, but you can change the gateway whenever you like. You can also play with static routes to try to somewhat do what you are trying to do, but even then its not quite right.

The VNC traffic, is this outbound from your LAN to a VNC server on the outside, or is it inbound to your LAN to VNC servers on the inside?

fedex · 02-14-2010, 04:42 PM

Hi

Each PC is basically a VNC Server. It listens for incoming requests to connect, and then sends display and (if configured) sound, whilst receving inputs; keyboard and mouse interactions for example, from the remote Client program.
I can tell it which ports to listen on, and which ports to send data out through.
I'll take a look at Static Routes, I'm going to repost my question over at PortForward.com aswell, but I'll keep both threads updated with any developments.
Thanks again for your assistance, if I can get this configured it'll knock a fair chunk of my bandwidth bills; each GB of data throughput on the limited connection costs about £3.50.

adamwerner · 02-15-2010, 01:49 PM

Hi,
What you are suggesting isn't all that unusual, though you are approaching it a little differently. I highly recommend that you consider purchasing a multi-wan router. There are several inexpensive (under $400 and in some cases under $200 if you don't need on-board VPN capabilities). Recently, I spent well over a year testing various load balancing and traffic shaping hardware devices and in the course of my testing I created scenarios very similar to what you are trying to do. These devices are designed to route traffic based on it's Port number to two or more WANs/default gateways.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions, I'd be happy to help with this.

Regards,
-Adam

fedex · 02-20-2010, 09:25 PM

Hi

Fantastic! The diagram I'd come up with was just a guess at what would be required. Since reading your post about 45 minutes ago (I'd subscribed via e-mail to this thread but has somehow missed your post) I've identified the Draytek 2930n as a possible candidate; it appears capable of working with both my cable router and ADSL2+ routers simultaneously (the former requiring its mac to be cloned, which it can do, and it also me to use DHCP with the cable router and my static IP block with the ADSL2+ router, which is fantastic!).

I've read through TomsHardware.com's review of its feature set in detail and I'm not utterly convinced its bandwidth management capabilities are quite up to the job, but I am at least on the right track now, so thank you very much, I am much indebted to you for pointing me in the right direction with the words "multi wan router" and "traffic shaping" - I was under the false impression that "traffic shaping" was a technology used solely by ISPs to prevent torrent users maxing out all their resources.

02-13-2010, 01:50 PM	#1
fedex Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 5	Forward Different Ports to Different Routers Hi I've got 2 Internet connections. One is 50mbit, uncapped, with a singular static IP. The second is 8mbit, with low cap on usage, and a block of IPs, allowing me to configure each machine a public IP address. I've got 15 machines and all traffic must go to and from their public IP addres, with the exception of any VNC related data, which I'd like to route via the uncapped connection both because it's a much faster connection, and because VNC (or anything akin to it) would eat up the low cap very quickly. I've given this some thought and come up with this, but I am not a network engineer, this is just an educated guess: The computers connect to the switch using 10/100 Ethernet (I've actually got 12 not the 16 shown in the diagram). The switch connects to a router via Gigabit Ethernet (and the switch knows to direct packets towards this router). There's my first problem: can I do this with an unmanaged switch, or do I need something else? Next, the router that is directly connected to the switch forwards data relating to VNC to the uncapped router, and forwards any other data to the capped router. I don't know how to achieve this either - I believe part of the solution would be to go into VNC's configuration on each PC and assign the program to a different port number. Then, the router tasked solely with switching VNC packets would be told which IP address to send incoming data onto. Lastly, the reason the wires are different colours in my diagram is because I wanted to ask what types of Ethernet cable I require (e.g. patch.. I can't remember the names of any of the other types). Thanks very much for any light you can shed! Also, as I said, I'm not a network engineer, far from!, so if my solution isn't the one you'd use, please let me know there's an alternative.

02-13-2010, 09:10 PM	#2
AboveTheLogic Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 475	This is quite an unusual setup. At the office I have about 27 IPs, but all through the same connection and ISP. All outbound traffic goes through the same gateway, but inbound traffic comes in through whichever IP the request came through. Your situation is tough, you are trying to route traffic through different gateways based on protocol, and I have no idea how to do that. I can tell you that each of those PCs should only have one default gateway to work reliably, but you can change the gateway whenever you like. You can also play with static routes to try to somewhat do what you are trying to do, but even then its not quite right. The VNC traffic, is this outbound from your LAN to a VNC server on the outside, or is it inbound to your LAN to VNC servers on the inside? __________________ Internet IP vs. Local IP Port Forwarding

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

02-14-2010, 04:42 PM	#3
fedex Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 5	Hi Each PC is basically a VNC Server. It listens for incoming requests to connect, and then sends display and (if configured) sound, whilst receving inputs; keyboard and mouse interactions for example, from the remote Client program. I can tell it which ports to listen on, and which ports to send data out through. I'll take a look at Static Routes, I'm going to repost my question over at PortForward.com aswell, but I'll keep both threads updated with any developments. Thanks again for your assistance, if I can get this configured it'll knock a fair chunk of my bandwidth bills; each GB of data throughput on the limited connection costs about £3.50.

02-15-2010, 01:49 PM	#4
adamwerner Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 1	Hi, What you are suggesting isn't all that unusual, though you are approaching it a little differently. I highly recommend that you consider purchasing a multi-wan router. There are several inexpensive (under $400 and in some cases under $200 if you don't need on-board VPN capabilities). Recently, I spent well over a year testing various load balancing and traffic shaping hardware devices and in the course of my testing I created scenarios very similar to what you are trying to do. These devices are designed to route traffic based on it's Port number to two or more WANs/default gateways. Please let me know if you have any additional questions, I'd be happy to help with this. Regards, -Adam

02-20-2010, 09:25 PM	#5
fedex Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 5	Hi Fantastic! The diagram I'd come up with was just a guess at what would be required. Since reading your post about 45 minutes ago (I'd subscribed via e-mail to this thread but has somehow missed your post) I've identified the Draytek 2930n as a possible candidate; it appears capable of working with both my cable router and ADSL2+ routers simultaneously (the former requiring its mac to be cloned, which it can do, and it also me to use DHCP with the cable router and my static IP block with the ADSL2+ router, which is fantastic!). I've read through TomsHardware.com's review of its feature set in detail and I'm not utterly convinced its bandwidth management capabilities are quite up to the job, but I am at least on the right track now, so thank you very much, I am much indebted to you for pointing me in the right direction with the words "multi wan router" and "traffic shaping" - I was under the false impression that "traffic shaping" was a technology used solely by ISPs to prevent torrent users maxing out all their resources.