can i use 2 broadband connections on one PC?

Question

i have a road runner cable broadband in my house, it broke down and disconnected at least 5 times or more in a day, few days ago it disconnected for 12 hours, i can't even finish my project without the internet, it wasted me a lot of time.

finally i decided to get a verizon DSL broadband just in case to be backup. i just want to know whether i'm able to connect 2 broadband in a same pc or i need some switcher or else?
yes or no? how it works?

Answer 1

I'm assuming that your O.S. is a flavor of Windows...you didn't specify in your question.

XP and Vista have the ability to bridge 2 or more network connections together. You'll need two network interfaces (Ethernet / RJ45 / USB) on the machine. Search for "Bridge Connections" and whatever version of the operating system you're running. If you're familiar with PCs and have a few minutes it's much cheaper than buying a router with dual WAN ports.

I'm not a Mac tech. but I'm sure there's a way with Mac OS X.

Answer 2

You can certainly connect more than one broadband connection in one computer (wireless and wired at the same time come to mind).
If you want two wired connections, you would need two ethernet connections, which would require a second ethernet card. Whichever one was "live" would handle the data transfer.

Answer 3

Yes, but you need software to manage the connections to obtain maximum bandwidth -- also get Verizon FIOS -- you'll never go back to DSL or Cable.

Answer 4

Well you can switch the ethernet cables from the cable to dsl modem when one crashed or you will need to use a hub

Answer 5

You can buy routers that has dual wan ports with fail over (not load balancing!) function. However, some SOHO routers with this capability does not always work as advertised.

like this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122080

this one seems has better review
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833174002

both around $160, make your own decision.