RT6600ax Can you combine/pool multiple internet service providers onto one network? (Bonding, multi WAN, Dual WAN, load balancing)

[zombiephysicist]

I know the 6600ax lets you have a fail over backup network (like your mobile phone) work as a backup if your primary network goes bad. But is there some way to pool multiple ISP internet providers into a single home network?

I have a cable ISP but the throughput is not the greatest. I finally got approved for Starlink and I would like to add it so it adds to our bandwidth.

Is there some way to do this? If not with Synology, if anyone happens to know some other way, any pointers would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Rusty]

Not supported on SRM, no

 

[zombiephysicist]

It’s interesting, the 2600ac is listed here as supporting dual wan load balancing…

8 Best Dual WAN Routers for Load Balancing in 2025

In search of the best multi-WAN load balancing router for your home or business network? Here are the 8 best options for 2025.

approvedmodems.org

Is this a feature that used to be offered and is missing in the 6600ax?

The asus has explicit load balancing support.

[Wireless Router] Dual WAN introduction and setup - Failover and Load Balance | Official Support | ASUS Global

And synology seems to have this with its SmartWAN feature?

How do I configure Smart WAN for my Synology Router? - Synology Knowledge Center

Synology Knowledge Center offers comprehensive support, providing answers to frequently asked questions, troubleshooting steps, software tutorials, and all the technical documentation you may need.

kb.synology.com

Here is a walkthrough on setting up dual wan on SRM:

How to Setup a Dual WAN Router with Synology SRM | Custom PC Review

www.custompcreview.com

 

[zombiephysicist]

So it seems there are 3 types of “pooling” of multiple internet links.

Bonding is the best but requires you hook multiple lines to some server that can help organize packets sent over different ip ranges back to you. seems you either need some sophisticated enterprise hardware, your own custom pc rig with sophisticated software and multiple Ethernet ports, or a service like Speedify.on each of your devices (which is a device management hassle imo).

Next best is multi-WAN/Dual WAN with load balancing. SRM supports both failover (the 3rd type) and load balancing via their SmartWAN feature, is the good news. Failover is just using ISP2, when ISP1 fails. Load balancing will send packets or applications over both connections trying to load balance usage.

There are also various routers that are dedicated just to such multiWAN load balancing, as linked in my previous post.

Well this is going to be an adventure…

 

[Rusty]

Well bonding is not supported on SRM and your initial question suggested that (at least how I understood it). Multiple ISPs into a single "connection". Load balanced and failover are supported ofc, but those are separate topics that are well documented, and simple to implement.

On this note, keep in mind one thing. If you will need to activate LAN1/WAN2 port on the Syno router, and in that process use a custom VLAN ID by your ISP, this will not work. WAN2 will use the same VLAD ID as the default WAN port and you can't separate those, resulting in an issue if there will be a need to use custom/different IDs. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[zombiephysicist]

Well bonding is not supported on SRM and your initial question suggested that (at least how I understood it). Multiple ISPs into a single "connection". Load balanced and failover are supported ofc, but those are separate topics that are well documented, and simple to implement.

On this note, keep in mind one thing. If you will need to activate LAN1/WAN2 port on the Syno router, and in that process use a custom VLAN ID by your ISP, this will not work. WAN2 will use the same VLAD ID as the default WAN port and you can't separate those, resulting in an issue if there will be a need to use custom/different IDs. Just something to keep in mind.

Thanks. I’m still learning about this so I’m not up on the lingo yet. Not sure what that means but I suspect I will soon learn.

I will try and get StarLink working first, and once I get it to work by itself try to do the dual wan and pray it “just works” and if not, go further down the rabbit hole.

As for it being well known, do you have a setup article or video you think is particularly good?

 

[Rusty]

As for it being well known, do you have a setup article or video you think is particularly good?

Well LB and Failover are covered in that KB article. Not really rocket science, and you can't really do much outside the options that are listed there, so you will get it up and running in no time, I'm sure.