How do I make my MacMini into a load balancing Router

I made a big mistake and moved to avoid the crowds back home.


The internet here is so bad I need to turn my spare mac mini (1TB SSD, late 2014, 2.6GHz, i5, 4 GB ram) into a load balancing router to combine multiple internet connections, share it over my Apple Router 802.11AC or plug it directly into my production MacMini running Catalina..., so I have some kind of service for my meetings Tuesday. I have no other plans for the weekend.


• Fibre over wifi (which just stalls)

• AT&T 4 G via iPad connected by USB cable (which seems slow but ok)

• DSL over wifi from the nearby Bar via my Airport Express 802.11N (Gen2) using a thunderbolt to ethernet adapter (which just stalls).

• TelCel 3G on my iPhone 5S by USB cable (which just stalls).


This might do it.


A tech mentioned a way to use a dedicated machine by replacing the Apple OS but my Apple Support questions are gone from this year???


Any help appreciated...



Ken



Posted on Dec 11, 2020 7:01 PM

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3 replies

Dec 12, 2020 9:30 AM in response to hcsitas

Lol, paid until February, cant leave yet.


Need to work this challenge and maybe with the services already provided in Ios. Problem is testing, with the connection dropping out I cant determine by experiment.


Using iOS and activating cellular, I see 'personal hotspot' when turned on provides 'wifi assist' which is perfect. I connect to the strongest wifi signal and use cellular. Looking at the 'network preferences' panel on the mini running Catalina, I can set the order of the network service. I would place 'iPhone USB' at the top in order to use it first. It provides connectivity from the first wifi and cel service. What does 'disable unless needed' accomplish? Does it provide multi-homing service or just on/off?

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchl7594e36f/mac is unclear what that does.


https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT203302 still not clear


Does the network preferences set order allow multi-homing?


This article is unclear, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202480 does it see the connection but if there is no data coming will it stay on that connection? That is not useful in cases of bad internet.


What I want for Christmas, Tim Cook please, is a version of "wifi assist" in the Catalina and up 'network preferences' panel that manages multiple internet connections. That is, when an internet speed slows it looks to the next in line network connection for better service when the 'disable unless needed' option is selected.



Thanks, Ken




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How do I make my MacMini into a load balancing Router

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