Internet here in the Philippines is both expensive and unreliable. I pay P1,700 PHP or $38.50 USD for a deviously advertised 3mbps DSL connection. Unfortunately, my currently provider is the lesser evil among my very limited choices, all thanks to the monopoly.
So in an effort to increase reliability and perhaps connection speed at a reasonable price. I opted to get a second Cable based connection… with the same deviously advertised 3mbps speed at P999 PHP or $22 USD.
I then used my router an Asus RT-N66U to to use a dual WAN setup in either a fallback or load balance configuration.
I now have 2 internet connections at the same speed I can use simultaneously to either balance the traffic or designate one connection for a specific purpose, like one for gaming and the other for torrents.
I still have a maximum theoretical throughput/burst speed of 3mbps but I will be able to maximize both connections and have better reliability and uptime… at roughly the same cost of a faster connection with a single provider.
Personally I think I get better value for my P2,700 PHP or $60 USD, I get 2 connections and a phone line. As compared to getting a single (5mbps and up) connection for P2,000 PHP plus plus.