So, the Route10 hits a sweet spot with its 10 Gbps performance, SFP+ ports, and overall value. One feature that I think could take the Alta platform even further would be a Software Defined WAN Bonding solution, let’s call it AltaBond for fun.
It could be a native, packet-level SD-WAN bonding solution that works seamlessly with the Route10 and downloadable Alta Control.
The idea is to let users combine multiple WAN links like fibre, 5G, satellite into a single, reliable connection that dynamically adapts to WANK link quality. This would eliminate the pain of single points of failure, without the traditional drawbacks of load balancing or link aggregation. This would be game changing especially for users in remote, poor coverage or mobile applications.
Here’s how I imagine AltaBond could work
Route10 to Route10 bonding:
Users could enable AltaBond between two units, allowing each router to evaluate the performance of all connected WAN links and intelligently manage traffic at the packet level. Packets are reassembled on the far end, enabling full bandwidth aggregation across all links, seamless failover if one drops, and the option to duplicate critical traffic with precise timing,m this preventing loops and minimising packet loss.
Route10 to AltaBond Cloud
For smaller or remote deployments, a Route10 could connect to a AltaBond Cloud hub hosted by Alta Labs. This would offer bonding-as-a-service, with simple subscription tiers like 100 Mbps, 200 Mbps, or 1 Gbps depending on the user’s needs. That way, users get bonding without having to deploy multiple endpoints or the complexity of hosting a bonded tunnel endpoint.
AltaBond though Alta Connect
In more advanced setups, you could install a Route10 device at the local site/branch etc and then it could connect to an on-prem instance of Alta Connect running AltaBond in your own data centre or head office, making it ideal for organisations that want to terminate bonded traffic directly into their own infrastructure rather than the cloud.
Alternatively, AltaConnect with AltaBond could run at both ends, providing a fully self-hosted, enterprise-grade bonding solution. This approach gives full control over traffic paths, privacy, and performance.
To get this feature off the ground faster, AltaBond could leverage an existing bonding stack like Bondix Intelligence which is already used by other OEMs and works with WireGuard, IPsec, and other protocols to ensure full end to end security though the SD bonding. This could help speed up development and compete with the likes of Peplink’s Speedfusion.
There’s real demand for this. Packet-level bonding would open the door to a much broader range of use cases Starlink + LTE, pop-up networks like markets, music concerts or edge sites like cruise ships, ferries, resorts, caravan, camp grounds and more!
On top of that, adding a cloud bonding service could introduce a recurring revenue model for Alta while keeping self hosted/managed free to users.
This would make end-to-end Alta Labs deployments a reality for many homes and businesses!
Anyways, thanks for listening to my Ted Talk 