An apparatus controls a communication in which packets to be transmitted over a transport layer connection established between a transmission side apparatus and a reception side apparatus are distributed to a plurality of links for transmission. The apparatus estimates a first transmission rate obtained by the communication in which an order alignment process is executed in a layer lower than the transport layer in the reception side apparatus, the order alignment process including aligning an order of received packets in accordance with a transmission order, and estimates a second transmission rate obtained by the communication in which the order alignment process is not executed. The apparatus controls an execution/non-execution of the order alignment process, based on a magnitude relationship between the first and second transmission rates.