Re: Helping someone get connected to Virgin Media

Simon Zerafa wrote:
Hi,

One or two ISP's in the UK do use PPPoE, AOL is the classic example for ease of use with their internal networks.

You may find that a specific BT line might support PPPoE or PPPoA depending on the history of useage on that line and the profile applied to it. Most AOL configured lines support both.

In the UK we ended up largely with PPPoA over POTS, in contrast Germany ended up with PPPoE over ISDN which BT claim was impossible to impliment until germany did it.

I am sure there must be an explination somewhere of why PPPoA was chosen however I suspect it was because BT had/had an existing ATM network infrastructure on it's internal networks.


From the bit of googling I've done, it looks like PPPoA makes it a little easier for the telephone company to multiplex the traffic with other telephone services. Both PPPoA and PPPoE are point-to-point tunnels, and let the ISP use the same sorts of systems for accounting as they used to with dial-up modems. But there really isn't any good reason for them not to use bridged Ethernet connections, which are much simpler and more reliable for the customer. There are no technical reasons to use a PPPoX protocol - here in Norway, all the local lines are owned by TeleNor (our "BT"), but while some ISPs use PPPoA, most use bridged Ethernet.

The only reason I can find for using PPPoX instead of bridged Ethernet is that it might be a little easier for the ISP to track your usage, so that they can then throttle your usage when you actually dare to use the advertised (and paid for!) bandwidth. Thus you, the customer, get the added complications and overheads, instead of the ISP.

Here in Norway, if someone gets an ADSL connection from a decent ISP, the setup consists of plugging in the ADSL modem, plugging in the firewall/router (actually, these are often the same box these days), then plugging in the computer. No setup, no usernames or passwords, no hardware compatibility issues, no half-wits on a telephone "support" line telling you they've never heard of this "Leenux" program.

mvh.,

David

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Relevant Pages

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