In search of cheap, fast BGP peering.

November 11, 2006 12:36 AM

Other than XO Communications, who in San Francisco offers ADSL2 service or bonded G.SHDSL service (aka "Ethernet over Copper") and allows BGP?

DS3s and bonded DS1s are too expensive, unless you're aware of a shocking deal. Standard ADSL service or cable is too slow. Unlicensed wireless service is too risky (although I'm willing to consider a wireless provider who's in the licensed bands). There's no fiber currently in our building. BGP is mandatory.

We already have a 10mbps "Ethernet over Copper" bonded G.SHDSL line from XO. It's exactly what we need, but I'm looking for something comparable to multi-home with for redundancy.

Thanks in advance!

posted by eschatfische to computers & internet (3 comments total)

My provider, speakeasy, offers 6.0/768 ADSL for about $69 a month. It's run by geeks, very, very reliable and includes a bunch of cool features (like multiple static IPs and such). I love these guys and can't recommend them highly enough.
posted by The Bellman at 8:26 AM on November 11, 2006

This doesn't answer your question directly, eschatfische, but whenever I see someone looking to establish redundancy through BGP in a building with older wiring, I feel obligated to ask them if they've really done a physical audit of wiring routes. Many times, there is actually only one physical route for telecomm wiring out of the building (conduit, service pole, etc.) to the DSLAM, which is often the first point where any kind of physical route redundancy is possible. So, if that's your situation, BGP and redundant service setups won't protect you against one guy and a backhoe. If that's the case, the argument shifts quickly to new wiring/fiber facilities on different routes, or wireless services (perhaps to other buildings).

I did a job for a client where we found a non-competing business in an adjacent building that was interested in a cooperative facilities arrangement, where they agreed to handle emergency traffic for my client, if we would do the same for them. Together, the businesses bought a 10mbit interbuilding link to connect their networks, and we verified that their physical routing back to the CO was indeed different than "ours." We did set up BGP routing for both businesses as the failover, although this was a nightmare with their CLEC, and took more than 3 months to get working properly [don't ask!]. Result: real redundancy in an emergency situation, at far lower cost than running our own. YMMV, and such a solution may not be appropriate for your uses, but I offer this comment to stimulate your thinking.
posted by paulsc at 11:35 AM on November 11, 2006

The Bellman: That is exactly what eschatfische wasn't looking for. It's a plain old DSL line, and he said "standard ADSL is too slow." Speakeasy also isn't going to do BGP for you. I had a T1 with them and they wouldn't even do it.

eschatfische: doesn't Covad offer something in SF? I recall reading about them testing ADSL2 and G.SHDSL up there sometime last year.
posted by drstein at 6:55 PM on November 11, 2006