Mailing List Archive

Network Service Provider
Okay, I've got a question actually related to North American Network
Operations...here goes:

I'm currently the Network Admin for a medium sized ISP in Cincinnati
Ohio. We are currently multi-homed through US Sprint (Sprintlink), one
connection in DC one in Chicago.

We are interested in diversifying across another Network Service Provider
backbone. We currently run BGP4 with Sprint, and will be running it
to our additional NSP. We're working on getting our own netblock to have
us be able to announce our AS via both NSPs.

My question is twofold:

1) Are there recommendations on which NSP I should go with now, based on
the fact that I currently have Sprintlink? Our Sprint connections are
a full DS3 and a full T1 (DS3 to Chicago, T1 to DC). I want to buy
another DS3.

We've placed an order for
UUNet, however, they have now taken 160 days (they gave me a 120 day
due date and missed it), and cannot give me a firm due date, and I'm
not convinced they will ever be able to deliver. I'm tired of waiting.
I looked at MCI, but the "InternetMCI voice mail system" is "Full". So
you can't even leave a message to have someone call you back
(800.582.1253, kinda funny since they spend all that money on advertising
and customer's can't even contact them).

2) What is the best way to handle the AS announcements? I've got three
netblocks from Sprint, but Sprint won't announce my more specific
routes (nor should they), so people will just route to the blocks
Sprint is advertising. If I announce the more specific routes out
UUNet (for lack of another example), I'll start getting all my
inbound traffic down that pipe.

From what I can tell, I'd be better off getting my own netblock from
the InterNIC, and annoucing my own routes through both NSPs. That way
the Internet will make it's own routing decisions based on the
"closeness" of the routes (AS Path length, etc.). I'd then renumber
my internal network, and give Sprint their IPs back.

Does that sound right?

Thanks in advance. I've learned a great deal being on this list, and I'm
going to put up with the signal-to-noise ratio for a while as long as there's
still information I can glean.

--
Robert A. Pickering Jr. Internet Services Manager
Cincinnati Bell Telephone rob@fuse.net

A Rough Whimper of Insanity (Information Superhighway)

PGP key ID: 75CAFF7D 1995/05/09
PGP Fingerprint: B1 63 0C 09 D8 2E 5D 69 BB 61 A2 92 22 37 63 C3
Re: Network Service Provider [ In reply to ]
Re: Network Service Provider [ In reply to ]
On Wed, 4 Jun 1997 16:48:36 -0400 (EDT) "Mark E. Mallett" wrote:
> The kicker: we're now getting billed, even though we've yet to get
> service. The bill includes an "expedite" charge plus CPE that we
> never asked for nor received.

Ha! I can top that. MCI billed us for 9 months for a line which had
never been installed. They had given us the run around similar to
yours, but the day before the line was to be installed, the sales
person called when he knew I was going to be out of the office and
left a message saying that MCI was indefinitely delaying all T1
installations (this was spring of 1996). He never, ever returned my
phone calls after that. We had already installed and paid for the
Nynex local loop. We switched to AT&T, but MCI billed us for the
non-existent line anyhow...

Did I ever tell you about the time the MCI sales-critter forged my
signature on a contract, but didn't even spell my name right?
OK, so you're all sick of that story...

regards,
fletcher
Re: Network Service Provider [ In reply to ]
* I suppose this is only peripherally (at best) an
* operations note. If there was an "internet-bureaucracy"
* list, I'd rant there. :-)

perhaps you folks should find/create one. i really don't care to read 300
messages about another off-the-wall issue .. nor does the rest of this list,
i'd assume.

-danny