Re: Cable Operator List

[Scott Helms <khelms () zcorum com>]

The biggest reason to not do EuroDOCSIS is logistics and dealing with
various TAC organizations versus a pretty small increase in per channel
performance (but not per hertz).  I'd pretty strongly recommend against it,
just because you're going to run into issues ranging from buying modems, to
dealing with node vendors, to finding people who can do basic stuff like
plant balancing.  You wouldn't think it would matter, but it throws people
off to see that extra channel bandwidth.

My 2 cents, buy CMTS/CCAP gear that's upgradeable to D3.1, ie CBR8, E6000,
or the big Casa unit, for the time being shoot for 24 channel downstream
bonding groups (24 * ~37mbps - overhead) which yields about 740 mbps
usable.  That's plenty for most nodes, especially since you're not offering
video you can have many bonding groups since channel space isn't a problem.


Scott Helms
Chief Technology Officer
ZCorum
(678) 507-5000
--------------------------------
http://twitter.com/kscotthelms
--------------------------------

On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 10:47 AM, Colton Conor <colton.conor () gmail com>
wrote:

> Daniel,
>
> Thanks for the wealth of information. What kind of speeds are you offering?
> How many customers are you putting on one of these boxes? What modems are
> you using?
>
> I would honestly perfer something that was hardened for outdoor use. Think
> garden style apartments. What is the best for something like that?
>
> Comparing DOCIS 3 to VDSL2, the modems and CMTS appear to be more cost
> effective per customer. G.FAST I have  not seen pricing on, but I expect it
> to be more than VDSL2.
>
> Any reasons not to use EURO DOCSIS in the USA? Looks like it offers more
> speeds by using fatter channels. We don't plan on offering TV, but even if
> we did couldn't we just start the channels at a higher range, and still use
> EURO DOCSIS?
>
> On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 8:17 AM, Daniel Corbe <dcorbe () hammerfiber com>
> wrote:
>
> > Hey Colton,
> >
> > We’re using small 16 channel CMTS systems for residential MDUs and
> > colocating them directly on premise inside of wiring closets and then
> > connecting them by metro ethernet.  We’ve had great successes so far with
> > this model.
> >
> > There’s lots of CMTS vendors.
> >
> > There’s tons of used Motorola BSR 64Ks on the market, but be aware of the
> > lack of useful IPv6 features (like prefix delegation) in older software
> > releases.  If you buy a box and want to run 7.x or 8.x, you’ll need to
> > relicense your downstream and upstream channels at some additional
> > arbitrary fixed cost.
> >
> > I’m personally fond of these things:
> >
> > http://picodigital.com/product-details.php?ID=miniCMTS200a
> >
> > You can only bond 16 channels together max though because that’s all the
> > box supports and you can’t bond across boxes; however, these things are
> > less than 4 grand if you buy them in bulk so they’re really fucking easy
> to
> > just spam everywhere.
> >
> > Blonder Tongue makes a pizza-box style CMTS too:
> http://www.blondertongue.com/shop-by-department/catv/ip-over-coax/docsis/euro-docsis/
> > As does Harmonics:
> >
> > http://harmonicinc.com/product/cable-edge/nsg-exo
> >
> > All three are based on the same chipset, so the real differentiation is
> > price and firmware features.
> >
> > Then there’s Cisco.
> >
> > The UBR is a popular platform.  And pretty soon there’s going to be a
> glut
> > of UBR10Ks on the Market because Comcast is busy ripping their UBRs out
> of
> > production because they’re upgrading their cable plant to the CBR
> platform.
> > Then the Arris C4, if you have deep pockets, is a modern version of the
> > BSR:
> >
> > http://www.arris.com/products/c4-cmts/
> >
> >
> > > On Feb 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Colton Conor <colton.conor () gmail com>
> wrote:
> > > Well, maybe NANOG's not a bad place for this post then! I would like to
> > know more about the data-only side of CMTS systems, and who the main
> > vendors are.
> > > We have MDU properties where there is either old inside CAT3 phone
> wire,
> > or coaxial cable. We have looked and are very familiar with the multiple
> > technologies that work over phone lines namely VDSL2 and G.FAST. However,
> > using the coaxial cable seems to be a much better solution than using the
> > phone wires.
> > > So I am looking for compacts, low cost CMTS systems. Based on the
> specs,
> > I am looking for something at least DOCSIS 3.0 capable, with at least
> 16X4
> > output. Something with the ability to upgrade to software upgrade to
> DOCSIS
> > 3.1 would be nice, but I doubt that would be a low cost solution.
> > > Whats out there for small operators that don't want a large chassis
> > based system to feed an entire town with.
> > > So far I have found the
> > http://picodigital.com/product-details.php?ID=miniCMTS200a which seems
> to
> > retail for under $5000.
> > > On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 7:48 AM, Daniel Corbe <dcorbe () hammerfiber com>
> > wrote:
> > > > On Feb 2, 2016, at 8:42 AM, Colton Conor <colton.conor () gmail com>
> > wrote:
> > > > Are there any mailing lists out there dedicated for cable/MSO type
> > > > operators?
> > >
> > > I'm curious about this too.
> > >
> > > I’m not a cable operator (in that I haven’t successfully registered for
> > a cable franchise yet) but I do operate a docsis network and I’ve
> > successfully negotiated the treacherous waters of obtaining and providing
> > content to my users.
> > > I’m still a bit green behind the ears but I could probably offer some
> > measure of assistance if you have a specific question.
> > > -Daniel