Who we work with

  • Growing ISPs who need improved management and visibility
  • Utilities adding Connectivity
  • Any business that needs to operate a trouble-free multi-site network

What We Do

It may sound impossible, but we have done it time and time again. With the right tools and planning, almost any network change can be accomplished without interrupting your customers.

  • Replace a backhaul, replace an Access Point
  • Add new capacity with aggregated links
  • Move from a flat switched network to a routed network
  • Static to dynamic routing
  • Move to new coordinated IP spaces
  • Implement CGNat
  • Fully replace a gateway / head-end router!

Zero customer downtime!

We will work with you to identify the needs and priorities, then design a hardware and configuration solution to get the job done effectively.

Our solutions give you

  • Security
  • Redundancy
  • Simplicity
  • Performance

Fiber, Microwave, WiFi, copper of every flavor, we will work with what you have and use the best tool for the job.

  • Transport over
    • Dark fiber
    • Leased fiber
    • Licensed and unlicensed Microwave / RF
    • Secured DIA services
  • Access via
    • Fixed Wireless
    • Ethernet
    • EoP (Ethernet over Power)
    • Coax cable
    • GPON, Active fiber
    • Public or private WiFi
    • Private LTE
    • and anything else that fits the purpose!

Not just the design, we will

  • Configure every router and switch
  • Document everything for easy changes and troubleshooting
  • Train your team on the operation of the network
  • Support your team and customers, handling escalations whenever you need us

No more traffic shaping by hand! Control traffic with

  • Mikrotik routers
  • Preseem in-line appliances (Ask after our rental rates!)
  • In-band tools like AP QoS profiles via TR-069 ACS

Synchronized in real time from

We’ve seen most of the ways networking equipment can fail, even the strange ones. But when all the odds conspire to break your network in a completely new and creative way, a solid grasp of the mechanisms in play and our rigorously methodical approach will lead us to a solution regardless.

We will walk through it with you, and find the issue every time.

  1. Is the copper/glass/RF linking up the way you expect? Is your media interface throwing errors?
  2. Can you see the next hop MAC? How far does this broadcast domain reach exactly? What’s in the ARP table?
  3. Do you have a default route? Is an end-to-end ping running clean?
  4. Is the behavior localized to a hop, or an IP space, or an access method?
  5. Is the device getting correct network settings?
  6.  . . .

(Can’t forget layer 0: Is the cable/radio actually powered on and still there?)

Past Projects

The situation
  • An ISP NOC head-end had two BGP-peered upstream carriers and a boarder router on each, a router for the local office, and a router for all ISP customer connections, with multiple OSPF zones between them.
  • All four routers were aging and unable to take up the CGNat functions needed for the network redesign. The two boarder routers were especially prone to flaky behavior and overdue for replacement.
  • The configuration between the routers was difficult to troubleshoot, unstable, and tended to cut off the office when something went wrong, further complicating any troubleshooting by local network staff.
Steps
  • We installed a new Mikrotik router in between the existing four routers, with connections to each.
  • By carefully creating a sequence of stable steps, we slowly moved functions to the new router as live-to-live manual failovers.
  • Once the new router was fully upstream of the office and service deliver routers, we proceeded to bypass and remove the old boarder routers one at a time, peering the new router to the carriers directly.
 
Results
  • A single modern Mikrotik router acting as the multi-homed BGP peer for both upstream connections, and as the gateway router for the whole site (Office and service delivery)
  • Greatly improved configuration clarity and simplicity for troubleshooting
  • On-site techs can now always access the relevant device when upstream issues occurred
  • Network architecture modernization with CGNat and unified provisioning could proceed.

Zero customer downtime!

A WISP had built up 11 different upstream fiber connections across several carriers spread all around the state, and an underutilized presence at a regional datacenter. They needed to simplify and cut costs.

We worked with them to identify the DIA and other legacy circuits that could be replaced by transport to their datacenter rack using just two carriers. We reconfigured the network in preparation for the new circuits, then implemented a seamless failover migration once each circuit went live. After validating the new links, they were able to discontinue the old circuits.

The ISP saw significantly reduced costs via

  • Cheap bandwidth at the datacenter Internet Exchange vs remote DIA
  • Bulk rates on transport from regional providers
  • Better utilization of IPv4 space

Improved capabilities

  • Simplified management
  • Improved security (Fewer public-facing firewalls)
  • Better performance for customer connections (Some DIAs were routing traffic to another part of the country before egress)
  • Improved outage diagnostic and recovery capability

All work was performed 100% live and in production.

Zero customer downtime!

The WISP had purchased a number of ISPs and needed to clean, standardize, and harmonize everything.
  • Designed harmonized IP scheme in coordination with a region and site ID system
  • CGNat implementation for each region
  • Reconfigured everything (DHCP, Firewalls, Routers, AP, etc.)
  • Site-to-site mesh VPN with centralized routing management
  • Preseem implementation using in-line appliances at each gateway
  • Dynamic routing with OSPF

Results

  • Customer provisioning standardized across 8+ access technologies and integrated with billing for automatic real-time changes (Preseem + EngineRoom).
  • Authorized technical staff have direct immediate access to every device company-wide. No need for jump boxes or six different VPNs.
  • Management access is no longer dependent on a central NOC hub site
  • Inter-region routing is standardized and easier to modify thanks to central management.
  • Customer static IP routes and blocks only require a single configuration change on the serving site router, thanks to OSPF.
  • IP structure has clear separation between infrastructure and customer spaces, resulting in less confusion during troubleshooting, simpler and more reliable firewall rules, and improved security.

All work performed 100% live and in production.

 

Zero customer downtime!