A first person IP over HDSL case study

Abstract

As many authors have articulated, the "last mile problem" is often cited as a persistent engineering obstacle in deploying residential broadband solutions. Additionally, some academic researchers may require completely unfiltered Internet access, short network paths to Internet2, SIP, QoS, IPv6, and other functionality that may not be offered by commercial ISPs. This paper describes how the author designed and developed a high-speed (>2 Mb/sec), residential IP connection by using a four-wire HDSL circuit terminated directly at an academic institution. Technologically, this was done by extending the Ethernet frame beyond the institution's physical boundaries with transparent MAC-layer forwarding controlled by relatively low-cost, dedicated HDSL transceivers. The process was strategically planned, documented, tested, and managed across seven individuals in four disparate organizations and the monthly cost per throughput capacity is significantly lower than typical ISPs in the region.