[clug] Trump Telstra once and for all

Andrew Goodall andrew at fumpet.net
Mon Oct 9 07:34:32 GMT 2006


In my experience, TransACT are notoriously inflexible and difficult  
to deal with. Recently, I attempted to throw more money at them by  
upgrading my TransTV (video) package (virtually no cost to them) and  
they refused unless I signed another 12 month contract. No thanks. My  
contract is about up so I'm ditching TransACT for ADSL2+ (faster) and  
Foxtel (better and more content). I'll be enjoying far better value  
for money, too.

Back OT, there is no technical reason why TransACT can't provide L2  
(specifically L2TP which is what most of the rest of the world is  
doing) for wholesale partners.

TransACT insists on terminating PPP sessions on their own  
infrastructure, whereas most ISPs (and it seems that Internode) wish  
to interconnect with 'the standard' L2TP, from TransACT's LAC to the  
ISP's LNS. This provides far better functionality/control for the ISP  
in many respects, and actually reduces administrative strain and  
licensing costs for TransACT. So why indeed wouldn't TransACT offer it?

I know of at least one Canberra ISP offering services on TransACT  
that has been asking for L2TP for five years now. It seems that the  
national players can't be bothered with these antics and simply  
provide DSL the same way they do everywhere in the country.

TransACT are not attempting to protect their TransTV investment with  
this strategy; its more likely the result of one engineer who wants  
things done his way. Broadcast and on-demand video content are  
delivered via a parallel (and proprietary) network so don't touch any  
of the wholesale IP infrastructure, anyway.


On 09/10/2006, at 10:11 AM, Paul Wayper wrote:

I understand the difference between layers 2 and 3 here, but I'm curious
as to why the two are incompatible?  Would Internode using layer 2 to do
connections interfere with TransACT offering its services over layer 3?
Not AFAICS.  So why would TransACT stick to offering only layer 3 to
wholesalers, unless it was trying to protect its investments in TransTV
and whatever other multicast services it offers?



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