Subj : Weekly nodelist report on noteworthy changes (148)
To   : Matthias Hertzog
From : Michiel van der Vlist
Date : Tue Jun 15 2021 10:48:54

Hello Matthias,

On Tuesday June 15 2021 06:44, you wrote to me:

 MV>> Lawsuits? By whom? To achieve what?

 MH> It's about not letting the competition connect over the swisscom fibre
 MH> to clients. When there is some kind of swisscom-owned PON solution,
 MH> L1/L2 is not possible for other ISPs.

Aha. I expect we we see similar lawsuits in the not too distant future here too then...

 MV>> Here the cable ISPs have always handed out "free" modems. But the
 MV>> problem is the low quality of these things. Some customers (me
 MV>> included) want better quality and are willing to pay for it. Hence
 MV>> the desire to buy one's own DOCSIS modem/router. But Ziggo is
 MV>> fighting tooth and nail to prevent it. I expect they will evetually
 MV>> loose that battle because every alleged problem they bring in, seems
 MV>> to not be a problem in Germany an Italy where free modem choice has
 MV>> been a fact for several years now.

 MH> I don't want to side with the provider here,

No one is forcing you... ;-)

 MH> but having own equipment on the own network has operational benefits.
 MH> Quality monitoring is one, support to endusers is the other.

Obvioulsly when one has one's own router one can not expect support from the provider. One must address the manufacturer instead. AVM (FritzBox), the only manufacturer presently offering Euro DOCSIS modems for the free market, offers excellent support according to customers in Germany.

 MH> For example: Imagine a grandpa calling the ISP helpdesk about not
 MH> having internet. His grandchild installed a router. Helpdesk would not
 MH> even be able to tell the grandpa how the device looks and how to
 MH> restart it.

 MH> Just a very basic but not uncommon case.

Yet, it does not seem to be a serious problem in Germany and Italy where they had free modem/router choice for several years now.

 MH> And: If the ISP does not know what's connected to his network, he can
 MH> have a really hard time changing (improving) things on the network. He
 MH> risks to disconnect clients with every small change, sometime even
 MH> down to things like changing the TTL on the DHCP server.

If the modem/router adheres to DOCSIS standards, as laid down and certified by CableLabs or its European deputy, that should be no problem.

It does not seem to be a serious problem in Germany and Italy where they had free modem/router choice for several years now.

 MH> However, the device given to customers should at least be able to get
 MH> the correct bandwidth on the ethernet port, so the customer can connet
 MH> his own wifi infrastructure to it.

Here Ziggo offers to set the modem/router in bridge mode so that the customer can connect his own router at the ethernet port. But that is not satisfatory for all. The device is not really in bridge only. Some problems with the Puma chipset remain. Plus that bridghe mode only support IPv4. No IPv6...

 MH> ISP wifi is usually crap ... no wonder with devices that are cheaper
 MH> than the cheapest bottle of wine.

Indeed. The ISPs - well most of them to be fair - go for the cheapest crap. Cheaper than the cheapest bottle of wine is a bit of an exageration, but it is estimated that they do not pay more that EUR 20 for their modem/router.


Cheers, Michiel

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