Aggregate and Expand DSL

July 14, 2000 -- Netopia introduced standards-based bonding for all commonly-deployed DSL technologies. The company's new, single-box bonding solution employs the industry-standard Multilink Point-to-Point Protocol (MPPP) to aggregate multiple DSL lines into a single, high-speed, "virtual" pipe. 

According to Netopia, this standards-based implementation allows carriers and service providers to offer additional higher speed DSL-based services to more customers. 

Netopia says that this new bonding capability is made possible by the dual-WAN, modular architecture in its R-Series product line, which can aggregate two SDSL or ADSL circuits, or up to four IDSL circuits. Customers with 1.5 Mbps SDSL connections should be able to use their Netopia routers to attain symmetrical data transmission speeds of over 3 Mbps, and customers with IDSL connections are supposed to quadruple their speeds. 

Also, customers with ADSL connections may be able to use Netopia routers to double their upstream data transmission speeds. 

Reach farther
Perhaps most important for ISPs, Netopia says that its new DSL Bonding solution extends the reach of DSL. Netopia says that end-customers who previously had to settle for reduced DSL bandwidth because of their distance from the central office may now combine multiple DSL circuits in order to achieve symmetrical bandwidth in excess of 500 Kbps. Also, customers who were previously limited to a 144 Kbps IDSL connection, may now be able to link four IDSL circuits to achieve speeds of up to 576 Kbps, up to 6.8 miles from the central office. 

If Netopia's DSL Bonding solution can significantly increase the bandwidth available to end customers, it may create opportunities for ISPs so they may sell bandwidth-intensive, value-added services such as videoconferencing, streaming content and shared business applications. The company also says that since its routers can bond up to four DSL circuits, they provide end customers with a redundant solution, which ensures continued Internet connectivity in the event of one or more DSL circuits go down. 

"Netopia's new DSL Bonding solution should provide a significant competitive advantage to ISPs who implement it," said Beth Hannan, DSL Product Manager at Global Crossing, an international ISP. "ISPs who use Netopia equipment can now substantially expand the footprint for their high speed DSL service, offering bandwidth in excess of 400 Kbps nearly seven miles from the central office. ISPs will also be able to leverage the increased bandwidth which DSL Bonding provides, in order to make more value-added services available to their customers." 

"Netopia's new DSL Bonding solution empowers ISPs to double or even quadruple the speed of their DSL service, without requiring their carrier partners to upgrade or reconfigure their central office equipment," said Terry Lee, Chairman of the Board and cofounder of Zyan Communications, a national broadband communications company. "ISPs who deploy Netopia equipment will be able to increase their market reach, offering full broadband connections even to customers who have line quality problems or are located at a distance from the central office." 

Availability
Software Release 4.7.1, which enables Multilink PPP IDSL bonding, is free to R-series router customers and will be available this month at www.netopia.com/equipment.