Stupid question but How do companies usually connect an ISP to the cisco router?

For some reason I can't grasp my head around this. Do companies still use serial or t1 to connect to the internet or do they use Ethernet technology? Sorry for the newb question.

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Comments

Dieg0M

Usually Single Mode Fiber from CE to PE. So yes, Ethernet and we usually use BGP or static routes for L3 but I've also seen EIGRP and OSPF used (don't ask).

jamesleecoleman

Yes, people still use T1's and bonded T1's.

--chris--

Here is my (simple) view of it since I have little knowledge in this area. My last employers connections went like this:

Fiber in from outside to fiber distribution block (not sure what this is called, it split the fiber from outside into different channels with removable cards) to rented Cisco 2900 series routers (redundancy). From the 2900s to our router/firewall device and then onto the switches/etc...

jahaziel

So instead of connecting to a Wic card we connect to the ethernet interface instead correct? Then assign the interface connecting to the WAN dhcp or static depending the situation and then just have everything route out for the internet correct?

AwesomeGarrett

There is still quite a bit of old infrastruture out there. T1's are still pretty common especially in older enterprise networks along with multilink bundles. I'm currently involved in a few upgrades, you'd be surprise how long you'll get by with WAAS ad WCCP.

mgmguy1

Jahaziel, You may want to pick up this book. Cisco Routers for the Desperate: Router and Switch Management, the Easy Way by Michael W. Lucas.
There is a chapter in there that is short and sweet about dealing with a Network Administrator dealing with different connection types cisco routers use to connect up to an ISP and some of the issues you may see with them.

My two cents

Magic Johnson

jahaziel wrote: »

So instead of connecting to a Wic card we connect to the ethernet interface instead correct? Then assign the interface connecting to the WAN dhcp or static depending the situation and then just have everything route out for the internet correct?

Yeah. Now that is more common I would say. I have fibre (new primary), EFM (new backup) and a single backup dsl (now redundant). The latter two connect to a single NTE5 box and 4 paired NTE5 boxes, with DSL filters so I can hook the cat5e cables up to the routers.. The fibre goes in to a single NTE box, again there is an Ethernet out which will connect to the router.

Not sure if you guys in the US use the term Network Terminating Equipment but BT use it over here in the UK. Its essentially where the line/s in is terminated.

DirtySouth

Still alot of T1's out there, but I know many of the carriers are offering Ethernet hand-offs which could be fiber or copper. It's going to depend alot on what area your business is in and what the local carrier offers. Probably easiest thing to do is contact the local carriers and ask them what is available. If you're in a smaller town, there may be only one option.

rowelld

One of our sites is in a region that is only capable of bonded T1s. It comes in on the ISPs ethernet interface of their own router. From there it goes to our switch via ethernet.

theodoxa

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

Yes, people still use T1's and bonded T1's.

Yep, I installed a Cisco 2911 [and some other equipment] a while back. They had 4 T1 lines coming in. Two were connected to their old 2800 series and I connected the other 2 to their new router. A few days later, I get a call and they want me to hook up 2 more [freshly installed] T1s to the new router. Another site I worked at had 2 T1s that were bonded.

theodoxa

FWIW, I've seen many smaller (handful of PCs) companies that even use DSL or Cable. One site, a small store with maybe 2 or 3 internet connected devices, had a Cisco 800 series w/ ADSL. Another site, a store in the mall with 1 register and 1 PC in the back room was literally IN 2013 finally upgrading from DIAL-UP!!!! to DSL and was using one of those crappy Bellsouth-provided DSL Modems and a cheapo router. Their old system [which I was replacing] was an antique running Windows 2000 with a dial-up modem connected via Serial Port.

ehnde

When I worked for an ISP that provided fiber to business customers, there were different tiers. On a cheaper level a customer could just use a cable modem and have a "business package". It wasn't too different from a normal residential connection, but they got a higher support priority and their connection cost a little bit more than a residential package.

Now with fiber customers we (the cable company) provided them with a switch at their facility that had a GBIC to receive the fiber connection. We'd have all of the ports on the switch disabled but for maybe 1 port, which the customer would run an ethernet cable from to their router. This switch was managed by us, not the customer. Each customer was assigned a VLAN on our end to manage the traffic with some sort of appliance that kept track of all of the VLAN to customer mappings, rate limiting, QoS, etc. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the appliance, but it was not Cisco.

SephStorm

I've been thinking about getting a business connection next time I move so I can get my network working with a cisco lab and full internet access. we'll see.