Over the past few months we've been working hard to build a brand new broadband network. We currently operate three different networks:
- 21CN for ADSL2+ and fibre customers which uses 1Gbps hostlinks
- Our first 20CN network for some Madasafish customers which uses 155Mbps pipes
- Our second 20CN network for everyone else that uses 622Mbps pipes
Our new network replaces all of the above with four 10Gbps host links (and we have two more 10Gbps host links on order).
Over the next 6 weeks we will be trialling the new network by moving a small number of customers to it. 20CN customers will be moved dependent on the realm they connect with; the realm is the part of the username after the @ symbol. Most of our customers use the plusdsl.net realm which will be moved in a couple of months time. The first realms to be moved were plusdsl2.net and metro2.net, this happened successfully yesterday. The migration of all our 20CN customers is expected to take around 4 months including the initial trial period. 21CN customers don't need to be moved using their connection realms. Instead we will periodically move customers over when they start a new connection over the next 6 weeks. Our first batch of 21CN customers connected on the new network on Wednesday. Once the trial period has ended we will move all customers across to the new network. We will try and ensure a minimum impact on customers during this work, however some customers may be disconnected briefly as part of the move. We will post details of any expected or possible disconnections on our service status page. The new network has a number of advantages. With four 10Gbps host links available we have a significant amount of capacity in reserve which can easily be increased with only a few days notice and makes it much easier for capacity planning. It also makes it easier to manage and keep the network in balance. Our intention is to have moved all of our customers onto the new network by the middle of April in order that we can decommission the old networks. We'll post regular updates to say how the migration is going over the next four months. Dave Tomlinson Plusnet plc
