# Insights

Technical articles from the engineers who design and operate our network: how the systems work, and how to put them to use.

## ISP & Network Operators

### [Choosing a BNG: chassis, MikroTik or software](https://netavo.com/insights/choosing-a-bng)

The broadband network gateway terminates every subscriber. Here is how chassis, MikroTik and software BNGs compare on cost, scale and operations.

### [Commissioning an ISP handover](https://netavo.com/insights/isp-handover-commissioning)

The acceptance tests to run on a new ISP handover before it carries customers, covering connectivity, authentication, addressing, accounting, throughput and failover.

### [IP transit, peering and your own IP space](https://netavo.com/insights/ip-transit-and-peering)

What transit and peering each do, why a network needs its own ASN and IP space, and how to take resilient upstream connectivity as a growing operator.

### [Rolling out IPv6 to broadband customers](https://netavo.com/insights/isp-ipv6-rollout)

A readiness checklist for an ISP deploying IPv6 to subscribers, covering upstream, addressing, CPE, provisioning, monitoring and a staged pilot.

### [CGNAT for a growing ISP: why and how to size it](https://netavo.com/insights/cgnat-for-isps)

Why a growing ISP runs short of IPv4, how carrier-grade NAT shares public addresses across subscribers, and how to size it without breaking applications.

### [Planning a second ISP handover](https://netavo.com/insights/second-isp-handover)

What a second handover protects against, how to size each site for solo operation, and the failure domains a diverse second site should cover.

### [How wholesale broadband works: L2TP and the LNS](https://netavo.com/insights/wholesale-broadband)

How an ISP sells broadband without building access to every premises, using L2TP handover and its own LNS to authenticate and address subscribers.

### [RPKI, ROAs and route filters for operators](https://netavo.com/insights/rpki-roas-route-filters)

A practical checklist for network operators on authorising route origins with ROAs, validating received routes, and avoiding the common mistakes.

### [Wholesale broadband fault isolation](https://netavo.com/insights/wholesale-broadband-fault-isolation)

A decision tree for wholesale broadband faults, separating access, session, authentication, addressing and reachability, and the evidence to gather before escalating.

### [When should an ISP upgrade its backhaul?](https://netavo.com/insights/isp-backhaul-capacity)

How busy-hour demand, subscriber growth, bursts and failure headroom decide when backhaul needs upgrading, with worked examples rather than a single rule.

## Connectivity & WAN

### [Sizing a multi-site WAN for cloud, backups and voice](https://netavo.com/insights/sizing-a-multi-site-wan)

Build a WAN demand model from concurrent applications, upload, backups and degraded operation, then check latency, loss and local congestion.

### [Reading a connectivity SLA](https://netavo.com/insights/reading-a-connectivity-sla)

Separate availability, response, restoration, exclusions and service credits, then compare each commitment with the disruption your business can tolerate.

### [Ordering a leased line: surveys, wayleaves and build](https://netavo.com/insights/ordering-a-leased-line)

Follow a UK leased-line order from availability and survey through permissions, construction and acceptance, with clear ownership of each dependency.

### [Private WAN or internet VPN for multiple sites?](https://netavo.com/insights/private-wan-vs-vpn)

Why a routed private WAN gives multi-site organisations stronger control of routing, isolation and operational ownership than internet overlays.

### [Two circuits, one point of failure](https://netavo.com/insights/diverse-connectivity)

Two supplier names do not prove resilience. Trace ducts, building entries, access networks, equipment and power before calling circuits diverse.

### [Ethernet leased line or business FTTP?](https://netavo.com/insights/leased-line-vs-fttp)

Compare business FTTP and Ethernet by upload, committed capacity, repair terms and installation, rather than headline download speed alone.

## IoT & Mobile Data

### [Auditing an IoT estate for UK mobile-network retirement](https://netavo.com/insights/iot-mobile-network-retirement)

Inventory modem, voice, roaming and access dependencies to plan an IoT migration around real equipment rather than a single deadline.

### [Estimating IoT data usage](https://netavo.com/insights/iot-data-usage)

Calculate telemetry, protocol overhead, reconnects and occasional large transfers before choosing an IoT data allowance.

### [Surveying cellular connectivity for fixed IoT](https://netavo.com/insights/cellular-site-survey)

Build a commissioning record around the real device position, radio measurements and repeat application tests, not signal bars alone.

### [Static IP, private IP or outbound access for IoT](https://netavo.com/insights/reaching-remote-iot-devices)

Compare public addressing, private routed access and device-initiated sessions for remote maintenance and telemetry.

### [Private APN explained: routing, isolation and its limits](https://netavo.com/insights/private-apn-explained)

Follow mobile traffic through a private APN and separate routing isolation from encryption, application identity and access control.

### [How multi-network IoT SIMs choose a network](https://netavo.com/insights/multi-network-iot-sims)

Understand network permissions, modem behaviour and registration before treating multi-network IoT access as automatic continuity.

## Voice & PSTN

### [Launching white-label business voice: an MSP checklist](https://netavo.com/insights/white-label-voice-for-msps)

Plan a white-label voice service around onboarding, number transfers, support ownership, customer records and a workable offboarding process.

### [Business voice in a power or broadband outage](https://netavo.com/insights/voice-during-an-outage)

Map the power and connectivity dependencies of business voice, then test the complete calling path and agree emergency-calling arrangements.

### [Why VoIP calls break up: loss, jitter and local congestion](https://netavo.com/insights/voip-call-quality)

Diagnose broken VoIP audio by tracing symptoms across endpoints, Wi-Fi, the LAN and the access circuit before buying more bandwidth.

### [Porting UK business telephone numbers](https://netavo.com/insights/porting-uk-numbers)

Prepare business number transfers with an accurate inventory, account checks, coordinated suppliers and an acceptance plan for real calls.

### [Hosted telephony or SIP trunks?](https://netavo.com/insights/hosted-voip-vs-sip-trunks)

Compare hosted telephony with SIP trunks by looking at existing PBX investment, operating skills, equipment lifecycle and migration effort.

### [The business PSTN-migration audit](https://netavo.com/insights/pstn-migration-audit)

Build a PSTN migration inventory that connects bills and telephone numbers to equipment, owners, replacement decisions and acceptance tests.

## Alarm Signalling

### [Proving alarm-path resilience](https://netavo.com/insights/alarm-resilience-testing)

A commissioning and maintenance test plan for alarm signalling, with controlled path-loss, power-loss and restoration tests and what each one actually proves.

### [Migrating alarm signalling off the PSTN](https://netavo.com/insights/alarm-pstn-migration)

An acceptance plan for moving alarm signalling from analogue phone lines to IP, covering panel compatibility, power, network setup and witnessed delivery.

### [Alarm path faults and polling, explained](https://netavo.com/insights/alarm-path-faults-polling)

How alarm message delivery differs from path supervision, why recurring short path faults matter, and how detection, escalation and restoration should work.

### [From premises to ARC: the signalling chain](https://netavo.com/insights/alarm-transmission-chain)

Mapping the full alarm transmission chain from communicator to alarm receiving centre, the responsibility boundaries, and the evidence of end-to-end delivery.

### [What makes an alarm path independent?](https://netavo.com/insights/dual-path-alarm-signalling)

Dual-path and multi-path alarm signalling only help if the paths are genuinely independent. Here are the shared dependencies that quietly undermine them.

### [EN 50136 explained: grades and categories](https://netavo.com/insights/en-50136-explained)

Untangling alarm system grades, alarm transmission categories and the number of signalling paths, three things that are often confused when specifying signalling.

## Sector guides

### [Care-home connectivity migration](https://netavo.com/insights/care-home-connectivity)

Separating telecare, staff voice and business systems when a care home moves off analogue lines, so each is migrated and tested on its own terms.

### [Lift emergency comms after the PSTN](https://netavo.com/insights/lift-comms-after-pstn)

What building managers must verify when a lift emergency phone moves off an analogue line, from in-shaft coverage to backup power and witnessed call receipt.

### [EV charging connectivity that stays up](https://netavo.com/insights/ev-charging-connectivity)

Designing connectivity for EV chargers so outages, remote support and firmware updates become procurement questions rather than field visits.

### [Keeping retail and hospitality sites online](https://netavo.com/insights/retail-hospitality-connectivity)

Prioritising payments, ordering and voice during a site outage, and where responsibility sits between the network and the application suppliers.

### [Connecting remote assets, safely](https://netavo.com/insights/remote-asset-connectivity)

A connectivity architecture for remote renewable and utility assets that separates telemetry, maintenance and control-system access without exposing operational networks.

### [Connectivity for multi-tenant buildings](https://netavo.com/insights/multi-tenant-building-connectivity)

Separating landlord operations from tenant services in a multi-tenant building, from access control and lifts to building management, with clear ownership.

## Discuss your requirement

Every article here comes from work we do for partners and their customers. Tell us about yours and we will advise.

[Work with us](https://netavo.com/work-with-us)

Source: https://netavo.com/insights