# Commissioning an ISP handover

A handover that has been provisioned is not the same as a handover that is ready to carry customers. Commissioning is the set of tests that proves it works under real conditions, with agreed evidence and a clear go or no-go.

11 September 2026

[ISP & Network Operators](https://netavo.com/insights)

## Test the whole path, not just the link

A new handover can pass a simple link test and still fail a real subscriber. Commissioning works through the full path a session takes. Prove basic connectivity and routing across the handover. Bring up a representative subscriber and confirm it authenticates against your RADIUS. Confirm it receives the right IPv4 address and IPv6 prefix. Confirm accounting records arrive and are correct. Drive representative throughput and check it holds. Then, deliberately, test the failures you expect to survive, so a path loss or a site failover does what the design says it will.

Each test needs defined evidence and a named owner, so that passing is a recorded fact rather than an opinion, and so a failure points at the party who has to fix it.

## Agree go or no-go before you start

The point of commissioning is a decision, so agree the criteria in advance. Decide which tests must pass before any customer is moved, which can be fixed in a follow-up, and who signs it off. A handover that is carrying revenue traffic is the wrong place to discover that failover was never tested.

Netavo provisions interconnects and tests them with a planned migration of any existing traffic, and the handover is designed and supported with your engineers. For the subscriber-termination side of acceptance, a software BNG makes session state, authentication and accounting straightforward to verify; see the [Netavo BNG engineering library](https://netavobng.com/engineering) for the detail.

## Common questions

### What should pass before I move customers?

Connectivity and routing, a representative subscriber authenticating, correct IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, accurate accounting, sustained throughput, and the planned failure tests. Agree which are mandatory before you start.

### Why test failover during commissioning?

Because a handover carrying revenue traffic is the worst place to find out that failover was never proven. Commissioning is when you cause the failures you expect to survive, under control.

### Who owns a failed commissioning test?

Whichever party the evidence points to. Defining the evidence for each test in advance is what makes a failure actionable rather than a dispute.

## Related services

### [ISP Network Services](https://netavo.com/services/isp)

IP transit, backhaul and L2TP broadband for internet service providers and network operators.

### [ISP BNG & CGNAT Systems](https://netavo.com/services/bng)

Netavo BNG, a carrier-grade x86-based BNG and CGNAT platform for internet service providers.

## Bringing a new handover into service?

Tell us what you need to prove before go-live, and an engineer will help build the acceptance plan.

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

Source: https://netavo.com/insights/isp-handover-commissioning