# How wholesale broadband works: L2TP and the LNS

An ISP does not have to build fibre to every home to sell broadband. Wholesale access and an L2TP handover let a provider offer national coverage while authenticating and addressing its own subscribers on its own network.

22 May 2026

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

## The access network and the handover

Most UK premises are reached by one of the national access networks, Openreach or an altnet such as CityFibre. When a subscriber connects, that access network does not route their traffic to the internet itself. It carries the subscriber's session from the premises to an aggregation point and hands it over to a service provider. That handover is where a wholesale ISP picks up the subscriber.

The handover protocol is usually L2TP. The access network runs an L2TP Access Concentrator, the LAC, which tunnels each subscriber session to the service provider's L2TP Network Server, the LNS. A single tunnel carries many sessions. The broadband line therefore terminates not on the access network's equipment but on the ISP's own network, over a link the ISP controls.

Netavo provides this handover: broadband sessions from national and regional UK access networks, delivered to an ISP's own network over L2TP.

## Where the LNS fits

The LNS is the ISP's broadband edge. It accepts the L2TP tunnels and terminates each session: it authenticates the subscriber against the ISP's RADIUS, assigns an IPv4 address and an IPv6 prefix, applies the subscriber's speed and accounts for their usage. From that point the subscriber is on the ISP's network, with the ISP's addressing, policy and support.

This is the model that lets a regional or specialist ISP offer national coverage without owning access infrastructure. The provider owns the relationship, the brand and the policy; the access network simply delivers the line. The piece the ISP must run well is the LNS, because it is where every subscriber session lives.

Netavo BNG is a software BNG and LNS that terminates L2TP, PPPoE and IPoE on standard x86 servers, with integrated CGNAT, and the Netavo network supplies the upstream transit and the handover that feed it. For the data-plane and protocol detail, see the [Netavo BNG engineering library](https://netavobng.com/engineering).

## Common questions

### What is L2TP broadband handover?

Netavo hands broadband sessions from national and regional UK access networks to an ISP's own network over L2TP, so the ISP authenticates and addresses its own subscribers.

### What terminates the broadband sessions?

An LNS, the L2TP Network Server. Netavo BNG is a software BNG and LNS that terminates L2TP, PPPoE and IPoE sessions, with integrated CGNAT.

### Do I need my own IP addresses to run a wholesale ISP?

An ISP terminating its own subscribers assigns them addresses from its own space. Netavo provides IP transit over IPv4 and IPv6 and can carry an operator's own address space.

## 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.

## Planning a wholesale broadband build?

Tell us about the access networks you want to reach and how you intend to terminate subscribers. An engineer will respond with options and partner pricing.

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

Source: https://netavo.com/insights/wholesale-broadband