Cable Operator List

Tue Feb 2 20:44:14 UTC 2016

Colton,

D3.1 gear is just coming online right now.  If you're going to go with the
smaller PHY+MAC approach I'd just make sure the company has plans to update
their boxes to 3.1 in a decent (your judgement) amount of time.  Don't
expect any 3.0 box to be software upgradeable to 3.1, the hardware is quite
different.  The PHY+MAC boxes are _generally_ < $10k and some are talking
about ~6k.

All the vendors we've listed so far have plans for 3.1, but I don't have a
timeline for any of them.  Right now the market is still trying to decide
how modular CMTS will be rolled out, remote PHY, remote MAC+PHY, or a
combination.  For example, Cisco is (for the moment) betting that remote
PHY economics will be compelling for the larger operators, while Arris is
doing both approaches.

Scott Helms
Chief Technology Officer
ZCorum
(678) 507-5000
--------------------------------
http://twitter.com/kscotthelms
--------------------------------

On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 3:31 PM, Colton Conor <colton.conor at gmail.com> wrote:

> Is a remote MAC+PHY the same thing as a Distributed Converged Cable
> Access Platform (D-CCAP) solution like Huawei is pushing? Is DOCSIS 3.1
> even out, or am I looking for something that does not exist yet?
>
> Are these remote MAC+PHY devices in the under 10K price range that these
> smaller all in one CMTS platforms are?
>
> On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 12:49 PM, Scott Helms <khelms at zcorum.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 1:24 PM, Colton Conor <colton.conor at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Yes, we are in the USA. So based on everyones recommendations, I am
>>> going to stay far away from EURODOCSIS. I was told be a vendor that
>>> Arris and other USA FCC certified cable modems could easily be flashed to
>>> EURODOCIS mode, so I did not think the CPE side was that big of a deal (is
>>> that even true). I was not aware that there were so many differences
>>> besides just the channel width.
>>>
>>
>> I wish this were the case, it would make my life easier.  The problem is
>> that there is a diplex filter that prevents the upstream burst from being
>> heard by the downstream receiver and for cost purposes all the D3 and
>> earlier modems have fixed filters.  What that means is that a EuroDOCSIS
>> modem can (sometimes) be flashed to use 6MHz channels, but the reverse is
>> NOT true.  In any case we don't recommend using Euro modems that are
>> flashed to US standards in production (nor do the vendors) because you'll
>> see much more upstream leakage.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> So, assuming we are talking about DOCSIS only (and not EURODOCSIS), what
>>> do you recommend? I like the idea of being able to upgrade to 3.1, but not
>>> sure if there are any small systems capable of this? By small I mean
>>> something that could feed less than 100 units, and be economical to do.
>>> Cable has the advantage of cheap modems, so it's really the CMTS side.
>>>
>>
>> In that case I'd definitely go with a remote MAC+PHY.  That's the only
>> way you're going to get a good price point and decent performance unless
>> you want to use the secondary market, which actually isn't a bad idea right
>> now.  A used 7225 with 8x8 blades is pretty cheap, but it's centralized
>> CMTS that would cover ~3k subs.
>>
>>>
>>> Please remember I am only interested in data internet services over this
>>> plant. Something that works for garden style layouts where I can bring
>>> fiber or coaxial to the side of a garden townhome that has between 4 to 16
>>> units inside of it. The reason I requested a harden outdoor unit is that
>>> most all of the garden style properties have both the phone
>>> and coaxial drops on the outside of the building. There is no central
>>> closet or room. Plus we are in the south, so hardened for the
>>> heat exposure makes sense.
>>>
>>> A remote MAC-PHY (or pre remote MAC-PHY, ala mini CMTS) sounds like
>>> what I want. I will check into Huawei and Gainspeed. Who else makes these?
>>>
>>
>> In no particular order, Arris is or will be, Teleste (Euro vendor trying
>> to break into the US),  Sumavision, Altera, and ton more I can't remember.
>> Come to one of the SCTE shows (it's in Philadelphia this year) if you want
>> to be deluged with them :)
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 11:24 AM, Scott Helms <khelms at zcorum.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Nick,
>>>>
>>>> Absolutely, if your plant is in Europe or one of the other areas (lots
>>>> of Africa and the middle East is like that) that adopted EuroDOCSIS I'd
>>>> agree wholeheartedly.  I didn't see Colton say where they're located, but
>>>> all North America is the US flavor so that's what I assume on NANOG.
>>>>
>>>> That being said, the best thing that seldom gets mentioned about D3.1
>>>> is getting us to unified channelization.
>>>> Scott Helms wrote:
>>>> > That very small upside for an extreme downside.Trying to hire someone
>>>> > to work on your system with Euro channelization, not to mention buying
>>>> > amplifiers and passives is a huge PITA.
>>>>
>>>> ... if your plant is in the US.
>>>>
>>>> > I have customers in Europe who
>>>> > decided to do US DOCSIS and they universally wish they had used the
>>>> > local "flavor".
>>>>
>>>> as you say, eurodocsis works well in europe.
>>>>
>>>> 3.1 will be a major improvement when it materialises.
>>>>
>>>> Nick
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>