The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact broadband usage, as consumers are increasingly relying on upstream bandwidth for video conferencing and the stay-at-home economy. According to a recent report from OpenVault, upstream bandwidth is up 56% year-over-year through 2Q20.
Virtual BNGs
With the upswing in network traffic, the move to network virtualization has grown. The adoption of virtual Broadband Network Gateways (vBNGs) has also been increasing. And these trends have accelerated since the pandemic. vBNGs provide greater network scalability and flexibility, which is critical when trying to quickly add new capacity to meet today’s rapidly changing traffic patterns.
However, these rising traffic levels are making it difficult for broadband providers to meet the demands of network performance while also creating a good customer experience. In this environment, network visibility (particularly at the subscriber level) is taking on greater importance.
vBNGs and Traditional Network Monitoring Tools
Traditional network monitoring tools are intended for large-scale networks and are usually complex and expensive. Given the high cost of these tools, many small to medium-sized ISPs have stuck with old monitoring tools or have developed do-it-yourself (DIY) tools. Unfortunately, many of these tools don’t provide the real time information needed to determine performance issues related to capacity and don’t offer subscriber-level monitoring.
BNG Manager
To overcome these issues netElastic developed BNG Manager, an intuitive web-based application that makes it easy for service providers to quickly configure their vBNGs and monitor how the network and vBNGs are performing.
BNG Manager provides detailed monitoring and visibility to all aspects of the router. System health, subscriber load, and network performance are all visible with short and long-term trending. With BNG Manager, you can quickly view total traffic and see how many subscribers are online over time and view details of your route tables.
It’s All About the Customer Experience
With rapid increases in network traffic, broadband providers are working hard to maintain a good customer experience. BNG Manager helps by providing detailed information down to the subscriber level to simplify troubleshooting and enable support staff to identify and resolve customer issues faster. Subscriber information shown includes trended bandwidth, detailed subscriber access information, and performance metrics.
Nigel Rayneau, CEO at Ufone, said “BNG Manager provides detailed customer information that has improved and simplified our customer issue troubleshooting, which has resulted in a better customer experience and lower support costs.”
A Game Changer for Virtual BNGs
The benefits of Virtual BNGs are many, including greater network flexibility and scalability, and lower costs. BNG Manager delivers even more benefits with detailed network visibility at the subscriber level.
Harbour ISP, a fast-growing service provider in Australia, has been using BNG Manager to improve customer support and subscriber troubleshooting. According to Tom Bishop, Harbour ISP’s CTO, “Our support lives in BNG Manager.”
How Much Does this Cost?
Unlike expensive legacy network monitoring tools, BNG Manager is included for free with the purchase of a netElastic vBNG. As a testament to its value, all netElastic vBNG customers are using BNG Manager and deriving value from its actionable insights.
To learn more about BNG Manager, please view the BNG Manager Demo video.