ZyXEL Boosts IPTV Home Gateways
ZyXEL Communications Corp. aims to relieve a potential home-side chokepoint with the debut today of a bonded ADSL2+ gateway with support for 802.11n.
The idea is to offer a gateway that supports similar throughputs whether that connection is being accessed on the home's wired or wireless networks -- an area where 802.11g has been deficient, says ZyXEL product marketing director David Thompson.
The P663HN also features a four-port switch and a protective firewall. ZyXEL has traveled a similar feature path with its recently introduced Docsis 3.0-based voice modem/gateway. (See ZyXEL Melds Gateway and ZyXEL Unlocks Docsis 3.0 Voice Gateway .)
Targeted at copper-based IPTV deployments, bonded ADSL2+ is designed to double the speeds of its unbonded cousin, offering a logical link of 48 Mbit/s downstream by 2 Mbit/s upstream. However, real-world downstream speeds tend to be in the 20- to 30-Mbit/s range at a distance of 10,000 to 12,000 feet from the central office.
There are bonded ADSL2+ gateways on the market with 802.11g built in, but users "are hard pressed" to get speeds anywhere near the theoretical max of 54 Mbit/s, Thompson contends, noting that 802.11g is better suited for single-channel ADSL2+ gateways.
Field deployments will show whether 802.11n and bonded ADSL2+ are a good match, but ZyXEL says its "real world tests" have shown 80 Mbit/s of same-room throughput, 60 Mbit/s from one room away, and as much as 40 Mbit/s from a two-room distance.
The bigger question is: Who will be the best candidate for ZyXEL's new gateway?
ZyXEL's customers are Tier 2 and Tier 3 telcos and independent operating companies (IOCs), and Thompson says some trials are underway with the new gateway.
How about the big telcos? Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is out because it's using fiber for its IPTV heavy lifting. And AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is using VDSL for U-verse.
However, the addition of bonded ADSL2+ could extend the reach of AT&T's network, providing enough downstream capacity for two hi-def and two standard-def video streams.
AT&T does have a big ADSL2+ footprint (those DSLAMs could do bonding with a firmware upgrade, Thompson says) and has conducted some tests involving pair bonding, but ZyXEL's involvement with the telco from a bonded ADSL2+ standpoint for video is uncertain at best, and wishful thinking at least. AT&T only says that it continues to use VDSL for U-verse.
Still, a recent Light Reading Insider report -- "Can VDSL2 Turn Copper Into Stimulus Package Gold?" -- indicates that dualmode equipment could aid VDSL2 deployments because ADSL2+ "becomes equivalent or superior at distances above approximately 5,000 feet."
For that reason, "fallback" -- the ability to drop to ADSL2+ speeds when the link cannot support VDSL2 -- is part of the VDSL2 standard. But while fallback "is an important requirement" for equipment supporting central offices and nodes, "the argument is not as clear with CPE [customer premises equipment]," the report adds.
ZyXEL claims to have the only gateway on the market that pairs bonded ADSL2+ with 802.11n. We've asked some of ZyXEL's competitors in this sector, including Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), Comtrend Corp. , and Zhone Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ZHNE), if they have similar products on their roadmaps.
— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News
Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to TelcoTV 2009, the telecom industry's premier event for the exploration of a comprehensive entertainment convergence strategy, to be staged in Orlando, Fla., November 10-12. For more information, or to register, click here.
The idea is to offer a gateway that supports similar throughputs whether that connection is being accessed on the home's wired or wireless networks -- an area where 802.11g has been deficient, says ZyXEL product marketing director David Thompson.
The P663HN also features a four-port switch and a protective firewall. ZyXEL has traveled a similar feature path with its recently introduced Docsis 3.0-based voice modem/gateway. (See ZyXEL Melds Gateway and ZyXEL Unlocks Docsis 3.0 Voice Gateway .)

Targeted at copper-based IPTV deployments, bonded ADSL2+ is designed to double the speeds of its unbonded cousin, offering a logical link of 48 Mbit/s downstream by 2 Mbit/s upstream. However, real-world downstream speeds tend to be in the 20- to 30-Mbit/s range at a distance of 10,000 to 12,000 feet from the central office.
There are bonded ADSL2+ gateways on the market with 802.11g built in, but users "are hard pressed" to get speeds anywhere near the theoretical max of 54 Mbit/s, Thompson contends, noting that 802.11g is better suited for single-channel ADSL2+ gateways.
Field deployments will show whether 802.11n and bonded ADSL2+ are a good match, but ZyXEL says its "real world tests" have shown 80 Mbit/s of same-room throughput, 60 Mbit/s from one room away, and as much as 40 Mbit/s from a two-room distance.
The bigger question is: Who will be the best candidate for ZyXEL's new gateway?
ZyXEL's customers are Tier 2 and Tier 3 telcos and independent operating companies (IOCs), and Thompson says some trials are underway with the new gateway.
How about the big telcos? Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is out because it's using fiber for its IPTV heavy lifting. And AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is using VDSL for U-verse.
However, the addition of bonded ADSL2+ could extend the reach of AT&T's network, providing enough downstream capacity for two hi-def and two standard-def video streams.
AT&T does have a big ADSL2+ footprint (those DSLAMs could do bonding with a firmware upgrade, Thompson says) and has conducted some tests involving pair bonding, but ZyXEL's involvement with the telco from a bonded ADSL2+ standpoint for video is uncertain at best, and wishful thinking at least. AT&T only says that it continues to use VDSL for U-verse.
Still, a recent Light Reading Insider report -- "Can VDSL2 Turn Copper Into Stimulus Package Gold?" -- indicates that dualmode equipment could aid VDSL2 deployments because ADSL2+ "becomes equivalent or superior at distances above approximately 5,000 feet."
For that reason, "fallback" -- the ability to drop to ADSL2+ speeds when the link cannot support VDSL2 -- is part of the VDSL2 standard. But while fallback "is an important requirement" for equipment supporting central offices and nodes, "the argument is not as clear with CPE [customer premises equipment]," the report adds.
ZyXEL claims to have the only gateway on the market that pairs bonded ADSL2+ with 802.11n. We've asked some of ZyXEL's competitors in this sector, including Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), Comtrend Corp. , and Zhone Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ZHNE), if they have similar products on their roadmaps.
— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News
Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to TelcoTV 2009, the telecom industry's premier event for the exploration of a comprehensive entertainment convergence strategy, to be staged in Orlando, Fla., November 10-12. For more information, or to register, click here.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

FEATURED VIDEO
UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS
February 7-9, 2023, Virtual Event
February 15, 2023, Virtual Event
March 15-16, 2023, Embassy Suites, Denver, CO
March 21, 2023, Virtual Event
May 15-17, 2023, Austin, TX
December 6-7, 2023, New York City
UPCOMING WEBINARS
February 2, 2023
DIY Data Center Automation Deep Dive: Challenges and Opportunities for CSPs, Enterprises, and Cloud Providers
February 7, 2023
Optical Networking Digital Symposium - Day 1
February 9, 2023
Optical Networking Digital Symposium - Day 2
February 14, 2023
Achieve Your Growth Potential with Next-Gen Content Delivery
February 15, 2023
Digital Divide Digital Symposium
February 16, 2023
SCTE® LiveLearning for Professionals Webinar™ Series: Getting the Edge on Edge Computing
Webinar Archive
PARTNER PERSPECTIVES - content from our sponsors
How 5G Thrives ASEAN Digital Economy
By Huawei
Capitalizing On 5G Innovation To Deliver Breakthroughs At The Edge
By Kerry Doyle, sponsored by ZTE
All Partner Perspectives
GUEST PERSPECTIVES - curated contributions
Telco vs. Cable: Who comes out on top?
By Cheenu Seshadri, Managing Partner, Three Horizon Advisors
Don't worry about the government?
By Patrick Donegan, Principal Analyst, HardenStance
All Guest Perspectives
"AT&T does have a big ADSL2+ footprint (those DSLAMs could do bonding with a firmware upgrade, Thompson says) and has conducted some tests involving pair bonding, but ZyXEL's involvement with the telco from a bonded ADSL2+ standpoint for video is uncertain at best, and wishful thinking at least. AT&T only says that it continues to use VDSL for U-verse."
There are a couple of problems with this quote. First, AT&T has some ADSL2+ CO side DSL equipment deployed. However, it turns off 2+ and asks them to train up as ADSL. Second, a huge portion of the base is not ADSL2+. Third, most of the older ADSL2+ chipsets are NOT firmware upgradeable to 2+ bonding.
seven