3.1 ISPs & Connectivity
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are the on-ramp to the Internet. Tier-1, Tier-2, and last-mile providers form a hierarchy of peering and transit relationships.
3.1 ISPs and Connectivity
ISP hierarchy
Connection types
| Type | Typical speed | Use |
|---|---|---|
| DSL | up to ~100 Mbps | Legacy SMEs |
| Cable | 100-500 Mbps | Residential common |
| Fibre (FTTH) | Gigabit | Modern home + small office |
| Wireless | 5G FWA, P2P | Rural, bridge link |
| Leased line | Symmetric | High SLA; expensive |
| MPLS | Symmetric | Private WAN over multiple providers |
| SD-WAN | Mixed | Orchestrated mix of the above |
Philippine context
| ISP | Notes |
|---|---|
| PLDT | Largest fixed-line / fibre operator |
| Globe | Mobile + fibre |
| Converge | Fibre-led; aggressive expansion |
| DITO | Third mobile carrier |
| Sky | Cable-led incumbent |
Internet Exchange Points (PHIX, PHOpenIX) reduce inter-ISP latency. RA 7925 regulates the sector.
Worked example - small bank dual-homed branch
| Item | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Branch | 2x fibre to two different last-mile ISPs |
| HQ | MPLS + Internet over SD-WAN, BGP-steered |
| Failover | Sub-30s on primary path loss |
| SLA target | 99.9 % branch reachability |
Mentor’s tip: Tier 1, 2, 3 - the hierarchy decides your real SLA. Dual-homing matters more than the brochure number. Document the route from app to user; the longest hop is usually where outages bite.
Discussion
Loading…