Introducing the J2SW BGP Community Builder
The J2SW BGP Community Builder selects documented provider communities and generates scoped policy fragments for MikroTik, Cisco, Junos, and FRRouting.
My Plan for an All-Alta Labs Home Network
Being in the ISP world I see the home router and network cause a majority of the problems blamed on the ISP. Most home networks put the router, switch, firewall, and Wi-Fi radios into one do-it-all box. This can be underpowered in terms of both processing power and Wi-Fi signal strength. In this post, I … Read more
Mikrotik Winbox 4.3 is out
What’s new in 4.3 (2026-Jul-20 10:14): *) app: add Windows for arm64 version in file WinBox_Windows_arm64.zip;*) form: make multiline input field height logic as in WinBox v3;*) table: add quick comment feature (allow multi-row commenting);*) table: allow opening “Table settings” also via right mouse click;*) table: calculate implicit height to fit 16 regular rows including … Read more
Introducing the J2sw MTU and Encapsulation Calculator
Ever wondered what the effects of different combinations of PPPoE, GRE, and others have on the MTU of a packet? I am excited to announce the first of many J2 Network tools: the J2SW MTU and Encapsulation Calculator. You select the service MTU and the encapsulation used on the path. The calculator then works out … Read more
Why Your Traffic Didn’t go the way you expected
3 Mintue read timeJustin Wilson PacketsDownRange A common problem I run into when diagnosing route issues is traffic not going across the path it’s supposed to. An established BGP session only means the routers successfully exchanged routes. It says nothing about which route your router actually installed in the forwarding table. Let’s get into some … Read more
How to support j2 and this blog
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Understanding BGP Route Types: Full Routes vs Partial vs Default vs Customer Routes
5 minute read time.Justin Wilson j2sw.com When you configure a BGP session, one of the first questions is what routes you actually want to receive. If you have ever filled out a questionnaire with Hurricane Electric or another transit provider, they ask you what “kind” of routes you want. In this article, I plan to … Read more
What Is IPoE?
4 minutes read time.Many of us ISP veterans are familiar with Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE), also referred to as Triple P O E. PPPoE is showing its age. It showed its age 15 years ago. DHCP was the simple fix for modern networks. It had less overhead and was simple. Now along comes IPoE. … Read more
Wallys Gas station Pumps
Indiana, specifically Whitestown, has a new WaWa gas station. They have these bright new gas pumps. Of course, I had to know more about the technology behind them. This is most likely using a highly customized Windows CE iOT core or a linux kernel. I am betting Windows. Security on the PumpsThis security framework is … Read more
Busy tower along Interstate 65
During a road trip, I noticed this busy tower along the interstate. Being the tower aware person I am I managed to snap this photo.
What Really Motivates tech Employees?
It’s time to take a break from all the technical posts and get down to human basics. This is a nice break from the fun, but sometimes dry, technical mumbo jumbo I spout off here. I have worked with enough people over the years to realize that there is no single reason people come to … Read more
What Is an AAU in Cellular Networks?
A little off the beaten path on this one. We are diving into a big part of a Cellular tower deployment. Many sites now use an Active Antenna Unit, or AAU. The radio and the antenna are built into the same enclosure. An AAU combines the antenna, radio transceivers, power amplifiers, and low-noise amplifiers into … Read more