can someone please do me a favor and define this term "on-net"... i been around networks for so long... yet this term gets thrown around as a marketing pitch left-right-and-center... whats the technical sigificance...??

on-net typically means that a carrier is in the same building (only a cross-connect away). No expensive loops are required.

I take it in the following context:

"AOL is on-net for MFN transit customers"

to mean that AOL use MFN for their transit too, so if you are an MFN customer all your traffic to AOL will go over the MFN network only and won't have to cross over onto anyone elses network to get to its destination.

Originally posted by robinbalen
I take it in the following context:

"AOL is on-net for MFN transit customers"

to mean that AOL use MFN for their transit too, so if you are an MFN customer all your traffic to AOL will go over the MFN network only and won't have to cross over onto anyone elses network to get to its destination.

well i guess that is a different context, but in the traditional context, its about carrier connectivity potential. (for local cross-connects/circuit delivery)

which I would consider a peer.. ... ... a link between two networks to exchange traffic is a link between two networks... and that i'd consider a peer, not "on-net"... hmm... this term is so confusing... heh

Originally posted by crnc
on-net typically means that a carrier is in the same building (only a cross-connect away). No expensive loops are required.

Originally posted by netdude
which I would consider a peer.. ... ... a link between two networks to exchange traffic is a link between two networks... and that i'd consider a peer, not "on-net"... hmm... this term is so confusing... heh

agreed

You don't have to be in the same building to peer with someone though ;)

on-net is not exclusive to peering. It is mainly to provide local circuits to avoid highly priced WAN ciruits. It can be used for transit, private lines, peering, voice services, etc...

The way I see it...If someone is on-net all they are saying is they are in the meetme room available for connections(be it iptransit/peering/whatever) without the price of a local loop. Basically they are in the building....thats how I view it.