isp's POP

[carl_townshend]

Hi all, when an isp has a point of presence, what does this mean. Our isp said they have 4 POP's around the country, what does this mean ? and do we have to be local to them if we want to use that isp ?

[Pavel Bykov]

POP is a physical place, where ISP terminates it's connection. E.G. if you want to connect your building to an ISP, cables from that building have to reach ISP's POP. So you shouldn't connect to a POP that is 500 kilometers away.

[paul.matthews]

Basically they are saying they have four locations around the country that they can use to connect you.

You do not have to be local, but if you are to use a leased line or other fixed circuit to connect to them it will generally be cheaper if you are closer.

I don't know which country you are in, but in the UK now low volume connectivity is being done more by DSL, so all you need is a hone line, and the ISP does not need lots of PoPs to provide service - they typically take a pipe from BT at a convenient location or two.

[carl_townshend]

thanks for that, so does that mean if I have a leased line from one place to another, does it go to the nearest exchange first, then to the exchange closer to my destination building then connect from there ?

[att-sgcops]

absolutely